NightmareZ

*Note that 1 achievement is broken as of this time of writing (20 June 2021) [b]Playing status:[/b] 11/12 achievements, finished the game. The last achievement is broken. [b]Grindy Achievement(s):[/b] Yes (~3 achievements that take ~0.3h to finish). [b]Optional Achievement(s):[/b] Yes (6 achievements). [b]Difficult Achievement(s):[/b] No. [h1]Intro[/h1] [b]NightmareZ[/b] is a platformer game with an odd jumping mechanic. You can float in the air a few seconds after jumping, allowing you to reach higher heights. [b]Pros:[/b] - A lot of levels with boss battles and minigames in it [b]Cons:[/b] - Too much idle time in the air makes your character vulnerable when jumping - The game autosaves after you open the menu, causing you to get soft locked if you save at certain places - Strange collision detection - The game never explains how to cast thunder skill [b]Specs[/b] Intel Core i5-9300H 2.40GHz, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 [h1]Should you buy this game?[/h1] [b]No.[/b] [i]There are better platformer games compared to this one. Take [b][url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/379640/Bloo_Kid_2/]Bloo Kid 2[/url][/b] ([url=https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198132503739/recommended/379640]my review[/url]), for example.[/i] [hr][/hr] [h1]In-Depth Review[/h1] [h3]Visuals[/h3] Despite having a lot of details, the visuals don't look natural at all. Pillars made of steel are standing between the grounds, X-marked neon lights are filling the city areas, and other nonsensical designs are apparent in each area. It's nice to see the theme variety, but the design makes it look as if you are in a different world. [h3]Story[/h3] The game dumps a lot of text right after the beginning, explaining your characters' background. The wording doesn't flow very smoothly and the game couldn't even spell the main character's name right. He was introduced as [i]RaZoR[/i] at first, and all capital letters seem to be overlooked whenever his name is mentioned after that, writing it as [i]Razor[/i] instead. The story doesn't seem to make sense if you noticed what you were doing. I couldn't talk much without spoiling the story, but let's just say that what he said contradicts what has been done. The story is also not finished, giving you a "to be continued" screen with a strange ending - I even laughed at the last scene due to how ridiculous it was. The continuation is not something I look forward to, but it would be nice if I could see the actual ending after going through all the trouble of finishing it. [h3]The Game[/h3] [b]Gameplay[/b] As I said before, it's a platformer game with a weird jumping mechanic. There is a lot of idle time in the air, making it as if you're floating instead of jumping. This makes it hard to dodge any projectiles that come to your location since they run very fast. You'll have to spend a lot of time to kill shooting enemies from afar or risk losing a lot of health. Luckily, these kinds of enemies won't show up until you are further in the game, and when they do, they are not appearing often except in one level. That being said, most of your troubles will come from obstacles. A lot of obstacles are introduced in the game, ranging from a simple spike to a laser that can switch on and off. Some obstacles will deal a lot of damage to your HP, some will kill you with a single touch. It was tiring to keep on trying to get through some obstacles, especially when there is an obstacle that is moving very quickly. Moreover, the collision also seems to be off - I kept on dying from a place that spews out lasers even though there weren't any lasers turned on. [b]Bosses[/b] Despite the unique bosses, all bosses can be defeated with no effort. There are 4 bosses in total and you can defeat them just by spamming your attack from a certain location. Although I'm glad that they aren't that hard because I couldn't control the character well, it wasn't satisfying to beat the bosses this way. [b]Length and Difficulty[/b] I finished the game in 3h. Some of that playtime (~0.3h) was spent in finishing the grindy achievements where you have to kill a lot of enemies. The game can be hard when you have to deal with some annoying obstacles, but you can always save before going through it and load it if you fail. Sadly, the "game over" screen lasts for a while, eating up more of your time to finish the game. [b]Problems[/b] I didn't know that there is another attack aside from the normal gun at first. The game only states that I could shoot with the X and space button, but it never states that you have to stop moving to cast the lightning attack. Guns are also working differently whenever you are pressing arrow keys or not, giving more confusion. The game autosaves when you open the menu. However, you can get soft locked in a level because of the level design. You can only go to the next level by collecting all "stars", but you can't backtrack to some areas in the level. Saving at this point of no return will force you to restart the game from the beginning since it only has 1 save slot. [h1]Conclusion[/h1] Not only that the game has a weird mechanic, but the execution itself is falling apart. A lot of your playtime will be spent trying to pass through difficult obstacles that can kill you instantly or trying to figure out the most effective way to clear a level without getting hit. Dodging enemies' attacks almost become impossible due to the weird jumping mechanic, and I couldn't seem to find anything enjoyable from the game. Seeing that there are a lot of better platformers that you can buy, I don't think you should buy this game. [quote]Visit SaveOrQuit.com for detailed game reviews, posted daily![/quote]