Topic: Nindies @ Home Impressions Thread

[Soren]

Figures we have a week to play these games, let's put up a place for impressions.

Mutant Mudds Super Challenge
It feels like tried and true Mutant Mudds platforming action. Level 1-1 feels like some of the later levels in the original game. There's some challenge, but it's mostly about manoeuvring your way through the small platforms and taking out the droplets of mud, then avoiding the spikes around the moving platforms. There is very little room for error, and you have to plan your moves out, specially when the enemy count increases. The hidden spots with extra sprites can be a bit difficult to find at first, but seeing how they might make an appearance on pretty much every level, it might just be having to keep a close eye on the walls.

[azeke]

Rive is great, frenetic action, explosions, bosses, everything moves at fast pace.

The only problem -- game hitches from time to time. Hopefully this will be fixed.

[ShyGuy]

Lovely Planet It looks pretty, but man they need to adjust the controls. It clearly was setup for mouse precision, and twin sticks is not cutting it for aiming.

[NWR_insanolord]

I haven't played any of these yet, but I want to say there should have been a "Download All" button. Having to get all 9 of them separately, with several pages to tap through for each, was annoying.

[ShyGuy]

Runbow may be a fun game, but it isn't for me. Of course, I was playing it alone.

TypoMan I was suprised how much I enjoyed this platformer with adventure style puzzles. I may pick this one up.

[ClexYoshi]

they only give you act 1 and the first room of act 2 of Dragon Valley on Freedom Planet... haven't downloaded it yet, but I do wanna check out and see if they've done anything with the gamepad.

[ejamer]

Rive looks and feels great. Definitely interested in seeing the final release for this game!

Runbow may be a fun game, but it isn't for me. Of course, I was playing it alone.
...

This kind of disappoints me - Runbow looks awesome, but I also play solo most of the time so just can't see it getting enough burn to be worth buying.
 

[azeke]

If you want to see Runbow plays in with 8 players, check yesterday's Twitch coverage:

http://www.twitch.tv/twitch/v/6216496

Scroll to 1:55:00

[Soren]

Rive
It's really really good. The shooting feels nice and the hacking mechanic is a nice twist, implemented well in the boss battle.

Typoman
These kind of atmospheric puzzle games are right up my alley, but the controls need to be worked on more. No reason I shouldn't use the D-Pad.

[NWR_insanolord]

Played some of Mutant Mudds. It's definitely more Mutant Mudds, which is perfectly fine by me. It's tough, but I actually found the second level in the demo, from world 3, significantly easier than the one from world 1. I also really liked the boss battle, which did a great job of implementing the platforming gameplay into the fight.

[ShyGuy]

Mutant Mudds Super Challenge Too hard for me. At least today. Never played a Mutant Mudds game before.

Forma.8 This game concept showed promise, but the challenge of the game came from fighting the controls. You float and swoop slowly around, trying to position yourself properly.

Extreme Exorcism Like Runbow, I think this would be much better with multiplayer. Interesting hook. You fight your ghosts from the previous round. And by ghosts, I mean like a Mario Kart Ghost.

[Nile Boogie Returns]

RIVE :


Fantastic! It played smooth and looked great and very clean. For those that haven't played it:
"Blaster Master meets Contra with a just a hint of R-type"

[ShyGuy]

Soul AxiomOH SNAP!! You know what this is?? It's the 'sequel' to Master Reboot! I really liked Master Reboot and this first person adventure game is right up my alley. Boughted so hard.

[Evan_B]

Yeah, Soul Axiom was one of my favorite demos. The run speed needs to be a little faster though.

[MagicCow64]

Tried Rive briefly, but got overwhelmed with the arcadey speed and shooting. The hacking stuff was a cool nuance to it that made me recognize the developer that made Toki Tori 2 a little bit, but I dunno, I think I'm just getting old at 29 and this kind of game is just beyond me now. Had similar feelings about Scram Kitty, though I think that game is not in the same league just based on the Rive demo.

[ShyGuy]

The developers are working on an update for Scram Kitty that is supposed to help things out. I'm going to give it another try when it comes out.

[Evan_B]

I played and beat Scram Kitty, which is an absolute master class design game.

[ejamer]

Played four of the demos so far, so will post impressions below:


Runbow - Honestly, I didn't expect much going in. Based on comments above, it sounds like some people didn't care for the single-player mode. But I was pleasantly surprised and found it kind of awesome to have a grid-based series of challenges that require you to race through levels and beat preset times to earn medals. The graphic design is bright and attractive, while game controls feel decent. Seems like multiplayer would be awesome, and online play is a great addition for this type of game. Despite being primarily a solo gamer, I'm now excited about Runbow coming out.   Verdict: Will Buy!

Mutant Mudds Super Challenge - The name really says it all. Have you played Mutant Mudds before?  If not, you probably want to start with the base game.  Do you love Mutant Mudds? If so, this set of harder levels will probably be right up your alley.  Me?  I'm not really that into the series, and this game did absolutely nothing to change my opinion.  Verdict: Not For Me

Lovely Planet - Hmm... This didn't control well and seemed entirely pointless. It felt like a PC-based tech demo from an amateur developer instead of a fully developed game idea. Sure, the game is still in development... but Lovely Planet was by far the worst demo so far and I can't recommend the game to anyone. The only positive comment I can offer is that the art direction is different enough to be interesting; unfortunately they never do anything interesting with the colorful environments. Verdict: Not Good

Rive - Wow. I didn't know what I was doing and died quickly. Then restarted and did better. Then restarted again and really enjoyed it. Fast-paced, intense, interesting design. I loved Toki Tori 2 so had high hopes for this game... and it blew away all of my expectations. (Except for one: the demo wasn't nearly as accessible as I had expected, throwing you into the action pretty quickly.) There were some significant technical issues still to be ironed out, but I'm really excited to see this get released. Verdict: Will Buy!


Four demos down, and a better overall impression than I expected. Five left to try. From the remaining demos, I think that Extreme Exorcism and Typoman both look vaguely intersting - the rest I have no opinion about. Should be fun. 

[ShyGuy]

Rive As I mentioned in the main thread, this is great demo, even with it's technical glitches. I hope there are more flying segments in the final game.

[Soren]

Freedom Planet
I have no affinity for the Sonic series so this game does nothing for me. Which is odd, seeing as I didn't have much affinity for part of the source material Shovel Knight apes so well. But still, it's a game that just doesn't really do much for me. I was just flailing around during the demo level.


Soul Axiom
The demo really didn't do much for me. A few simple puzzles and a rough looking environment. Maybe I should play Master Reboot first?


forma.8
In the same moody, spooky vibe of games like Knytt Underground and Affordable Space Adventures, this has a bit of charm to it. The combat is pretty good, although the movement is slow and it can cause frustration when coming up against enemies. But this one is high on my list for now.

[Evan_B]

I enjoyed Typo Man, but the answers felt kind of obvious. I also played Extreme Exorcism, and though the mechanics were pretty neat, its a bit too much for my tastes.

Lovely Planet was pretty decent though, it's definitely a speed runner's game.

[ShyGuy]

Freedom Planet I've played all nine demos! This one was pretty good too. They REALLY nailed the feel of the Genesis era Sonic games very well. It was a fun demo and I want to see more.

To Recap:
Lovely Planet: Needs improvement

Runbow: Not for me

TypoMan: Pleasant Surprise

Mutant Mudds Super Challenge: Not for me

Forma.8: Needs improvement

Extreme Exorcism: Not for me

Soul Axiom: Shut up and take my money!

Rive: Pleasant Surprise

Freedom Planet: Pleasant Surprise

[ejamer]

I've now had the chance to play two more of the demos:

Typoman - Hmm... Not sure what to say about this one. I still like the aesthetics and concept, but the execution wasn't really enjoyable. What really turned me off was the solution to the "PART" puzzle. No details to avoid spoilers, but when you know the solution and can't make it happen because of mediocre controls it gets frustrating. That said, it was still interesting to play and I feel like this problem (clever ideas, lacking execution) is very common for indie games.
Verdict: Disappointing

Freedom Planet - I've never been a fan of Sonic games, so hearing people talk about how this game was heavily influenced by that series wasn't exactly a selling point. But I enjoyed the demo a lot more than I had expected to. Lots of different routes through the levels, you can speed run or take your time to explore. Controls felt a little bit odd at times, but never bad. A very pleasant surprise overall as I had no intention of buying prior to the demo.
Verdict: Will Buy (Eventually)

[Soren]

The general consensus for most of these games is that the controls need to be worked on further. Aside from Mutant Mudds and maybe Freedom Planet, none of the other games feel close to finished yet.


I've played all the demos and so far the only ones that are must buy are for me Mutant Mudds and Rive. I am very interested in Typoman and forma.8, but I'll wait for reviews and hopefully the controls are more fleshed out. I need to play Runbow in a multiplayer environment because the single player content is very underwhelming. At least it's going to have online. I have no interest in Freedom Planet or Lovely Planet, and it might take a sale or 2 for me to buy Extreme Exorcism or Soul Axiom.

[ejamer]

The general consensus for most of these games is that the controls need to be worked on further. ...

This doesn't seem unreasonable for a pre-release build though. Does it?  (Maybe that depends on what the actual release date is supposed to be though.)