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For: I wanna reach the Moon
For: I wanna reach the Moon
You, the kid, for some reason feel the need to go to the moon, and murder the local wildlife. To do this, you'll go around and steal spaceship parts from people who shoot variously shaped bullets at you.
So, the usual Den compliments apply: The tiling and visuals are great, music choices are on point, etc etc. Stuff you've heard before. Stuff you've heard about a lot of adventure games, in general. So let's talk specifically about Reach the Moon.
This game is a puzzle platformer. And I mean that in the most true sense. It's not just a platformer with puzzles or vice versa. I think Den succeeds, maybe more than any other i've seen, at blending the 2 things together: Platforming is often part of puzzle solutions. Outside of the first area, which stumbles with this a bit (i'll get to that later) the puzzles feel like they actively contribute to the platforming as opposed to 2 things just awkwardly sitting in the same room together.
Very often when puzzles come in adventure games, they feel like they're actively fighting eachother. The platforming is just this awkward mesh of easy spikes that only exist to slow you down or choke on, to repeat the whole thing. There's a bit of that, don't get me wrong, but in here that's not the case. The solution you come towards will involve navigating disappearing and reappearing blocks at specific times. Or alternate depending on your jump. Most of the puzzle types you'll see engage the player in both ways, and I think it's something that deserves accolades.
Also another thing that goes horrifically wrong in fangames; Bosses! Not here though. Most of the bosses here are tuned fairly softly, but are very fast paced. They're a bit too easy for my liking, but they work for the games intended difficulty. I'll save the specifics for the spoiler section here, but the final boss especially is definitely the most memorable part of the game. It's a denferok loveletter to... denferok, but that's not a bad thing. I was sad there wasn't a runescape raid at the end.
So, bosses are good, platforming and puzzles work well together and create a fun experience. So, what're the issues? Well, besides a bit of a slow opener and some nitpicks on certain sections that aren't really worth pointing out, not especially. I think why I have the game rated as I do is because... honestly, the game feels very restrained. None of the gimmicks feel pushed very far, or far at all. That's to the benefit of the games pacing, but also seems like a waste of potential. The sky temple is great, and ends when it should, but it also left me wanting at the end. I wasn't bored or anything, but it felt like I didn't really.. do anything memorable with anything.
And that I think ends up being Reach the Moons biggest fault: At the end, outside of what I mentioned, it plays everything extremely safe. So safe that nothing really left an imprint. Everything just kind of comes and goes, there's no real stories to tell or things to reminisce about. As production values and expectations go up with fangames, this game doesn't really do a lot to stand out among them. It's just Another Modern Fangame that plays everything to be as accessible as possible and that's kind of it. The kind of game that when someone brings up I'll think "Oh yeah that was a good game" but not a game i'll think about very often. That's probably what Den intended, and for that it's a success. But for a game thats bursting at the seams with ideas and creativity, it doesn't have a lot of substance. It doesn't feel like it'll stay in memory very long.
So, despite it being for all intents and purposes a well executed adventure game, it also feels plain, if that makes sense.
I hope Den makes something with more teeth sometimes, because I think that's where his talent really is. But if not, that's okay too. The glowing reviews of this game speaks for itself, but I find it wanting.
Spoilers!
Caverns: Yeah, honestly there's no nice way to say it: This stage just kind of sucks. I know block puzzles are sort of the puzzle game classic, especially as an opener, but wow it does not work here. See, when there's some sort of execution requirement for success, repetition as a death punishment is fair. When it's 'woops I pushed a block a bit too close to the edge, go move all the blocks around again', its insufferable. When blocks are as far away as possible, the stage is at least functional, but oh my god it is not when they appear.
Desert: Just kind of there. Not really bad but very forgettable. The boss is fun though.
Forest: This stage is great. This is where the puzzle platforming really starts coming together. It was kind of unintuitive at first, but the 'order' of specific apples of the same color mattering was a neat way of doing it, as opposed to just overloading the player with several types of colors. Figuring out what you need to turn off and when and where, is pretty cool. Great stuff.
Pyramid: Okay, I confess: God damn I hate this laser puzzle. Not because of anything specific, but my brain just does not compute this shit man. I do wish the solutions were a bit more involving, like you had to navigate the lasers more. Then again, it is SUPER frustrating to accidentally land on a laser and have to redo and recalibrate everything. Think it could have used a bit more involvement or have progress saved. For what it's worth, though, I found the 2 just straight platforming screens before hand pretty enjoyable. Boss was fun too.
Factory: I quite like this stage. Both gimmicks mesh together well, and navigating the kill blocks to push them or pull them in the correct direction is really satisfying to do. The alternating colored blocks with spikes was a nice twist aswell. Good difficulty aswell. One of the more polished stages of the game for sure.
Sky Temple: 2 simple gimmicks coming together creating something not overly complicated but engaging. This is unfortunately one of the bigger examples of a game that kind of ends just as it starts, though. Would have really liked to see more screens with triple jump and the color swap. Not bad, but a bit of a letdown. Cool boss.
Ice Cave: My favorite stage in a walk. I really like how despite being a really elaborate layout, the way to progress forward is intuitive. It really feels like you're navigating a long, elaborate cave network despite being a rather linear progression. 3 Gimmicks that work well together. I wish everything in this game was at this scale. Boss is... not as good at the others. It's a bit too slow. Not a bad concept though.
Moon: Was let down that it was more about like, a screen/gimmick from each stage as opposed to combining gimmicks to create some really wacky stuff. Not bad but the stage itself was REALLY anticlimactic.
Both bosses, on the other hand, are legit. I'm always a sucker for infinite jump, and I could see the blur of the projectiles being a problem for some, but I found Ariel to be really fun to read. The last attack especially is a joy. I love slow, intense attacks like that.
The final boss is a nuclear rendition. It's.. a lot, for sure, but I thought it was all appropriately paced. Please give me autofire if you're going to make something so tanky though. A lot of games do the whole 'fight the old bosses' thing, but this having multiple at once with specific attacks they do when they're background or foreground is really cool though. The escape sequence was REALLY unnecessary, personally. I don't think it really needed it. Felt like it killed the afterglow of the victory and didn't the platforming wasn't especially interesting. Could have done without it.
Anyway, thats that! This... was really long, yeesh. If you read this Den, know I love you. I feel like with this and gothic castle I've been slightly harsh to your games, but I think you're a good maker. And this games glowing reviews prove that.
[4] Likes
So, the usual Den compliments apply: The tiling and visuals are great, music choices are on point, etc etc. Stuff you've heard before. Stuff you've heard about a lot of adventure games, in general. So let's talk specifically about Reach the Moon.
This game is a puzzle platformer. And I mean that in the most true sense. It's not just a platformer with puzzles or vice versa. I think Den succeeds, maybe more than any other i've seen, at blending the 2 things together: Platforming is often part of puzzle solutions. Outside of the first area, which stumbles with this a bit (i'll get to that later) the puzzles feel like they actively contribute to the platforming as opposed to 2 things just awkwardly sitting in the same room together.
Very often when puzzles come in adventure games, they feel like they're actively fighting eachother. The platforming is just this awkward mesh of easy spikes that only exist to slow you down or choke on, to repeat the whole thing. There's a bit of that, don't get me wrong, but in here that's not the case. The solution you come towards will involve navigating disappearing and reappearing blocks at specific times. Or alternate depending on your jump. Most of the puzzle types you'll see engage the player in both ways, and I think it's something that deserves accolades.
Also another thing that goes horrifically wrong in fangames; Bosses! Not here though. Most of the bosses here are tuned fairly softly, but are very fast paced. They're a bit too easy for my liking, but they work for the games intended difficulty. I'll save the specifics for the spoiler section here, but the final boss especially is definitely the most memorable part of the game. It's a denferok loveletter to... denferok, but that's not a bad thing. I was sad there wasn't a runescape raid at the end.
So, bosses are good, platforming and puzzles work well together and create a fun experience. So, what're the issues? Well, besides a bit of a slow opener and some nitpicks on certain sections that aren't really worth pointing out, not especially. I think why I have the game rated as I do is because... honestly, the game feels very restrained. None of the gimmicks feel pushed very far, or far at all. That's to the benefit of the games pacing, but also seems like a waste of potential. The sky temple is great, and ends when it should, but it also left me wanting at the end. I wasn't bored or anything, but it felt like I didn't really.. do anything memorable with anything.
And that I think ends up being Reach the Moons biggest fault: At the end, outside of what I mentioned, it plays everything extremely safe. So safe that nothing really left an imprint. Everything just kind of comes and goes, there's no real stories to tell or things to reminisce about. As production values and expectations go up with fangames, this game doesn't really do a lot to stand out among them. It's just Another Modern Fangame that plays everything to be as accessible as possible and that's kind of it. The kind of game that when someone brings up I'll think "Oh yeah that was a good game" but not a game i'll think about very often. That's probably what Den intended, and for that it's a success. But for a game thats bursting at the seams with ideas and creativity, it doesn't have a lot of substance. It doesn't feel like it'll stay in memory very long.
So, despite it being for all intents and purposes a well executed adventure game, it also feels plain, if that makes sense.
I hope Den makes something with more teeth sometimes, because I think that's where his talent really is. But if not, that's okay too. The glowing reviews of this game speaks for itself, but I find it wanting.
Spoilers!
Caverns: Yeah, honestly there's no nice way to say it: This stage just kind of sucks. I know block puzzles are sort of the puzzle game classic, especially as an opener, but wow it does not work here. See, when there's some sort of execution requirement for success, repetition as a death punishment is fair. When it's 'woops I pushed a block a bit too close to the edge, go move all the blocks around again', its insufferable. When blocks are as far away as possible, the stage is at least functional, but oh my god it is not when they appear.
Desert: Just kind of there. Not really bad but very forgettable. The boss is fun though.
Forest: This stage is great. This is where the puzzle platforming really starts coming together. It was kind of unintuitive at first, but the 'order' of specific apples of the same color mattering was a neat way of doing it, as opposed to just overloading the player with several types of colors. Figuring out what you need to turn off and when and where, is pretty cool. Great stuff.
Pyramid: Okay, I confess: God damn I hate this laser puzzle. Not because of anything specific, but my brain just does not compute this shit man. I do wish the solutions were a bit more involving, like you had to navigate the lasers more. Then again, it is SUPER frustrating to accidentally land on a laser and have to redo and recalibrate everything. Think it could have used a bit more involvement or have progress saved. For what it's worth, though, I found the 2 just straight platforming screens before hand pretty enjoyable. Boss was fun too.
Factory: I quite like this stage. Both gimmicks mesh together well, and navigating the kill blocks to push them or pull them in the correct direction is really satisfying to do. The alternating colored blocks with spikes was a nice twist aswell. Good difficulty aswell. One of the more polished stages of the game for sure.
Sky Temple: 2 simple gimmicks coming together creating something not overly complicated but engaging. This is unfortunately one of the bigger examples of a game that kind of ends just as it starts, though. Would have really liked to see more screens with triple jump and the color swap. Not bad, but a bit of a letdown. Cool boss.
Ice Cave: My favorite stage in a walk. I really like how despite being a really elaborate layout, the way to progress forward is intuitive. It really feels like you're navigating a long, elaborate cave network despite being a rather linear progression. 3 Gimmicks that work well together. I wish everything in this game was at this scale. Boss is... not as good at the others. It's a bit too slow. Not a bad concept though.
Moon: Was let down that it was more about like, a screen/gimmick from each stage as opposed to combining gimmicks to create some really wacky stuff. Not bad but the stage itself was REALLY anticlimactic.
Both bosses, on the other hand, are legit. I'm always a sucker for infinite jump, and I could see the blur of the projectiles being a problem for some, but I found Ariel to be really fun to read. The last attack especially is a joy. I love slow, intense attacks like that.
The final boss is a nuclear rendition. It's.. a lot, for sure, but I thought it was all appropriately paced. Please give me autofire if you're going to make something so tanky though. A lot of games do the whole 'fight the old bosses' thing, but this having multiple at once with specific attacks they do when they're background or foreground is really cool though. The escape sequence was REALLY unnecessary, personally. I don't think it really needed it. Felt like it killed the afterglow of the victory and didn't the platforming wasn't especially interesting. Could have done without it.
Anyway, thats that! This... was really long, yeesh. If you read this Den, know I love you. I feel like with this and gothic castle I've been slightly harsh to your games, but I think you're a good maker. And this games glowing reviews prove that.
Rating: 7.0 70
Difficulty: 40 40
Mar 3, 2019
MrSnailz
For: I wanna Magical
For: I wanna Magical
Tagged as: Needle
[0] Likes
Rating: 5.0 50
Difficulty: 55 55
Mar 3, 2019
Qoo
For: I Wanna Be The Beach
For: I Wanna Be The Beach
Garbage-like placement and unpleasant jump. And a level design that is totally fun or fun. Such games are not worth evaluating :)
[2] Likes
Rating: 0.0 0
Difficulty: N/A
Mar 3, 2019
MrSnailz
For: I wanna Twist and Turn
For: I wanna Twist and Turn
Tagged as: Needle
[0] Likes
Rating: 8.0 80
Difficulty: 60 60
Mar 3, 2019