Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet

A casual metroidvania * that simply lacks the Bite overall. It starts quite well, you get different weapon tools with which you can solve different "Puzzles" that carry you on. But the Quotation marks are already the first Problem: "Puzzles" that have little to do with thinking. The Game boasts "Innovative and intuitive puzzle design," but by "intuitive" they only mean that the Solution of each Puzzle is immediately apparent, because most Puzzles The Game are simple 1 + 1 tasks that feel more like Work than Brainteaser: Box + Switch, Shutter + Crumbling wall, plug + Socket, ... No "Endgame" Is meant to mean: There are no Upgrades that make already visited Areas easier (except simple beam And Envelope Upgrades). There are no Upgrades that increase the Speed of Movement. There are no new Shortcuts. Even don't Expect Teleporters. If you missed something in an Area, you can solve some puzzles several times. What is a Mystery whose Solution you already know? This Point is somewhat weakened by the next one: * Linear (Schein-Metroidvania) In Essence, you get an Upgrade, which leads to the next Area, which gives the next upgrade for the next Area. There are no really "convoluted" areas and you keep ending up in the Hub, which makes the Term "Metroidvania" borderline in this Case. In Fairness, though, it has to be said that the Game itself is called an adventure game, not Metroidvania, but the Set up of the Game makes you suspect otherwise. Weak End First, the last Area is very strangely designed: It starts with a Chase (of course you are hunted yourself), but this is over as quickly as it started ...? Next, you learn that you die in the Dark, OK, then we take a Lamp with us. But this Section is practically completely harmless ...? You then activate two Switches in two different Places and then you already end up with the Boss ...? I can understand if you want to build a dark, mysterious Atmosphere, but then why the Chase? A Break In style as it stands in the Beech. After this last Area you can go directly to the Final Boss, no new Area, no Obstacles, you just visit him. This Final Boss, however, is the Definition of anti-climatic. The Boss fight consists of only three very short Phases, which throw far too much Healing afterwards. I wondered aloud "was that it?" And yes, it was it then indeed. The Final Sequence Had no real Meaning at all. I couldn't understand why the Final Boss is easier than the Boss you've just fought before. He could have had more than three Phases, he could have needed intelligent Use of all different Weapons, instead he and all that comes after that is quite a Disappointment. Story "captivating back stories," it says. Easier knitted, though, a Story might not be at all. Short Game Time I took 8.3 Hours for 100% and I ended up wandering around for a long time because I had taken a (4 Years!) long break of Play and Therefore no longer knew what Upgrades and Artifacts I had already collected. There is certainly no Problem playing through the Game in 5-6 Hours. Other Thoughts As you can see, I only listed the negative Points of the Game, in The End these are the Points that were decisive for me. You could talk about the great Style, about the initially interesting physics Games, about the opponents who were well designed in themselves. After my Playing Time, however, the negative Points predominate for me, the "Puzzle work" has not really paid off.