Koloro

899

Koloro is a rather pleasant dream. [b]DISCLAIMER: THIS REVIEW DOES NOT EVALUATE COOPERATIVE MODE.[/b] [h1]Story[/h1] There's not a lot to go on here. Players take control of a young girl named Kora who seems to be stuck in some sort of dream or nightmare. Together with an imaginary friend, she sets off to find her sister who seems to be missing. Dialogue throughout the journey is sparse and the grammar isn't always what it should be, but there may be a deeper story regarding her sister. Overall the story seems wide open for interpretation and the game could function more or less identically without it, which is fine. [h1]Gameplay[/h1] Koloro is a 2D puzzle-platformer spanning dozens upon dozens of levels but with a twist. Kora takes the form of a square for some reason, and has zero control of her on momentum. Every time you start a level, she will begin continually sliding either to the left or to the right and gravity will always be pulling her downwards. The only control the player has in the entire game is the ability to jump. That's it. Your entire input to this game is a single button. And it works brilliantly. The only way to swap between sliding left or right is to jump into and then off of an opposing wall. This turns Koloro into a lengthy adventure relying entirely on good jump timing, grasping the behavior of how she jumps, and learning to implement the many mechanics the game throws at you. From spike traps and gravity switches to water submersion and buttons that rearrange the entire level, Koloro takes a single form of input from the player and turns it into miles of excellent gameplay. Some levels serve as fast paced tests of reflex and jump accuracy while others focus on laid back environment puzzles to be solved. Many more maps mix the two and completing just about any stage once you're acquainted with the mechanics is highly satisfying. Rarely is there a sense of trial and error as almost every stage can be studied ahead of time before you begin playing. If you're looking for some extra challenge, every level has an associated target time to work on beating and completing the game on Normal mode unlocks Hard mode; featuring the entire campaign again but with even more brutally placed obstacles and timings to struggle through. The time trials really should be a UI element that is featured during gameplay though, rather than having to seek it in the level select. Collision can feel a bit questionable at times but never so harsh that you'll be more than a couple pixels from a hazard if you die. Easily the biggest mistake the entire game makes are the boss fights. They almost tanked this review merely by being mandatory but are so few in number that if you can look past having to deal with them; the rest of the game is very much worth them. Unlike every other stage in the game, they are antithetical how Koloro functions. Where every other stage can be observed ahead of time and has patterns and rhythms that remain consistent no matter what, boss fights are completely random. You'll never know where or even how they're going to attack next until they're about to do it and because you have no genuine control of your character, you may be in a position where it's already too late to even react to the incoming attack. There's no sense of satisfaction when a boss is defeated. There's only a wash of relief that you can go back to playing the actually fun part of the video game again. [h1]Presentation[/h1] Koloro is a very simple visual package and to be frank the game often teeters between incredibly stylish minimalism and a drawing some kid got to put up on their refrigerator; usually the former though. There's a pleasant use of color used in most levels of the game and even a surprising amount of complexity to a particular boss design, but ultimately the game's visuals are the most important thing they need to be: clean and easily readable. Sound design is likewise very minimal with simple sound cues signifying everything from jumps to button presses. The game's soundtrack is a very ambient sort bordering somewhere between genuine music and comfortable noise to fill out the soundscape. Either way, it's kind on the ears