Superbrothers: Swords & Sworcery EP (PC, 2011)
Graphics-8 Sound-9 Control-6 Challenge-6 Story-6
Level Design-6 Frustration-7 Fun-5.5 Originality-5
Overall Score-6
+
Excellent sound design
Fairly unique visual style
Minimal and stylish interface (sometimes style over function, main menu buttons and entering the inventory should be faster)
Read NPCs' minds via the megatome (sounds more interesting than it is though)
Some nice visual effects
Interesting "EP A- and B-sides as parallel worlds" concept
+/-
Your avatar sounds like a kid when performing actions but like a (modern) man when talking to NPCs (who don't talk back for whatever reason)
Instead of checkpoints the game cuts to a narrator and then to the main menu (for a "break", also showing your progress on a percentage bar spoiling the game's length)
Dialogue with NPCs is mostly told through narration (we asked this and he told that)
Shaking camera when taking or dealing damage
Auto-save at each new area
There's Z and X for alternate combat controls on PC but the game doesn't mention them
You can touch background objects from afar (pointless and a bit strange)
-
Twitter integration (optional but the game keeps mentioning it)
Annoyingly tight camera (can be countered with arrow keys but shouldn't need to be)
Scattered characterization of main character (old speak mixed with surfer dude speak - comes off as forced and the humour isn't very good)
Overly simple and stiff combat (FMV-like)
Imprecise hit detection
Uneven difficulty (trigon boss - short time window fmv-like fight with instant death attacks)
Somewhat slow paced (can't run or skip minor cutscenes or parts where you're just going towards the edge of an area into a new one)
Can't hold down the button when exiting an area to keep walking in the next area
Plenty of dead space
When told where the 'pixies' which lift the storm are the locations are not saved to the megatome thought catcher
Too many helping text messages (non-intuitive design, breaks immersion)
No penalty for spamming block (to dodge) during boss fights
The "areola" puzzle (why not say "tree trunks" instead?)
Repeats bosses
Level Design-6 Frustration-7 Fun-5.5 Originality-5
Overall Score-6
+
Excellent sound design
Fairly unique visual style
Minimal and stylish interface (sometimes style over function, main menu buttons and entering the inventory should be faster)
Read NPCs' minds via the megatome (sounds more interesting than it is though)
Some nice visual effects
Interesting "EP A- and B-sides as parallel worlds" concept
+/-
Your avatar sounds like a kid when performing actions but like a (modern) man when talking to NPCs (who don't talk back for whatever reason)
Instead of checkpoints the game cuts to a narrator and then to the main menu (for a "break", also showing your progress on a percentage bar spoiling the game's length)
Dialogue with NPCs is mostly told through narration (we asked this and he told that)
Shaking camera when taking or dealing damage
Auto-save at each new area
There's Z and X for alternate combat controls on PC but the game doesn't mention them
You can touch background objects from afar (pointless and a bit strange)
-
Twitter integration (optional but the game keeps mentioning it)
Annoyingly tight camera (can be countered with arrow keys but shouldn't need to be)
Scattered characterization of main character (old speak mixed with surfer dude speak - comes off as forced and the humour isn't very good)
Overly simple and stiff combat (FMV-like)
Imprecise hit detection
Uneven difficulty (trigon boss - short time window fmv-like fight with instant death attacks)
Somewhat slow paced (can't run or skip minor cutscenes or parts where you're just going towards the edge of an area into a new one)
Can't hold down the button when exiting an area to keep walking in the next area
Plenty of dead space
When told where the 'pixies' which lift the storm are the locations are not saved to the megatome thought catcher
Too many helping text messages (non-intuitive design, breaks immersion)
No penalty for spamming block (to dodge) during boss fights
The "areola" puzzle (why not say "tree trunks" instead?)
Repeats bosses