It's easy: a new game has appeared, but this time it's a different game. We can't group it into "aRPG" nor "brawler" nor anything which exists. The most similar comparison would be with Sword & Sworcery, but they are quite different, believe me. If you're talking about what's happening in the game... yes, I'm confused too, but there's something which makes me go back to it... A dark force which pulls me in... A lightning... A prayer... I don't know. Something...
This really is the most moving game I have played, there appears to be no avoiding death in the traditional gaming sense , rather it's about confronting your own mortality with some level of dignity and understanding what is really important in life (this may sound slightly over the top for a "game" , but it is handled with gravitas, and even a touch of humour). Each game I have played has been radically different, peeling backs layers of the meta narrative to the game, making me appreciate it even more. Initially it is totaly baffling, but stick with it. Truely a game about the journey not the destiny! On another note the music is truely a masterpiece. Really , I can't recommend this enough.
Wasn't sure what to expect when I finally opened this thread. I'm totally intrigued by the trailer. I like odd games like this. Kenji Eno (RIP) was one of my favorite game devs and he made some weird stuff. Anyway, I'm probably going to grab this. Maybe not tonight but probably in the next couple days.
I approve of this. Ish. One, it's pretty god damned tough, and two, that d-pad really, really needs to be tweaked, because I think the awkward controls are contributing a significant portion of the difficulty. Although the game basically repeatedly says here, you're stuck in a maze, with no map: oh dear, you took too long getting out, now find where the exit is inside twenty seconds or potentially lose everything you just earned playing that level. That's fairly harsh in my book, wonky controls or not. Nonetheless, I really like it. Sand off a few of the rough edges and this could be a surprise late candidate for one of my favourite games on any format this year. It is a tad lacking in polish and it is, mechanically, just a simple dungeon crawler, but it's still very obviously deeply personal to the creator (in a good way, unlike some games I could name), looks and sounds aces and feels rewarding to play in many, many different ways. Looking forward to playing more of it. Forward I go, with brave mind!
Sure, controls could do with some polish, but the game is amazing as it is. I highly recommend it. Simple dungeon crawler? No, not simple. I've played and died twice, and both games were very different. Heroes of Loot is a simple dungeon crawler (I love that one, btw), but not this where narrative plays a very interesting role, as you said, deeply personal to the creator. That narrative also makes for the weird experience that we get. You also have minigames inside, from pseudo space-invaders to boss fights. It's a weird game, very weird, but very good. I'd love to see a 20-minute gameplay video from Sanuku on this one. It would be nice to see where he gets to
Hey guys, thanks for the great comments you're leaving esp VirtualBoyFreak. I am learning how hard it is to promote a new IOS game very quickly. This is pretty much the only thing out there that is keeping my spirits up. Not much else talk or press anywhere so far. Sigh.
Thanks for your kind words. Just left a review in the SP app store. I'm usually too lazy to leave them, but this time the game deserves it a lot I think there's a mail address to send a promo code to TA to try and get them to review the game (if they can cope with reviewing a game which is impossible to describe ).
If it's any consolation, from my 5 years of iGaming experience: if it's hot on Toucharcade it winds up being hot on the AppStore. I'm buying your game after work and will play and post on iTunes and here. If there's one thing TAers love it's an active developer so stay with us for awhile
I appreciate this might not be what you want to hear/that there may well be reasons you had to go for it now, but all the same... you don't seem to have picked the greatest time for it! Still, I wish there was more I could do personally (other than forum posts, yelling at my meagre collection of Twitter followers, etc.), but the website I used to write for is on hiatus right now. Eh... from my limited experience the core loop is fairly recognisable. I mean, the description and the in-game instructions even say so. Run around, do simple fetch quests, choose a reward (either getting out of the current level faster or extra "lives"), every now and then get random battles. The presentation of those battles or the levels might be quite varied but the underlying mechanics overall are less so. I don't really mean that in a bad way! I think style can be fine if it's done as well as it is here and worked into the production this effectively (as in, the different visuals and perspective shifts and whatnot never interfere too much with what you're actually doing or confuse you as to what the current objective is). Just I think part of promoting this game, for me, would be less talking about how it's OMG SO WEIRD HOW WILL YOU EVER UNDERSTAND IT because IMO that's not really accurate and is liable to put some people off... and more talking up how the overall experience of play, the way it feels, is like very few other games around, if any. Still, agree or disagree, like I said I really like it. It's, I dunno, as if Tale of Tales and Capybara Games made a roguelike together.
Hey, you have some awesome content here! The first time i tried your game i was a lot of confused but as i was kept playing and trying, the mechanisms magically appeared to me and this was so much rewarding. The gameplay is unique and is something that gonna make this gem shinning to the future as for the awesome graphics, music and overall atmosphere! As for the promotion keep in mind that is a little bit difficult for the new indie diamonds, like this, to get shine under all the heavy budget bigger companies that rules the sites with a lot of advs and pr kits.... but when a game is good, more of the times finds the way to get noticed eventually. I have already seen that you get noticed on Pocket Gamer and as you re seeing here, from the most guys on the forum you get a lot of love about your game... In my opinion maybe the time till you ll start to take reviews it will be good to try to make a fast update in terms of the controls (as many here have mentioned) because as i know from a lot of sites maybe it's gonna be a matter that gonna cost you some stars or points in the reviews... Anyway i wish you good sales and thank you for one of the biggest surprises for this year!
Wow, really cool ipad retina graphics and effects. Didn't realize so much effort would go into the ipad retina for a pixel game. Good job on that.
Don't worry, once it hits the PC audience, I'm sure it'll get more attention. Didn't RockPaperShotgun (and I think IndieStatik too) do previews? Also how is the game doing on Greenlight?
It's currently at 52% to top 100 after 17 days. That seems to be pretty middle of the road according to what I've heard.
As mentioned, the more we just post about the game the more chance TA will cover it. Right now its #1 on the hot new games list so there's a boost to it getting coverage. The catch is if they like it or not and they tend to be a pretty fickle group. Hopefully they see the quirky cool mess everyone else is and it brings some positive feedback. I'm thinking I'll buy this tomorrow.
So I've heard a lot of people commenting on the controls needing a tweak. Can you give me an example of a touch dpad from a game that you thought was good? Also, can you say very specifically what you don't like about it and what device you're playing on. Thanks. I could probably get another update in about a week. Funny thing is I actually thought my dpad was awesome...oh well.
Heh, you'll learn fast that the iOS market is tough to please, especially when you're new to it and not familiar with some of the standards
It is awesome... Good 360-degree sensitivity, and the response from the character is accurate. Just that when the thumb goes outside the dpad graphic, the character stops moving. Maybe the invisible radius of the touch-sensitive part be extended a bit more, it'd be great.
Yep, this. When it works it's fine, but it's far too easy to drag your finger off the pad - especially on an iTouch screen - and the sudden loss of control can (will!) get you hit or killed.
Exactly. Bought the game, did 3 characters, but never had enough shelters to pass the first storm. Still, awesome music and ambient. The D pads beeds to be a bit extended as it is on an iphone 5 i m often stopping or not going in the right direction. Is it me or is it very hard in the second level (2x1mn) to accomplish much ? All i could do was to use lughtning to open an exit and run away Edit : wonderful unique experience otherwise
