Rose and Locket

I am really weirded out by how little Ninja Kiwi advertised this game. Like, there's only one YouTube video that they put up on release and like 4 twitter post that each got very little engagement. It's pretty saddening considering how much I enjoyed this game. It isn't a masterpiece by any means, but it was still really good, especially the artstyle and atmosphere.

Surprisingly a really good game, I mainly got this because it's by ninjakiwi and I was like wow this doesn't look like a bloons game or anything remotely relating to monkeys of any sort, and it looked cool, and I gotta say it really took me by surprise at how good it actually was, relatively short but the art direction of this game is superb, I feel like I've played dozens of games that had way more budget that couldn't even come close to how cool this game felt, the gameplay is good, some times you really have to think like oh I gotta do that or go there or something, but never felt unfair or impossible, if you wanna experience a beautiful game, go ahead and check it out

Rose & Locket is a sidescrolling platformer that leans very heavily into its graphic novel premise. And I think it does a phenomenal job with it. The game follows the story of Rose, a woman who is dead set on breaking the curse that befell her child. Her daughter is trapped in a locket and the sin envy has offered to break the curse and liberate the child in exchange for a little service: to track and hunt down wrath, sloth, gluttony, lust, jealousy and greed. The game takes place in a surreal late 1800’s setting. Locations are brimming with creativity and the game as a whole features some of the most inspired art that I have seen recently. Rose traverses a series of scenarios that resemble vignettes in a graphic novel, they are as varied and as crazy as they come and so are the challenges that you have to sort out in your travels. There is this part in which you ride a giant bird while you shoot at things. There is this labyrinthine endless dream setting that you need to escape, there is this level in which you walk on a surface that’s reflected in a body of water below that requires you to simultaneously deal with the enemies and obstacles on the surface and the ones that appea…

One of the more stylish games I’ve played, it’s incredible how it immerses you into a gameplay style that’s exactly like playing through a comic book. Gameplay is simple but satisfying, maybe sometimes a little jank, but I overall had a wonderful time with Rose and Locket. The only thing I’d say is that since it’s a short game of about 4 hours or so, I’d buy it on sale. I got it for the original 20, and while the 12 bucks it currently is isn’t bad, I think 8 or less is a nice price for a game of this scale.

amazing art direction! the art carries every segment to another level! the sad thing is the art deserved way better game than this, nothing in this game feels fun, the platforming is weird and feels off (the double jump is a jump and dash and the jump dash is a jump dive for example) the hitboxes are inconsistent, the auto scrollers doesn't feel calculated, the colors for enemies are sometimes unclear and follows inconsistent established logic (everything green should be hit with green for example, and then suddenly it doesn't matter) and the biggest thing is the enemy distribution is random and aggressive with no design and intention behind it, it almost feels like the designer designed the enemies then didn't know what to do with them. I can totally see the ideas behind the segments and they could be fun if they were designed a little better, I really wish I could give the game a positive review but I can't. as a game, I finished it and I don't think I enjoyed any level or segment, but art wise, I loved looking at the frame composition in every level and enjoyed it thoroughly

Easy recommendation, especially at the new price. Only 3 hours but it’s a very unique game that’s enjoyable and original all the way through.