Chirax's Fortress

Feels good to play and isn't frustrating. I love the aesthetic. And the animations are really nice!

Very fun and enjoyable. Consistently entertaining and challenging but fair at times. The visual style is really charming and accurate to what it sets out to do. It's short, sweet and worth your time

Being a friend of the dev, I had the opportunity to playtest early builds of this game and get a bit of an inside look at development on it. It's a clear-as-crystal homage to Yoshi's Island but carries the unique mechanic of your hitpoints also being your main method of attack, (no crying babies in bubbles!) and plays a bit with some creative ideas such as your heads being platforms and foreground/background-based mechanics. If you're a platformer veteran, you might find this game over quick with a slightly medium challenge near the end, which in my opinion is a good and bad thing. On one hand, the game doesn't feel needlessly padded, but on the other, I definitely feel left wanting more. The highlight of Chirax's Fortress is the boss fights, be it simple ones like Fudgie, to some of the later ones with my favorite being [spoiler]the World 6 boss, Vivo.[/spoiler] They definitely felt like they had the most thought put into them, and all came with creative and memorable designs, and the final boss especially is a nice treat. The game also has a simple story that's easy to understand; you're a mother hydra who needs to save her babies, and there's nothing more to it, but I still feel like there are some loose ends that may need to be tied and questions that need to be answered. Why are the knights stealing the babies? What's the relationship between Chirax and Sylvia? [spoiler]What's the lore behind Xarihc?[/spoiler] I'm not asking for every indie game to have a deeper story behind everything since I believe simple is good sometimes. It's just I felt left wanting a little bit more. Overall, this game is good, but I feel like it could have used more time in the oven. It feels a bit early-access and could benefit from a few updates. Then again, that's the beauty of the modern age; that can very much happen. My biggest hope is that this game at least gets attention, or even comes out with a sequel that vastly improves on the original and gains a following. This game idea has potential and room to grow, and hopefully the devs can get the support and attention they need to bring their vision to life. TL;DR: Has potential and charm; a fun experience but feels a bit too short, like a really good fun-size candy bar. 3.5/5.

Cool game! It's quite short (took me just under 3 hours to 100%) and generally easy (to me at least) but I like the art-style (2D sprites in 2.5D and 3D worlds, it also reminds me of the platform racing series if anyone knows of that) and you play as a cool hydra dragon. Note that WASD are the only keyboard controls (no arrows), but the game works well with a controller (and it recommends you to play with one too) so I played it on controller. The levels are set in a series of fun, interesting, and cool environments. The bosses are also cool characters with a lot of variety between their designs, there's also a menu that lets you re-fight just the bosses once you've beaten them. I like these elements a lot but there's not much to say aside from that, because the trailer does a good job of showing what the game is like. If you like the trailer and are fine with a game of this length for this price, then you'll probably like the game. A reason why the game was quite easy to me is the collectables save even after you die and haven't beaten the room yet, even if you die you respawn in the room you were at and not the start of the level (unless you died in the first room). There's nothing wrong with having it be more forgiving like that though and could be a good bonus for some people interested in the game. If you want to get more out of the game you can try to go for the collectables without dying (they still show up as an outline even when collected), or doing no-hit runs, which could get you more out of the game if you want more. Also to note with achievements, they only showed for me when I closed the game. I was running something else at the same time in the background though, so I don't know if that had anything to do with it, but if the achievements don't show up initially don't worry they should when you close the game. Overall this is a nice charming game that might not take long, but you'll enjoy your time playing especially if you like hydras or dragons, doubly so if you like to play as one!

[H1]Charming, full of character, and a fun few hours![/h1] Adorable all the way through!! A lovely romp you can do in a session or two. Also the only game I've ever seen where you play as a hydra (explicitly, Dragon Spirit doesn't really count and getting more heads does more harm than good so it's not the best mechanic)—this must be fixed! Of course, it's not flawless, but the pros outweigh the cons. Pros: + Cute cute cuuuute visuals, including a main character that evokes Rayman and Plok. Her heads even operate a bit separately—look up or down, and there's a slight delay before the other heads follow suit. Fairly varied worlds and enemies with personality! Of note, many characters are armless; this is done for clarity. But it fits the Raymanesque style well! Plus, who can say no to a boss with (ON TIME!!) backup dancers? + Pretty darn decent music! I can see why the OST is separate. + Each level is fun and has its own identity, and while many are pretty easy (the last world's levels have a notable difficulty spike, but it's the final world, so that's okay), it's still satisfying to finish them. + The gameplay itself is done well. I haven't played it, but it plus the visuals evoke Yoshi's Island. Of note is your potentially infinite glide; it takes some getting used to, but if you don't wanna button mash, there is a rhythm you can get into, and you can go FAR. This helps encourage exploration for the gems. Plenty of gimmicks that don't go overkill, with most of them appearing more than once. There are a few puzzles that took a few minutes, but they were all fair. + Very forgiving!! Collect a gem or save a hatchling, and it's saved. You could die right after, and you won't lose that progress! This is excellent for if you miss a gem. You just have to play up to that gem and then you can leave the level via the menu. Infinite lives, and the start of a room is a checkpoint. It's not TOO forgiving, though—you are forced to start with only one head, and while you can walk around headless, you are down to jumping on or slamming enemies. There are carnivorous plants that you can only stun everywhere, even on moving platforms. Plus there's one level (mercifully just one) with an Advancing Wall of Doom. So, it's forgiving, but not a baby game. + Each boss is done in a unique way. They aren't all played like a normal baddie—most of them wouldn't work without their arenas. As a fan of cool boss fights, I approve!! Cons: - Levels are way too short! Some are all on one screen. While this is great for a busy schedule, it's disappointing because it's just so much fun. This IS an indie game made in 5 months, though, so that's mostly forgiven. - You are forced to play in fullscreen or borderless window, the latter of which is a problem if you have multiple screens as it seems to appear in about the center of your setup, and you can't move it. I prefer windowed play, tho this one was still great fullscreen. - The gameplay is fun! It's great! Except the more precise platforming. Chirax accelerates way too fast (pretty much instantly), and it's hard to control her momentum. Granted, I'm a wiggly platformer, so I panic when I'm not sure I'm gonna land. So when I do land and it's easy to run off, it happens often. Personal skill issue aside, there are a number of places where I've missed a jump, even with gliding. So having some better control over jumping would be appreciated. - There's a nice drawn intro, but nothing for the end. Minor but still a bit disappointing. - The hitbox fot the slam takes some getting used to—it's directly under Chirax's feet, even if it looks like it should be wider. Again, minor. Overall, definitely a charming, unique little game! If you get 100%, you actually unlock something nifty, which is more than I can say for many games. I'm looking forward to the sequel!

If you're a fan of retro platformer's Chirax's Fortress is a must. It's fun and tricky with tightly designed levels, interesting mechanics, and loads of charm.