Recent reviews by SteR

(This review was changed as of 12/7/2022, though realistically my opinions fully changed around 8/31/2022. It was previously positive.)

The developers are more focused on introducing flashy features that catch your attention and keep you "interested" than fixing core issues. Long-term playability has suffered over time, especially since these new "flashy" features eat away at what made the game fun in the first place. The tycoon mode, which is by far the most played of the three, is the most hurt by these recent changes and has the most critical flaws that cause long-term issues.

"Tycoon" Endless mode is problematic, "Puzzle" Timetable mode is neglected, and "Timed" Rush Hour mode is chaotic and hard to compete in. The tutorials don't do much to explain the more complex features, if players even actually grasp what they're trying to explain in the first place. Features the community would really appreciate have been half-assed, despite strong opposition, with excuses that boil down to "just trust me bro".

As someone who's played this game for over 2000 hours (hours weren't recorded on steam during the Alpha pre-June 2021), and someone who's been hired on to help the team with community posts and level designs, it's extremely discouraging that most of my concerns or comments have been brushed away. Or that, likewise, the community's comments are sometimes ignored in favor of the developer's vision, which as said before, seems to be prioritizing short-term sales over a long-term solid product reputation.

If you'd like to see a video citing more frustrations I personally have with the game, here's a hastily edited 40 minute one from a few months back: https://youtu.be/U__piWyCI6g

Here's a link to another steam review that I don't fully agree with, but makes some great points about the problems this game has:
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/profiles/76561198056675171/recommended/1124180/

It's not the worst game for its pricetag, but with the direction it's going, you're either gonna ;lose interest after your first playthrough or you're gonna get invested and inevitably disappointed by long-term neglect or active damage to what makes it fun from update to update.
I cannot, in good faith, recommend this game under its current condition.

I don't know how to do this game any justice with words. It's been a classic in my books practically since I started playing, and I keep coming back to revisit it once or twice a year. The procedural generation makes no two games the same no matter how you do it, and the "suicide mission" mood of it all is strong throughout the game, even on easy. It's a great game if you want to struggle for run after run, refining your strategies and unlocking new equipment, and if you like harsh penalties. Also if you don't mind RNG screwing you over from time to time, as the game is heavily reliant on it. Don't expect to get the same results twice from the same event.

Oh, and the music's amazing. Especially with the flawless transformations of songs from their exploration versions to their battle versions. It's like an icing on the cake, especially with how much the main menu theme drives home both "you just won the game" or "you just lost the game, but keep trying" for when a run ends, despite there being only the one track.

Again, words can do this no justice. If you think you'll like it, I'm betting the $10 USD will be well worth it.

For being a "mini game" with a "mini price," I wasn't expecting too much.
Summer sale convinced me to get it, with it being only $0.79. Figured I'd give the game a try.
Day one, I've already got 6 hours and I'm writing a review. I don't write reviews. Something's wrong. I think I've had too much caffiene.

The game is well made. Items are introduced at the right times, even if they aren't always in obvious places.
Every boss was somehow frustrating, even with such simple AIs. Somehow, while it took forever to beat them, they were still entertaining. And with persistence came reward, and I would get the next keycard.
My one complaint is how unobvious some things were to get. I missed the nightvision goggles, and had to lookup a walkthrough, and I only knew how to get to the final boss because of the walkthrough. I feel like those two things could have been indicated better, along with a few other things.

The level editor is nice and simple, although I wish bosses could be added. If they can be, and I'm just dumb somehow, please let me know.
The character editor/tileset editor is great. The ability to create whatever your imagination can fit onto the player character or any other texture is a really nice feature. I wish I had inspiration to retexture something well, rather than just making a giant "H" and calling it good.

Overall, I would reccomend this to a friend. The game is really well designed and fun to play. I'd say it's worth more than the listed $2.
Can't wait to turn someone into an octopus.

The game is fairly short, if you're just going to play it to beat it.
If that's your plan, then I still reccomend this game. It was a memorable 4 or so hours to beat, and it took around 12 total to 100% it; but its gameplay made me keep wanting to come back and re-play it, and try the community made levels.

The level design is great. The first few levels are fairly linear, to teach you how to play the game, but after that, your own personal take on how to beat each mission is required. Want to kill everyone? Sweet. Want to smash all the windows? Go ahead. Want to take your stealth too seriously? That's fine. But it still feels like a level.

The gameplay is original. I feel as if I don't need to say this, as many other reveiws can state this for me and list off why better than I ever could.

The story/humor is great, still leaving you in charge of how you want the character to operate. Mostly, there are three options - The quick, the inquisitive, and the comedic. I would describe the comedic side, but I feel the experience is too important to ruin.

Would reccomend.

A question I wondered as I started to realize I was just doing a timing game:
How is this game so fun, when all it is is trying to get the right timings?

To answer that in a simple sentance: It's the interface.
If the interface was just DDR style or something, it would never be quite as popular.

Also, Customization. Currently, there are 253,609,574,400 Character combinations-Unless I did my math wrong-in the game. In case you were wondering, there are only 7,400,000,000-ish people in the world. If everyone had their own combination, that would still leave around 246,209,574,400 combinations left.
Wow.
Math.

Last, but not least, there's an endless supply of user created levels; And they aren't at all hard to make. Making a GOOD level, see, that's the problem; But overtime you get better.

I'd definitly reccomend this game to everyone I know, but it's still not for everybody; But for me, only $4 has turned into over 500 hours of entertainment.

I was expecting to play this game for 5 minutes and leave.


I have over 250 hours on this game.
I haven't seen the light of day in a few years.