The Perfect Pencil

I really like this game. Its unique but familiar and walking around there is always something just around the corner to get interested in. There are so many little areas or puzzles that you can completely bypass but it you don't and you say the right thing you get items that are useful hours later. its just so engaging with all the little mini games and strange crazy people. - It seems like it was going to be like hollow knight or ori but its not. The fighting is almost secondary not primary its more about experiencing the strange world and all the people but with platforming mixed in so you are engaged in the exploring of it all. - I wasn't happy that you couldn't pogo off enemies or that there wasn't a sprint feature but now that I have played it longer it makes sense why they did that. You get a platform mid game as the double jump equivalent and that really changed how you can fight and maneuver in a unique way - also if there was sprint I think you would miss a lot of the random stuff you can pick up by blowing passed it ( it still would be nice to get at the very end for item gathering though ... in the game I found some playdough put it in a machine and picked traits…

This game is so close to being extremely good. Artistically and narratively, the world building, the character development, it's all top shelf. Before you read further, I need to say: I absolutely recommend this game on its artistic merit alone. The time that I was able to put in, I enjoyed thoroughly. Unfortunately, it suffers from design issues that *just* miss the mark enough to make the experience (for me) not worth putting in more time: * Controls are a little loose. Attacks don't come out *quite* immediately, wall jumping sometimes will fail inexplicably. The platforming is weirdly tight horizontally, but vertically it's just off * I'm 7 hours in and still haven't found fast travel. I know it's there, but I haven't seen it. Fast travel really shouldn't be buried like that. * No in-game rebinds. You can use the Steam method for controller, and whatever keyboard software you have, but there's nothing in-game. It's supposedly coming? That last one is really important for me. I'm not a controller player, I'm KBM, and the way the controls are mapped in-game doesn't really let me use third-party options to conveniently remap everything. I'd need to spend probably an hour or t…

I played the demo for The Perfect Pencil years ago and had been looking forward to its full release ever since. After finally playing it, I can confidently recommend it—it deserves far more attention than it's getting. It's a metroidvania packed with charm, personality, and creativity. The world feels unique and memorable, with imaginative art direction and enemy designs. The story can be a bit difficult to follow in the early and middle parts of the game, so it requires some patience before everything starts to come together. Once it does, it delivers a meaningful narrative that explores mental health themes in a way that leaves a lasting impression.

I played the demo for this a while ago before it came out and found some enjoyment in it. I think that the devs put work into it, even if it seems rough around the edges at times. That said. John moves like a dead fish being puppitered by silly string, I could just slightly understand not being able to change my keybinds, this game was made for controlers, but it's hard to play the game like this. I would recomend this game if you are willing to slog through the unintuitive controls, but otherwise I can't recommend this.

I would say this is a LIGHT non recommend as it has some things going for it, but I think the game gets a little lost in some of its quirks, like too many NPCs droning on a little too much, less is more for the oddity type stuff. Fast travel and similar QoL needs work too, there aren't enough warp points so a lot of travel by foot is still needed to back track. Beautiful animation, decent map otherwise, though sometimes the game kind of dives too much into the obtuse, like with so many of those doors. When there is more concise dialog, that is when the game is at its best. Solid level design aside from those doors, lots of secrets to be found.

A game that definitely deserves more attention! excellent level design, truly inspired visuals, and a engaging narrative that kept me hooked to the screen all the way to the end credits.