Oniken: Unstoppable Edition

Aff Maria, ESSE JOGO QUER ME FUD3R!!! É um belo retrô BRASILEIRO estilo Master System, tão difícil que faz Blasphemous e Hollow Knight parecerem fáceis. Se essa era a dificuldade padrão da época, não sei como o povo aguentava. Não consigo passar do 2º chefe! @_@' Tá, bora tentar de novo e chorar sangue.

frustrating and clunky. i enjoy a challenging game, if the mechanics are fair. not so much the case here. half the time i take damage is because the controls are non-responsive. moonrider, for example, is a phenomenal action platformer. this one totally misses the mark.avoid.

Lots of cheap deaths, larger than needed levels, "memorise the enemy spawns until you finally get through" parts. We've already had our fair share of those in real NES games. But we've already learned that all those used to be nessecities of the time; now they can be seen for what they are: unfun cumbersome relics that are better left alone. Nostalgia factor alone isn't going to cut it.

Bought it cause it looks like 8Bit Fun, but then while playing it...8Bit Fun? Iam Insane? There was no FUN it was grind and hardcore learn and memorise evrything. Yeah NO iam out..let the memorys keep the fun, i cant recommend it at any chance.

[h1] Fartiken. [/h1]

Oniken is yet another game by JoyMasher that perfectly captures the NES aesthetic and what made the NES titles great back in the day. I believe it’s actually their first game, but I played this one right after Odallus: The Dark Call, and I think Oniken felt somewhat superior compared to it. Especially the soundtrack. It’s not a very long game; it takes about 90 minutes to finish, even with a leisurely playthrough, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing since that’s the average length of something from that era. A fair warning, though. It’s quite tough if you’re not a seasoned player in the field. There isn’t much to cover about the gameplay. It plays pretty much like Ninja Gaiden, and the last few stages reminded me of Kabuki: Quantum Fighter, thanks to those tough platforming sections. You occasionally get a sword upgrade that lasts about 2 hits, and it extends your sword’s range. Furthermore, it grants you berserk status with invincibility and increased damage output for a few seconds upon hitting its dedicated button. Apart from your trustworthy sword, you have grenades that deal quite a lot of damage, and they are very useful against the bosses since they can kill them quickly. Speaking of bosses, all of them have predictable patterns and can be mastered in such a short time, but they could pose a challenge if it’s your initial playthrough. The level design is just perfect, and there isn’t a single complaint from my side. However, the enemy placement could be a problem for a casual player without any experience prior to Oniken. It’s still not too big of a problem since the trial-and-error method has been utilized just right for this title. If the campaign failed to scratch that NES-hard itch, there is this Hardcore mode that takes you back to stage 1 as soon as you run out of lives. The enemies also deal double damage, but it’s nothing compared to the Boss Rush, I’d say. That one was the real ball buster for me. The story isn’t something mindblowing as expected, but I really enjoyed how it was presented with cutscenes that reek of testosterone. The extra mission, where you play as Jenny, which pretty much plays like Contra, was very well made as well. A word of advice for the Hardcore mode: keep an eye out for the secrets that grant 1-UP in each level because you’re going to need them to survive. It’s also filled with references to Berserk and Fist of the North Star, which shows the developers have good taste. [h1]TL;DR[/h1] A great homage to the classic NES titles such as Ninja Gaiden, Contra, and Kabuki: Quantum Fighter. It takes about an hour to beat if you’re an experienced player, and with an NES-hard Hardcore mode on your disposal, Oniken is a worthy game that must not be overlooked.

This game has an excellent presentation with the artwork and story cutscenes, even the in-game graphics are really cool for a 8 bit title. Sadly its the gameplay itself that is woeful and lacks polish. I am no stranger to difficult 8 bit games but something about this gameplay just feels completely off especially with the timing. Its almost as if the the developer that designed the game played it and found it too easy. instead of reworking the levels and enemy placements it feels like they just increased the speed of the game by 2. It's a real pity because there are some interesting things going on creatively. But I would rather just get my 8bit action platformer fix from NES titles like : Ninja Gaiden Shatterhand Batman