A clever platformer that has mostly solid mechanics that tries to stay true to it's storytelling narrative. This game does alot of the actual gaming features well, with only one mechanic not being as effective at times as you hoped. Back to the specifics later though. There are menu issues as well, as well as the method you are forced to get the challenge achievements with. I'm recommending this because of the way that the game plays mostly and ignoring the many little issues that this thing does to you to drag out the time spent in game.


The gameplay, plain and simple. Platforming with an interesting twist, and it feels fluid as you move through the maps. The maps as well have a distinct flavor to them that offer different types of challenges that match the surroundings well. The world's air of mystery is a positive through a portion of the game. Even with the few issues such as inconsistent latch distances, or losing your latch at the most random times never happens enough to make you feel robbed from something unexpected.


The power leap combined with the sprint. This mechanic gave me issues often enough that I need to say something specific about it. It has about a 75% detection rate. You'll sprint toward a ledge, charge you power jump, let go of the power jump while still sprinting and you're supposed to rocket forward. Instead, often enough, your idiot teenage protagonist will just jump straight into the air. This frustrated me at least twice per level usually. It's easy to recover from this without dying and try again but it just hated registering at crucial time trial moments. This is by far the weakest mechanic involved in the actual gameplay.


This game is plagued by minor, convenience, issues more than anything. I had two issues with the menu's that didn't help me enjoy the end game portion of this. First, was the lack of a restart option in the time trial portion of the game. Literally you are unable to just restart the level. You have to exit out of the level then go through a few menu options just to get back to the start of the level. Like I said, convenience issues mostly.

Second, was the challenge achievements and their appropriation methods. You can only get the achievements in the story mode. Why? I don't have any idea the levels are identical, you just don't have to listen to the same 4 sets of dialogues over and over again. Also, story mode doesn't have a restart option either. So you'll need to go out to the menu and restart the mission because loading the previous checkpoint just warps you there and doesn't reset any falls or misuse of the grapple.


The way the story progresses is kind of ho hum. It does a lot of setting up and then never delivering. Why is she Mad Maddie... You won't find out running through the game. I felt like the narrative device about the story was underused and never really added to my sense of wonder for the place. The characters are shallow as well. You'll talk to all but one of them once. They feel more like a filler moment than anything else. As well any real development of the story lines requires you to find the secret story items.


This is a game that did what was most important correctly, the gameplay, and chose to put everything else as a filler item in between those moments. There are plenty of secret items to add to the world but whether you seek them out will be a case by case basis since the art style, and world creations will need to have an impact on you. Unfortunately the game is kinda short as well taking me about 2 hours to run through a first playthrough. How much you can get after that will depend on your competetive spirit and your investment in the world.

[h1] Starter Off [/h1] A clever platformer that has mostly solid mechanics that tries to stay true to it's storytelling narrative. This game does alot of the actual gaming features well, with only one mechanic not being as effective at times as you hoped. Back to the specifics later though. There are menu issues as well, as well as the method you are forced to get the challenge achievements with. I'm recommending this because of the way that the game plays mostly and ignoring the many little issues that this thing does to you to drag out the time spent in game. [h1] The Good Stuff [/h1] The gameplay, plain and simple. Platforming with an interesting twist, and it feels fluid as you move through the maps. The maps as well have a distinct flavor to them that offer different types of challenges that match the surroundings well. The world's air of mystery is a positive through a portion of the game. Even with the few issues such as inconsistent latch distances, or losing your latch at the most random times never happens enough to make you feel robbed from something unexpected. [h1] The One Caveat [/h1] The power leap combined with the sprint. This mechanic gave me issues often enough that I need to say something specific about it. It has about a 75% detection rate. You'll sprint toward a ledge, charge you power jump, let go of the power jump while still sprinting and you're supposed to rocket forward. Instead, often enough, your idiot teenage protagonist will just jump straight into the air. This frustrated me at least twice per level usually. It's easy to recover from this without dying and try again but it just hated registering at crucial time trial moments. This is by far the weakest mechanic involved in the actual gameplay. [h1] The Annoyances [/h1] This game is plagued by minor, convenience, issues more than anything. I had two issues with the menu's that didn't help me enjoy the end game portion of this. First, was the lack of a restart option in the time trial portion of the game. Literally you are unable to just restart the level. You have to exit out of the level then go through a few menu options just to get back to the start of the level. Like I said, convenience issues mostly. Second, was the challenge achievements and their appropriation methods. You can only get the achievements in the story mode. Why? I don't have any idea the levels are identical, you just don't have to listen to the same 4 sets of dialogues over and over again. Also, story mode doesn't have a restart option either. So you'll need to go out to the menu and restart the mission because loading the previous checkpoint just warps you there and doesn't reset any falls or misuse of the grapple. [h1] The Average [/h1] The way the story progresses is kind of ho hum. It does a lot of setting up and then never delivering. Why is she Mad Maddie... [spoiler] You won't find out running through the game. [/spoiler] I felt like the narrative device about the story was underused and never really added to my sense of wonder for the place. The characters are shallow as well. You'll talk to all but one of them once. They feel more like a filler moment than anything else. As well any real development of the story lines requires you to find the secret story items. [h1] The End [/h1] This is a game that did what was most important correctly, the gameplay, and chose to put everything else as a filler item in between those moments. There are plenty of secret items to add to the world but whether you seek them out will be a case by case basis since the art style, and world creations will need to have an impact on you. Unfortunately the game is kinda short as well taking me about 2 hours to run through a first playthrough. How much you can get after that will depend on your competetive spirit and your investment in the world.