Reviews

• gamedeal user

  Sep 26, 2022

  this game just isn't fun every aspect of it is clunky especially when you get to the space ship segments
• gamedeal user

  Dec 10, 2022

  there would never be RNG in this game *chews cereal*
• inunui

  Jul 5, 2023

  TL;DR: Battletoads by the way of Ys I & II. If you know what that means, you'll probably love this. Otherwise, you probably won't. I have a large fondness for the era of gaming that Saturn Quest: Shadow of Planetus goes for, that being the 80s. I wasn't alive for the games, but I find the creativity and chaos that was going on as a new industry was establishing itself to be harrowing. I've always enjoyed games that capture that spirit, warts and all. The Mostly Negative reviews will ring true for most. Most will come away frustrated more than satisfied. That said, it absolutely grabbed me. The music is great and sets the mood, the visuals do just enough to make the game feel interestingly weird, and the constant changing gameplay is great when it works and (usually) easily forgotten when it doesn't. The (relatively) generous checkpointing the game helped me get through the game, even if the intros of the later stages would have been nice to skip. Some will disagree, but I'd rather start a screen over than be blasted back to the ship. More generous checkpointing would have hurt the excitement of victory. Overall, had a great time, loved the ending, and I'm excited to play the rest of this series!
• god tier tree trunk-sama

  Jul 30, 2023

  The game would be great were it not for the downright dickish RNG. And while the RNG is bearable at the start, some of the final boss' phases made me question my sanity at times. Still, good game. Buy it if you enjoy good art and hate yourself.
• Kroenen

  Aug 19, 2023

  Rather fun little game. Great sounds and art design. Works on steam deck no issues. My kids also enjoy it. Not bad for a game made by essentially one dude. Leans a bit too hard on the RNG in the late game. Arkhouse should get a play-tester. Aside from that very cool game. You can do far worse for far more money so check it out.
• gamedeal user

  Apr 15, 2020

  A great little game, good 8 bit music, and titan fights are fun, for the price I can totally recommend the game.
• gamedeal user

  Apr 15, 2020

  Arkhouse makes very strange games that tend to be as unique as they are confusing, but they are also very rewarding if you manage to find the patience and push through them. This game has a 'boss rush' and 'bullet hell' aspect to it, however, it is a multigenre game that incorporates some occasional platforming, space shooting, and top-down exploration, not to mention the signature 'WTF Arkhouse narrative'. That being said, every time I play a game by Arkhouse it's a steep learning curve as the games never work exactly as one would expect. I have been somewhat harsh on the developer in the past, but not because I did not enjoy the games - if anything I wish they were a bit more accessible to the general public. Compared to previous titles like Mirage of Dragon, Saturn Quest is not too difficult to navigate as long as you not skipping the dialogue. Arkhouse games tend to have hidden passages so you need to read the dialogue for the hints or you going to be running around the map completely clueless. This developer is one of the very few that I can recognize just by looking at a single screenshot just because the art style is so unique; how can I describe it, he really likes putting faces on disgusting bodies. I wonder if he also makes the music because the sound is also very similar to the previous games (I would love the OST DLC for this). As always I enjoyed the visuals, the soundtrack, and the immersion, but that was never a problem for this developer. I also want to give the game credit for having a compelling story that kept me guessing even at the very end, there is nobody else out there that makes the narrative quite as well as the Arkhouse - both philosophical and cryptic at the same time, to a point where I have almost no idea what he is trying to say, but I can tell there is something very deep. Unfortunately, this developer always struggles with the technical side of the game development, although it's less noticeable in this one aside from just 2 poorly designed boss fights. [h1] Pros: [/h1] + surprisingly long, good boss variety + many gameplay elements, the game also changes genres + interesting narrative if you into weird **** + immersive world, good music, unique look [h1] Feedback: [/h1] [u] A few unfair Boss fights [/u] - I would say 90% of the game is not too hard but there are just 2 sections where it gets a little crazy. I don't mind the challenge but the difficulty was spiking because it was impossible to dodge things due to lack of visual warnings, you just had to get lucky and not get hit offscreen. Also, there was one platforming section toward the end where the controls were very awkward, the character would attack and jump at the same time making it difficult to complete the stage (the one where you build the stairs). [u] Save system & Lack of settings [/u] - I did not check this because I was scared to do so, I think to load the game you press left on the keyboard during the title screen and you press 'right' to overwrite the old game (I am sure that could never go wrong). For anyone wondering, to save the game there is a little hub area next to the temple and you just have to walk up to it. The game does not seem to have any other settings. [b] Overall Thoughts: 8/10 [/b] I thought it was a very unique experience as with any other Arkhouse game, very ambitious and unapologetic in some ways, both in gameplay and narrative. It's always hard to recommend a game by Arkhouse because most people play them for 10 minutes and give up, but at least this one is a more straight-forward as long as you reading the dialogue and following the directions. A weird game made for weirdos like myself I guess, I enjoyed it except for that last ***** boss fight that made me cry, cringe, and laugh at the same time. [code]For more Hidden-Gems: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31294838-Hidden-Gem-Discovery/ [/code]
• gamedeal user

  Apr 16, 2020

  This game desperately needed multiple playtesters before release. There's a lot of charm here and I genuinely really liked the first hour and a half or so, but the randomized difficulty spike is unreasonable. The back half of the game (that keeps teasing "This is the final battle" even though it never is) is a clusterfuck of projectiles that have no telegraphing or tell, not to mention they're not patternized so it's not like you can trial and error learn how to tackle each section. I eventually gave up because it just became a total waste of my time. Wanted to enjoy this, and genuinely did for a little while, but just couldn't anymore. It's not fun brute forcing your way through random projectiles just hoping that maybe this is the time you get lucky and don't get hit.
• gamedeal user

  Apr 26, 2020

  Charming idea (a weird, 8 bit take on shadow of the colossus) completely shattered by a single boss fight. It has an intro sequence you have to go through every time you die (and you will, a lot), the whole fight spawns asteroids at random that instakill you which makes success partially luck-based AND it eventually starts shooting instakill lasers at you that have no telegraphs. I don't care enough to go through a boss fight this awful, and unless you have a LOT of time to waste and no games to play i don't think you will either.
• gamedeal user

  Sep 13, 2020

  This game Is a horrifying Masterpiece that contains a Replay Vale of OVER 9000!!!!