Freedom Planet

[dsheinem]

I've been playing this a bit. The first stage just seemed like a high quality Sonic knock-off and I was a bit dubious, but the game is improving as it goes and nicely developing its own aesthetic and quirks.

Everything looks gorgeous and the soundtrack is decent.

The characters and story are insufferable and skip-worthy.

[J T]

Um, is that 282 hours???

I was going to ask how long you guys would say this is, and what is the major differences between the two modes? Classic seems more ideal for me.

I jumped into the first level just to check it out and yeah, this game seems amazing. The lost Saturn platformer as a lot of people were saying. I am VERY picky about my indie games, but this looks and plays very authentically. I can tell I'll love this.

I don't think I've ever played any game for 282 hours. I don't really know what that time readout means.

[dsheinem]

fuck the last few levels of this game

EDIT: Specifically, the difficulty ramp. The levels are beautiful and well designed - and tough - but the game trains you to play free and loose through the first 7 stages or so and then kicks your ass royally for doing so on the last couple with some ridiculous boss fights. I beat it, and I enjoyed it, but the first level (which doesn't make a great impression) and the last couple of boss fights (which are exercises in frustration) doesn't do the game any favors and makes it harder to recommend...

[noiseredux]

played a few levels yesterday. Great visuals, nice music. But it seems to have that big open Sonic 3 thing going on where I get confused at the level design trying to figure out where to go next. @Dave: are you saying that later levels are less open?

[dsheinem]

@Dave: are you saying that later levels are less open?

Maybe a little bit, yeah. I would be interested to hear your thoughts on the difficulty of the last couple of bosses - I am guessing you may consider rage-quitting, which doesn't seem at all likely for the first 2/3 or so of the game

First level - Meh. Why do people like this so much?
Levels 2-6 - nice pacing, fun platforming, fair challenge. A great "lost" 2D game that approaches par with something like Shovel Knight
Levels 7+ - intricate, fascinating, and challenging levels & increasingly tough "fuck you" bosses

[J T]

The final bosses definitely felt like a "fuck you," but after the initial frustration, I enjoyed the challenge and the eventual victory was greatly satisfying because you can't beat those bosses on accident. You have to memorize their attack patterns and know your strategies for how to get off a hit without getting trashed. It was weird though that I never died for most of the game, then with just a few boss battles at the end, SLAM! Suddenly I had died 120 times.

[dsheinem]

The final bosses definitely felt like a "fuck you," but after the initial frustration, I enjoyed the challenge and the eventual victory was greatly satisfying because you can't beat those bosses on accident. You have to memorize their attack patterns and know your strategies for how to get off a hit without getting trashed. It was weird though that I never died for most of the game, then with just a few boss battles at the end, SLAM! Suddenly I had died 120 times.

Yeah, it is definitely rewarding, but it smacks (to me) of bad design...the steep ramp up turned a typical Sonic-style fun romp into something I didn't think I was in for. I'd count beating those bosses amongst the toughest things I did in a game this year, but the rest of the game gave no indication hell awaited

[Xeogred]

I'm up to level 5 and have been noticing that as well. That second spider boss was a sign of things to come I guess. lol

[dsheinem]

I'm up to level 5 and have been noticing that as well. That second spider boss was a sign of things to come I guess. lol

lol

you have no idea...

[Xeogred]

Wasn't there difficulty selections? I was thinking of restarting on easy, but I've come this far...