Recent reviews by IronFlare

In short, this game succeeds at painting Harold as a punching bag, an outcast, and a victim of his surroundings, but it does so at the expense of the player that controls him.

Before buying this game, I read some of the reviews, and decided to wave off the warnings about pacing and tedium. I usually really enjoy story-based games, and figured that a slower experience would fit well with that. Unfortunately, at the 2-hour mark, I now realize I was sorely mistaken.

I think my core issue with this game is that it simply doesn't respect the player's time. There's something to be said for narrative pacing and giving a game room to tell its story—that's the main reason I ignored the negative reviews at the outset. But when one of the first minigames requires you to move Harold's hand to unscrew twenty-four individual screws from a panel, only to be electrocuted and laughed at by an NPC because you fell for his prank? To me, that's not storytelling—that's wasting the player's time.

The game frequently, and seemingly at random, disables your ability to run, locking you into a sub-leisurely walking pace. When your only task is to travel across two maps, talk to someone, then travel all the way back and go to sleep, having your speed capped to that of a geriatric birdwatcher almost makes it feel like the game is messing with you on purpose.

At one point near the end of my play time, the game abruptly started to ramp up. Suspenseful music played. A new mystery was revealed. Harold started piecing things together. I, as the player, started getting excited. And then, just as quickly, Harold's NPC boss interrupted: "Harold, it's late. We've had enough excitement for one day. Let's leave the theories for tomorrow."

I feel this is a pretty good example of how the game treats its protagonist, and by extension, the player that controls him. After enduring that almost nonstop for two full hours, I was ready to be done.

An amazing game not because of its graphics, but because its story gripped me from start to finish; I played through it in one sitting—it took about four hours—and I recommend others do the same.

Absolutely amazing artwork and an incredible music score combined with puzzles that strike the perfect balance between engaging and challenging. The story is intriguing, and the style of play is fast-paced but also somewhat casual. You can place checkpoints throughout the map by consuming collected energy, but sources of this energy are few and far between. Additionally, this same energy is consumed by special attacks and abilities, so you will often find yourself in situations where you have to use your energy to fight a difficult enemy, and can't save your progress afterwards. Dying will send you back to your previous checkpoint; progress after that checkpoint isn't saved, so you will have to replay specific sections of the game, sometimes several times, until you get it right. You will die very frequently, and you may have to resort to memorizing button presses to get through especially stubborn sections. The checkpoint system can certainly be very irritating, and the levels can sometimes leave you briefly stumped, but the overall experience is without a doubt a positive one. Play with a controller.