Recent reviews by Osl112

You want a shooter that requires oodles of skill and speed, where any little mistake will cost you and every single move counts? It's here.

The concept is simple - kill all enemies, get to the end. Mastering it is another matter. Blasting your way through the levels is extremely fun and addicting. Every shot and movement means life or death in Lovely Planet, yet at no point does the game seem too unforgiving or sadistic. Nailing the moves needed to pass a level feels absolutely epic, whilst trying to find shortcuts to get quicker is uttely compelling and addicting. In terms of content, there are more than enough levels to go through, with plenty of secrets and new enemies to come across along the way.

The graphics and soundtrack may not be to everyones taste, but they work to make a fully engrossing experience. It makes a refreshing change from the grim, darker colours used in the majority of other shooters giving the game a rather different yet fun feeling. There was always the risk of seeming pretentious or contrived when going for a derivative art style but Lovely Planet seems to nail it.

Do I recommend it? Most definitely. If you like fast-paced games, shooters or platformers in general, get it now. It is hard to think of what better to buy at this price.

Please note: This is the second iteration of this review following an update and comment from the developer. However, it is not overly different to the first.
----

I purchased this game due to the premise - an anime style ninja platformer (if that makes sense). However, it was a little bit underwhelming and disappointing.

Gameplay is pretty much how you would expect your normal platformer - it is nothing special. There are 3 levels in each stage, with the last being a boss battle. Each level gets more difficult as it goes along (as you'd expect). Whilst what you get here is nothing too bad, very few new gimmicks are introduced as you go along (certainly no new enemies (excluding bosses) in the second and third stages), making gameplay seem a little monotonous at times. The secret ninja technique mechanic is ok, but it is a shame that these cannot be used in the boss fights and that there aren't more to unlock or use (I seem to only ever use one).

Controls are unfortunetly clunky and still feel a little slow despite the update. There is no tutorial - and as far as I am aware the keyboard controls are a little odd. Despite using an xbox controller, controls in some areas are a bit tempermental; this is especially the case with the wallhang aspect, whereby getting a bit close to a wall sticks you to it, leaving you to either slide or jump umpteen steps in the opposite direction. These controls ultimately (and unfortunetly) affect gameplay, making it difficult to dodge in some situations and leaving some areas a little bit tedious to navigate.

In other areas, the game is adequate but not excellent. Graphics are standard, with some areas featuring tiling that is a touch too obvious. Sound works but is nothing special. Cutscenes are relatively uneventful and slow, and can be a little slow to skip.

All in all, it is and little things that let this game down - it just needs a bit more usability and polish. Every time you die or which to retry, you have to do so from the level menu; I'd be more inclined to continue playing if there was a restart button on the menu or game over screen. Likewise, there could be more options changing sound volumes in game. Again, bosses could be better - the first two bosses were both disappointingly repetitive affairs, especially as one critic outlined them as "impressive and fun".

Whilst nothing special was necessarily expected from this game, the controls and little usability things prevent it from being a decent game. That is not to say it is a bad game - some people will definitely find some charm within and with the game as cheap as chips it might be worth a look. However, I can't say I got a great deal of enjoyment from it - whilst the premise has potential, the overall controls and execution of the game could be a lot smoother.