Review #1: Story Time With Ol' Daydream

This is a game created by gnashtynas

Ohai kids, it's Daydream. Here for Story Time? I thought so. Today I'll be talking about my wonderful adventure in a mysterious world, all viewed by this special game called 'This' by GnashtyNas. Before I start, lemme just thank y'all for reading my first review. So, without further adon't, let us begin Story Time!

Game Name: This

Type: Retro Arcade

Creator: GnashtyNas

Prologue

Now children, I hope you have a barrel-load of patience, because I'm going to be nagging throughout this entire story of epicness.

I just wanted to visit some new world. The 'Featured' page was full of games that were featured just a week ago, and I really wanted something new. And then, all of sudden (you know what this means, kids, SUSPENSE) a new game popped out of the blue, entitled 'THIS'.

Of course, I clicked on it and started to derp out. Now, on to Chapter 1!

Chapter 1: The World Itself

The objective of this game? Save a girl that has a crush on you from the clutches of her evil kidnappers. You don't normally see that in every featured game. Oh, what a beautiful love story... (tear)

Oh right, the gameplay. The action doesn't really start right from the get-go. Of course, there's the usual training stage. Even after that, I still wasn't jumping on many baddies and going, "KAPOOYA!" as I usually did.

The action starts once you encounter the furry bear. I forgot his name, perhaps it was Cookie the Tortoise? Anyways, I loved the fact that this game can be sped-run, or you can stop and savour every nook and cranny this game has to offer. For the purpose of Story Time, I decided to complete every single challenge that I encountered (okay, not EVERY challenge) in order to bring a quality review.

Most of the game is based on jumping and showing off a bunch of parkour skills. Sure, you can call that fun for the first 2 levels, but once you encounter the bunch of vines and cacti, one false move, and the cacti will start playing "Poke The Adventurer". Every adventurer has to LOVE that game.

Later in the game I noticed repetition of the earlier stages. The only difference was: each repetition was sprinkled with more sprinkles and stuffed with alot more icing, thus creating a VERY difficult cupcake to swallow (in other words, a harder version of the earlier stage). The repetition was making the game a tad boring, and in my opinion, tedious. Whenever I happen to screw up (which is alot, dear readers, I am a very clumsy person) I reluctantly click on that 'I'M STUCK!' button since I really wasn't willing to replay the entire stage again. By the time I reached the 3rd level I was really bored, with no motivation to keep on playing.

Slow journeys are slow. Sure, you have to rescue a sweet girl with feelings for you (oh, and it feels really weird if you're a female, just putting that out there), but after a few levels, do you really feel obliged to save her now? Alot of walking has been done, and alot of jumping has been done too. No, not jumping on baddies' heads, but jumping across gaps and chasms, attempting to avoid a fall [insert dramatic voice here] to your doom.

Chapter 2: Enemies

There aren't many enemies in 'This', so I can't say much about the enemies. However, the enemies that you'll encounter on your quest to save your possible love were not placed for the sake of placing enemies, but placed strategically. Unfortunately, a good portion of the enemies were for training purposes, but all the other enemies were placed strategically. Some needed to be defeated by spells, others by the sound of your feet crushing bone, others just were there to serve as an undefeatable hazard.

Chapter 3: Scenery

What really impressed me was the scenery. GnashtyNaS didn't just place random backgrounds everywhere, or fill the whole playfield up with one background, he made the scenery look so realistic. The sky was a realistic colour, the sun and moon wasn't placed in a really bizarre position, and the trees and clouds were just... perfect. The NPCs said witty things, and that was basically the only aspect of this game that kept me going.

The only thing I need is border patrol. Seriously, what kind of town doesn't offer security? Who knows if I'm a terrorist who's going to bomb their town with spells? The only thing I encounter is a fellow NPC saying: "Hi there".

Chapter 4: Health

Some health placements weren't really needed. Up to Level 3 I made it with all hearts still in their place. I didn't find myself scrambling to find another health boost, which is a major factor in making a game interesting.

Another thing is the accessibility. If you're like me and want to keep the health bar at its max, then you'll find yourself flicking switches and climbing vines in order to get what you seek. Or, you can keep on collecting Those and trade them in for an upgrade. Either way. Your choice.

Chapter 5: Ratings

Anyone like a cold soda before I start? :p

Gameplay was tedious and repetitive, so if I died I didn't want to restart.

A fort looked like a fort, a forest looked like a forest, and a rural town looked like a rural town. 'Nuff said.

There weren't many enemies, I'd love to see more.

Some boosts weren't really needed.

TOTAL: 13/20 or 65%

Epilogue

All in all, This was a good game, but not the best of its kind. This had potential, but not the fast-paced action I would've liked to see. Even though This has its flaws, I can tell that GnashtyNaS will deliver better arcade games over time.

The End.