July Assassination #4
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TRI is a strong recommendation against. While the game is really creative and unconventional in a good way, the main game mechanics are still too janky to be fully enjoyable. Sometimes you understand exactly what you need to do, but struggles against the mechanics and the keyboard in order to be able to achieve what you want, which is one of the most frustrating things a game can do --- the challenge should be in figuring out the solution to a puzzle, not in executing it (at least not in a game like this -- maybe yes in a precision platformer, but not here).
If this was bad in the first 10 levels, wait until you get to level 11 and the whole light bending stuff. This is where you ragequite, believe me.
Now, don't get me wrong - this is a bold game. There are not a lot of first person puzzlers out there, and TRI is entirely capable of standing out from the crowd on its own. The idea of conjuring triangles out of nowhere to use as ramps, platforms, ledges, of defying gravity, walking on walls - this is not something you see everyday in a game. And my guess is because this must be hard as hell to implement. Well, TRI tries its best to implement it, and what we have is a playable product that suffers a bit from the jank mentioned earlier. Triangles are drawn but sometimes they are not walkable on. Sometimes they invert gravity, other times they don't. It's a bit too inconsistent and finicky to be enjoyable.
Aesthetically, it's a pleasing game. There are no photo-realistic graphics, but the stylized graphics we get are well done and enjoyable, and effects are usually pretty good. Most importantly, given the surreal geometry of the levels, the graphics are pretty readable which is something the devs could easily have fumbled. The soundscape is very unique and engaging -- it's a mix of zen with tribal sounds, and soothing tunes that carry enough energy to keep you playing, but not enough to drain you. It's a good mix.
There are outlines of a plot there, but we all know we're not playing for that and it barely matters. It doesn't hurt either, and to be honest, the few times you glimpse the fox running away from you are usually enjoayble. For achievement hunters (not my case), getting all the idols is an absolute chore even with a guide, and without a guide some of them are near impossible to find. While some might find this an engaging challenge, it felt like busywork to me. The base game is already challenging enough alone, and the idols add to the janky challenge, which is not something I was particularly after.
TL;DR: janky first person puzzle platformer with great aesthetic, both in visuals and sounds, but with meh controls and a steep difficulty curve that could throw you off more people than it retains
Long time didn’t see this one, shame that it’s a chore despite graphic style, and congratz for beating !
Thank you! It’s graphically charming, and the impossible geometry is one of those things you can only get in a game. I’ll give the game that at least hahaha
Liked review. Felt very similar on many points tho overall conclusion was thumbs up for me.
https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198151696853/recommended/293660?snr=1_5_9__402
Really good and valid points. I guess if I decided to just drop the game by the 10th level or so, it would be a thumbs up (my review was originally a thumbs up that was edited to a thumbs down). Too bad I was playing this is part of the PAGYWOSG event, I think that added an arbitrary deadline in my mind which didn’t help the overall experience.
I think the most frustrating part for me was that you had to tinker a lot with triangles to achieve the solution you figured out. I like puzzle games where the challenge comes from ‘seeing’ the solution, not executing it after seeing it. The beam deflection puzzles here require very precise adjustments to ensure the light goes where you want, which is just not fun. Not sure if you got to the point where you have to redirect kami and that’s even worse since their trajectories are usually parabolic, not straight like the beams, so anticipating where they will land is even harder.