Phantom Spark

Quick Description: -Phantom Sparks is a zen-like and cathartic time trials racing game with a very beautiful visual style. This is probably the first racing game that I have reviewed in 5+ years. I was drawn to this game for the visual style and the reviews talking about how tranquil and serene this game is. That's exactly how I would describe this game. It's very easy to get into a flow state and just keep loading up the same map, hoping to shave off a millisecond off of your time. It's very rewarding to master all of maps and mechanics in this game. Consensus: -Solid Game (Tier 3 and makes up 35% of my reviews). My only real complaints for this game is that there isn't a ton of content (5-6 hrs for the main content) and that it is purely a time trials game. Having said all that, mastery of this game will take a heck of a lot more than 5-6 hrs. I have unlocked all of the domains, acquired silver or better on every level in the first 2 domains, but only have a handful of gold times and am nowhere near full mastery of all of the levels. If you are purist, you can probably get a good 20 hours out of this indie gem. This game is all about the vibes, the peaceful music, and the zen-like nature of loading of another race. Phantom Sparks is an easy game to recommend.

It's like F-Zero and fast, but somehow chill and soothing. Great once you enter the flow state. Saucy.

With my only experience in AG racing being Redout 1, I've picked this game up on a whim. And I do not regret having done so. It's a time-trial racer. It's easy to pick up and understand, which is what makes it so fun I find - there's no complicated mechanics at play, just you, your spark (the vehicle), and the pathway. There are domain-specific modifications to the pathways. Fwinti's domain, for example, has sand that you basically perma-drift on. Zyn's domain has rivers you gain extra speed on if you stick to them. These are small yet interesting enough additions that make finding the most optimal path more interesting, rather than a "take the turn as tight as you can" type of thing. Overall, I find it to be a fun game! But again, this is not coming from someone who generally plays racings games on a regular basis. Still, I enjoy this game well enough that I plan to finish it to completion.

游玩感受: 极接近完美(98%) 纯粹 绝对 我完全沉浸其中 我无法描述 实在是 价格放大了最后的缺点 如果等待折扣购买 [spoiler] 最后 不要参与全球在线排行榜 那会使心态和玩法核心转变 影响你的游玩体验 [/spoiler]

Not bad, but kind of mixed feelings. Besides the overall aesthetic and soundtrack, I can't think of any reason why one would play this over Trackmania. The mechanics are basic, but passable. It will keep you entertained for a bit. This game's biggest fault, however, is the amount of content. Just three domains, which each take 15 to 25 minutes to complete, and that includes unwanted cutscenes and unnecessary dialogue. After that, you're only left with chasing ghosts from a not very well populated leaderboard. It's decent fun while it lasts, that just happens to be not very long. The trailer also shows you racing against a lot of ghosts at the same time, but the game only seems to allow two ghosts at most. And one of those is your own personal best.

I think I have completed about 50% of the game at the time of writing this review. This is a fun time trial game, though a tad bit minimalistic for some, maybe. The game features characters, introduced at the very start of the game. There is one character for each of the three track settings. They "talk" from time to time, I guess it has been done that way so that the game feels more alive. I'm not a fan of it but I guess the game could've ended worse without it. Although they work perfectly and are not confusing etc. I am not a fan of the menus either, as they are kinda slow and some dialogue is useless (example: I have seen I have just unlocked a trial, no need to tell me when it's the 4th or 5th trial I'm going to beat !). Dialogues / menu prompts are not incredibly slow, I just wish I could skip them pressing A or something like that, if I don't care. Anyway. The game is structured in small levels. Short time trials, but mileage can vary, and a few trials are longer. Vehicle handling is very simple. Gameplay is very minimalistic as it is mainly about driving the shortest path, and that alone is fun enough. Going for the shortest path will often mean running closer to walls, and hitting them come with a penalty. Devs added a few variations: dirt (slows you down), jumps (you can fly in the air), boosts (gives you a speed boost when you pass them). Sometimes the track will split in two and you can choose left or right (never makes a difference I think, it's just funny design). tl;dr: a simple, but fun, time trial game, with tight controls, carefully crafted challenges and good track design..