Recent reviews by Jacob

A++

I've taken the Abyss.

This is one of the finest platformers I've played in recent years. Simple, effective controls, creative powerups and storyline, and versatile graphics that make my Intel HD Graphics feel important. As a side note, the soundtrack was appropriately cute (as was the animation) but also engaging; well placed and well timed to keep you involved with your surroundings.

What I appreciate most about this game is it's potential for a wide demographic. I can't imagine most children beyond a very young age (mid-late infancy, perhaps) being bothered by any themes present in this game, or finding it's difficulty overwhelming (; if so, Mom or Dad are always there ;) For adults, it holds value not only in clean gameplay (with no bugs to report personally) but also in being a game that you can pick up and learn the rules of quickly while still having a rewarding experience that engages you and provides a worthy challenge. Some titles are meant be be long-winded and serious with complex controls and deep, intricate stories, and then some titles are not Dark Souls or The Witcher.

Another worthy mention is the recent Blueberry Edition update, with many reported bug fixes and a little more in-game content, such as another level and a new scissor head for our friend the droplet.

While it may be true that it took me only a few hours to play through a second time, they were a few of the best hours I've spent on Steam. If the developers would keep coming out with varied expansions, or a much broader next game, I'd be on it like butter on bread.

Some ideas:

1. Make different characters to choose from; for example, find a way to play as Death in his furry and Giant Head versions, and even play as Sally. It could be across different (hopefully overlapping) adventure modes or something arcade style, with different abilities and each with a different playable purpose than the next.

2. Make hats -AND- heads interchangeably :3 Let there be a hundred different well-animated hats and heads, all with different abilities and/or stats (please make sure there's a Top Hat in there somewhere, and hopefully we can unlock different patterns and colours).

3. Make a lot more achievements. They don't have to be mind-boggling or over the top per se, but they should keep a steady flow of interest and relevance throughout one's progress. It encourages people to keep playing and master a game, feeling good about themselves. That last bit might be apocryphal, but.... just accept it.

4. Make more enemies with different abilities. The current roster is very decent as-is, but I find myself in the same mood as with Plants Vs. Zombies; you're so happy with the product, and yet it never feels like it's enough. You want to play online coop (HINT), you want to create your own plants and even zombies, you want to just be able to customize everything so you can force the game to move toward reaching the potential you know it has.

5. Make it longer and more diverse. This game feels to me emotionally very much like Wario World did for the Nintendo Gamecube. Beautiful effort, fun bosses and baddies, but over in a trice upon mastering its mechanics.

6. Make more powerups and weapons (especially melee ones). It would be cool to get powerups like invincibility, or something to give you other abilities. Damage resistance, different kinds of shot for whichever weapon you're carrying, a berserker kind of power, maybe a force field or something similar. More melee weapons would be great, maybe an exaggerated war hammer like in MediEvil or even just a big shield you bonk people with or can hide under like a turtle. For me, acquiring the scythe and sharkfin made me never want to use anything else ever again.

7. Let the (or a) playable character use enemies' abilities. Let it be through a body part you can adapt to you, or a weapon you acquire, or upgrades to something you buy in a shop. May such things stack. Something like climbing walls, certain kinds of resistance (like those porcupine fellows for instance), letting objects pass through you with a certain move, slipping into the background of a level in a stationary way, just out of the ordinary things like that.

I have more ideas, but then this might turn into a Novella. Looking through what others games this company has released, GoNNER is the first of its' kind; let's hope it will not be the last!

A++