Review 01: Whoa...Talk About A Literal Fall Between The Cracks

Chasm is a game created by j0ji

Hey, guys! I'm Autumnwinter, and I've just been accepted as a reviewer! I'm going to try to review games that haven't already been reviewed, and I found one. So, as my first review, I've chosen a very unique game called Chasm by J0ji. After playing this game, I can tell that J0ji is a very talented game creator, especially on the Physics-Puzzle Maker. If you don't know him, you may recognize his work on his other game, The Graveyard Shift (which by the way, is amazing as well.) Without further ado, let's get started!

Introduction/Story

According to the description, Chasm is about a penguin who falls into a chasm and tries to find his way out. Not a very unique story, but I don't mind. What I really like about the game is the platforming. J0ji went out of his way to provide us with a variety of difficult puzzles, and is almost never repetitive. I'll get into the Gameplay later, but it's time for the First Look Show with Autumnwinter and Ellen DeGeneres! (okay, maybe I fibbed a little)

The First Look Show!

The first level of Chasm wasn't too eye catching (not talking about the intro, of course). I felt like J0ji could have done more with the penguin falling inside of the chasm. Maybe we could control the penguin sledding somewhere, and then falling. But, as obviously hard as the game is, there was even a bit of difficulty in the level where you fall down. Heck, I see a couple comments below Chasm that say, "How do you beat Level 2?" ...when all you're doing is falling. After that level, this game was glorious. The puzzles were amazing, and they only got better as I kept on playing. The only problem I had at the beginning was the lack of direction. Level 2 has you getting a pickaxe in a hard-to-reach and avoidable place.

Gameplay

Hard. Like, rock solid hard. Every level had me raging because of the enemies and the spazziness of my fingers on the arrow keys. As hard as they were, I felt like that was a good thing. Because without the hazards, this game would be very bland. As you can tell, Chasm is made with few graphics and mostly shapes made in the creator. Another problem I had with the gameplay was how slow the penguin went when he's holding an item. I felt it should have been better if you could drag the mouse instead of the item sticking to you. It slows you down a lot and messes up the controls BIG TIME. The items were a great addition to the game, and I'm glad that there was a different one in every level. There was a pickaxe, a shovel, a sword...I wonder if J0ji plays Minecraft. Huh.

Level Design

Somebody get me a cup of coffee, so I can stay awake typing all of this! Chasm's level design was very intricate. A lot of the time, I found myself in situations where I had to double jump, or restart the level to get out of impossible situations, especially in Level 5, the one with the underwater section. Next up, we got the enemies. And boy, are there a lot of them! If I could choose one I saw the most (annoying), it would be that blue spiky slug. If the penguin just tapped one of those babies with the tiniest flick of a flipper, he dies and restarts the game. Maybe they have the flu? I think they should have hurt your penalty count, and not your life count. The blue slugs were also placed in the strangest of places. For example, on either Level 6 or 7, maybe 6, there were "stairs" in the ground, and a slug was placed delicately...right in front of where you need to go. The only way I could find myself around it was the use the glitch with the key, to "fly" over it. The biggest problem with the game was in Level 7. I'm not going to spoil it, but I accidentally led the penguin into a specific spot, which gave me a coin. I just walked right in the middle of nowhere and I win. I didn't get any items, keys, pickaxes, nothin'! ...Phew, lotta words there. Did you get all that? Good. Because I ain't done yet.

Scenery & Artwork

Don't get me wrong, the scenery isn't bad, even if it is made out of generic Physics-Creator shapes. It looks amazing, like a frozen cave mixed with a ski-lodge, but I felt like more could have been done. Look at the background of Level 3. The only decorations I see are the drip-drops of water from a spike, and the debris of your sled. Level 4 had nothing but a little wooden...thingy in a corner. More should have been done with this. Now, if J0ji made the graphics for The Graveyard Shift, I'm assuming he may have also made the graphics for Chasm. There weren't much to look at, but just take one good look at the penguin. That must have taken a pretty good while to make. Cheers to that!

CHASM: Ratings

Story: 5/10

First Look: 7/10

Gameplay: 8/10

Level Design: 8/10

Scenery & Artwork: 6/10

Grand Score: 6.8/10

Final Words

Is it over? Okay, good. My fingers hurt, and it's only my first review! Look at, say, Moola's page! He's written 12 reviews as of today! How are his fingers not broken? Oh well, I may as well break mine now by saying: that's it for my review! Go have a great day! Autumnwinter out!