I don't think I've ever posted in the games beaten thread.
The other day "Xeodrifter" went on sale in the 3DS eShop, and that was what I needed to buy it. I'd heard it was short, $10 seemed too much of an ask, $5 was more reasonable. I'm a sucker for the "metroidvania" (sorry, I hate that term, but it is what it is) style of game.
The good:
- Excellent control. The character has a generous range of motion, movement is tight, shooting is tight, special abilities are tight.
- Customisable upgrades. Rather than getting a "wave beam", or other individual gun types, you get gun upgrade modules which you can then portion out to strength, speed, wave, etc. Basically you get to make your weapon your own, neat.
- It's pretty. The "retro" style is getting a little overdone, but the pixel art is gorgeous.
The bad:
- It's short. 100% in under 2h. I see that the game is also available on Steam, with a speedrunning achievement for 59m or under. I could see being able to do that easily the second go 'round.
- The game starts to get really, really good in the endgame. There's a particular sequence that tests every special ability you've gained in one swoop. I say this as a negative because the game could easily have been longer, and could have presented more challenge like this. I really hate it when a game shows off its potential in the last five minutes.
- It's super easy. Upgrades are fast and furious, and once you're maxed out, you'll steamroll everything. Again, in the Steam version there's an achievement for finishing the final boss without getting hit. You're so powerful that as long as you're adept at dodging a few bullets, it really is a snoozefest.
- You fight the same boss over and over. He retains the past patterns you've learned while adding a new one each time. I don't necessarily like revisiting the same boss over and over...like in the later Zelda handheld series where you constantly return to the same dungeon. Ugh. Repetition breeds dissatisfaction.
Overall, I really recommend it if you're into this style of game, even though it's super short. Game length is a hotly contested topic these days, and I hate to be "that guy", but this one really was in the too short category. It could have been longer, with a touch more challenge to really encourage learning to speedrun it. Would have added to the replayability. As it stands now, I'd have to wait some time before returning to it because the experience does not change at all, right down to enemy placement. What there was of it was fun though, and as something you can enjoy from start to finish in one sitting, I'd say it's worth it.
I sound so conflicted.
