Recent reviews by Bobogoobo

The King's Bird is a beautiful game. It takes some practice to figure out how all the controls and physics work, but the game rewards you - the better you get, the prettier the game is. And it starts out extremely pretty with its enchanting graphics and visual storytelling.

There's a lot of content available for both hardcore and casual players. An abundance of areas with varied visuals provides plenty of gameplay, while the collectible "spirit birds" and leaderboards for each level put forth great challenges if you want to take them on. There are also different types of levels to give some variety.

My only critique so far is that the story is a little vague. After finishing the first "world", I'm not totally clear on the backstory or even on what "The King's Bird" refers to. However, I really like the images that give you pieces of the puzzle, even if they aren't always easy to decipher.

The biggest issue I don't see mentioned in other reviews is how SLOW the game is. There are numerous unskippable animations for every turn, so it takes forever to do anything. I didn't see any way to turn these off. The game wouldn't be so bad if it didn't take so long. As has been said, the in-game tutorial is extremely obtuse (there's a nice summary in the forums). I'm not sure if it even covers everything, though I stopped halfway through.

On my first (and probably only) run, I started with all fire by accident (didn't understand the interface). The game screen is overwhelming because there are no explanations for anything while you're playing. I managed to get a few pages in and started understanding things. Fire turned out to be a good choice because there are several fire spells that restore your Sanity. My run ended abruptly when one of the pages started out with skull burn-marks on every mana slot - which turned out to remove one sanity each if you didn't remove them before ending the turn. Again, there was no indication that this would happen. But it did spare me the hour or two (at least) trying to go through this game.

I received this game from one of several generous giveaways by the author. I was very pleasantly surprised by the quality of the game. It is much larger than I expected, with plenty of areas to discover as you progress in the game. The various graphics don't bother me at all, but if you're more sensitive you may not enjoy it quite as much.

The game makes good use of 3D space, often requiring a little creative thinking to find some of the secrets. In most cases, you can freely roam around the area and get various views of the space phenomena. The graphics are fantastic and the sound goes very well with them. You can tell the craft put into every area; the game is very much an experience.

My favorite part of the game is the map and progression. You unlock several new abilities as you go along, and can collect gems to unlock new areas. Some of them are easy to get and some require more effort. The map is a great feature, showing you how all the areas you've visited are connected and in which ones you still have more to find. There's plenty of replayability if you like collecting things. (Edit: Over 8 hours in, I'm still discovering new areas.)

After two hours as of this writing, it seems the game still has a lot more for me to discover, and I'm excited to get there. Next time the game is on sale I'll get it for some of my friends so they can experience it too. (Though the list price is certainly fair, and I would recommend getting it now if it sounds interesting to you.) Would be fun to have some more achievements for the game though ;)

If you were going to buy only one achievement spam erotic VN for 50 cents, this is one of the top contenders. The writing in the beginning is iffy, but after that is when it really gets good. It's much longer than most similar games, and I didn't encounter any glitches or missing or garbled text. Not even any typos, which is impressive. Being American, I enjoyed the British tinge to the narrator's dialogue. The game has a sensible story progression; the ending, while appropriate, definitely leaves room for more. So, if you like achievements or lesbians and aren't expecting a masterpiece, this game may be worth 50 cents to you.

Not a good sequel. Most of the levels are copied from the previous game (or portions of one from it), some slightly modified. (Look for those same jutting-out blocks in one level near the end.) The only new mechanic is the (annoying) yellow blocks, and they were only used in one level. The blue blocks are new in a way but they're less reliable than in the previous game. One of the last levels was even designed so badly that you can easily bypass the way it seems it was intended to play it. Also the boxes are really spazzy, and so are a lot of the physics. I guess it's nice to be able to customize the background block color, but I just left them white. Jumping from the edge of a block has been improved, which is very nice. The achievements aren't too difficult, especially if you played the previous game, so I can recommend the game at 50 cents for those.

I really like the concept and the art is pretty good. The game adds new concepts and mechanics to the basic 2048 that make it interesting and more fun. During the intense middle levels, I sometimes didn't even notice when the girl lost some clothing, but it was nice having her cheering me on throughout the game.

I almost won but there were just too many arrows at the end, and I don't care to spend another hour and a half to lose again for a while. Still, I definitely recommend giving it a try, especially if the promo images interest you.

This is the best achievement spam game I've played so far. There are very few glitches and it seems like a lot of effort was put into the maps. Good settings menu. There are a handful of achievements for actually playing the game which you can get by winning a one-lap race on each of the non-DLC tracks. The gameplay is fun and there are some options you can play with. Local multiplayer is another positive point, though I haven't tried it out yet.

EDIT: this is an asset flip, I'm not sure if all of the tracks are taken from elsewhere or not. So take points off for that, but at least you can get it for 50 cents.

Controls:
Despite Steam saying it requires a controller to play, you can actually use the keyboard. Big brother is WASD and Space; little brother is arrow keys and right Ctrl; left and right Shift move the camera. You CANNOT play on more than one controller without using outside programs - this makes local co-op a little uncomfortable, but still doable. Solo controls make sense and seem decently comfortable.

Visuals and Audio:
The visuals are well done. Everything is detailed and there are many beautiful landscapes. Each setting has a solid atmosphere to it. Audio adds to this effect. Characters speak in nonsense but it seems like at least a little work was put in to making it sound like it could actually be a system of communication, so overall it's charming. There is a lot of use of body language. Physics are mostly smooth, but some animations such as climbing don't have transitions and you can do little dances.

Gameplay:
I played the whole game co-op for the most part, so I can't comment on solo play until I go through it again. It works well as a co-op game, especially using the keyboard. It's fun to cooperate on the puzzles.

The game is extremely linear and the puzzles are all pretty simple. It took three hours to finish co-op, solo wouldn't be more than four. There is replayability with the included achievements, but there are no choices to make or alternate paths to take.

I only experienced one glitch where the big brother got stuck in some terrain near the beginning of a game, but it was right after a checkpoint so I didn't lose any time.

You can pretty much split the game into two halves. The first half is charming and great fun to play. You can interact with NPCs and see the two brothers' personalities and skills. Working together to solve puzzles and clear obstacles is a rewarding experience, and there are frequently new mechanics to enjoy. The second half makes this game harder to recommend, starting I believe after you complete the tower area. It's a lot darker in theme and the end of the game has very little payoff. My co-op partner was extremely put off and disappointed with this part of the game. You have to bury your own darn brother under the tree of life, and he doesn't even resurrect afterwards. But hey, if you have a thing for arachnid women, you might enjoy this part.

Recommendation:
Given the short play time, I would only recommend buying this on a good sale. After that, you may have a lot more enjoyable experience if you stop as soon as you finish the tower. But overall, the game looks great and is fun to play. There is a little replayability, but this is lessened by the linearity.

Addictive arcade feel, great design. I love how each level builds on the difficulty in just the right way. Not recommended if your eyes are sensitive and you probably shouldn't play too long anyway, mine are already watering. My only complaint so far (only up to level 4) is that occasionally the music will glitch out and repeat a noise or go away entirely. The controls are a little weird to figure out and it takes a few tries to understand the gameplay basics, so have some patience. Other than that, solid game especially on sale. I look forward to challenging myself and beating scores.

A fun little platforming romp that definitely rewards you for your effort. Well put together all around (visuals, sounds), with room to challenge yourself when you want more of it. Would make a great gift for a special someone with even a passing interest in gaming, but also recommended if you like platforming, completionism, or relaxing games.