Been excited for this for a long time, since I tried (and failed) to sign it - Team17 nabbed it instead and now it looks like this:
That trailer makes it look less like a pinball game than it actually is, which is a pity. It's a very strong mash-up of pinball and Metroidvania, with lovely graphics and some nice touches to keep you interested. There also appears to be loads to discover - not just a massive map, but plenty of secrets and side-missions as well - though I've only just scratched the surface. Needless to say, I'm going everywhere I can except where I'm meant to, but there's only so much of that you can do when required abilities gate your progress.
The only thing I'd say is that while the pinball side of it is quite prominent, it's dumbed down a little to allow for accessibility and an emphasis on platforming. As a rule, there are a couple of places you can go from each flipper, so the game has quite a wide margin for error on when you hit the ball against where it's going to go. That's fine, it works really well, but can also be a little frustrating if you're used to hitting obtuse angles on pinball tables to go where you want to. Here, secrets are dangled temptingly within reach, but you can rarely get them with well-timed flipper movements; instead, there's always another way round, another route to reach them rather than having to be an expert pinball player. Once you accept that, things are fine… but it's initially a little annoying.
Overall, massive thumbs up. Wait for it to be in a sale, I guess, because it inevitably will be. But it's really rather lovely.
Yes, I've nearly bought this a couple of times already. I need something to play that isn't a 100-hour RPG (he says, playing three 100-hour RPGs simultaneously). I should probably crack on and finish Celeste, then get onto this.
I've explored about half the map now, but missed loads of things and will clearly have to come back. Thankfully, it looks like there are special collectibles that show you where stuff is on the map, so it's very accessible in that respect (though you still have to work out how to get them!).
I've unlocked some new abilities, like being able to suck up explosive slugs and use them to smash rocks, or swinging from plants using a creature tied to a leash. Still loads to do though… looks like there are 80 secret creatures to find, then eight tiki torches which require ten creatures each to light in order to do… something. There's a big nasty in an egg involved, so that could be fun.
Not looking at the trophies, though most are hidden… happy to discover them as I go. I'll do clean-up when I've finished it the first time.
Finished and Platinum'd this now. Lovely, lovely game. A minor gripe or two, but nothing that stopped me from loving it. Those scarabs though… do them as soon as you see them, I say. Backtracking to find the ones you missed is not nice. :)
I haven't replayed it, but I understand they've patched in a lot of additional accessibility things, like tracking for Scarabs you've missed, treasure chests actually displaying as open/shut correctly on the map no matter where you are and so on. Makes it even better. So that's lovely.
I can say that the treasure chests do show as open or closed, but I can't see any sign of scarabs I haven't completed. Maybe I'm missing a collectable to reveal them.
Yeah, I noticed a couple of blue blobs on the map last night. It turns out that I'd been pretty diligent in getting the scarabs as I found the tables and didn't have to revisit much to get the 'Perfectionist' trophy last night.
I din't think that I have much left to do on this now…
On the small areas that look like actual pinball tables… look closely at the edges of the runs. You'll see beetle-like things - every time you run the ball near them or do something specific, they'll open their wings a bit to reveal a gold inner. Open them completely and you'll get a burst of fruit bubbles. You can't 100% the game if you don't get all of these. :)
If it is what it looks like (some kind of pinball metroidvania), then it’s something I would probably very much enjoy, and be happy to take off your hands.
I've finally gotten around to this (on Switch) and it is indeed bloody lovely. I always like the idea of Metroidvania games, but they tend towards being really bloody difficult for some reason, so this is a nice change of pace.
It's beautiful, sounds lovely, and it's a real joy to uncover more of the map and its secrets. Thoroughly recommended, if you didn't get that from everyone else's praise.
