o---o

Quick Score: 4/5 Notes: It's a shame this game got kind of killed by 3 early negative reviews. It's not bad at all and its relatively well made and unique. The negative reviews complaining about the game being too difficult are skill issuing hard. The game is very mildly challenging at worst. My only real complaints would be that the overall pacing and difficulty scaling of the game isnt very smooth. Even towards the end of the game, there are just very long bits of levels that are just not as hard as they should be, and then just very sharp difficulty spike checkpoints placed seemingly randomly. The 2 bosses in the game are the most annoying parts of the game by far.

o---o is a unique arcade-style precision platformer that utilizes a very intriguing baseline mechanic in its brain-twisting linear rotation movement controlled by a singular button, but is withheld by poor and non-complementary level design that demands uncanny execution, consistency, and patience that will cater to a very limited audience. Difficult video games usually have satisfying payoffs once one attains mastery of the gameplay mechanics, but this game brews frustration and anguish over the deliberately crude hazard and enemy cycles, made worse when coupled with an unforgiving implementation of checkpoints and lives. The game in its current state demands practice that resembles that of a speedrunner's regimen, where levels must be started over from the beginning once all lives are lost, regardless of the checkpoint progress within that level. With the plethora of "knowledge checks" around corners in several levels, and the lack of a practice or training mode in which to improve in the game mechanics or nail these "knowledge check" sections, it is an unfulfilling, tedious, and eventually fatiguing process to learn and clear a level. There were even a few instances where it …

Good concept but lacking in execution. I got to level 11. The game's earliest levels offer some good level design but things start to crumble fast when pseudorandom elements like the spiral enemies and projectiles enter the mix. Being given unwieldy controls to manage movement in a game as punishing as a precision platformer is a recipe for disaster. If I could offer some tips on how the game might be improved, I would start with polish. Some collisions especially involving the clocks (rings with moving "hands" in them) and timers were inconsistent. Then I would consider making the pseudorandom elements deterministic such that every time you respawn, things come from the same position at the same time. This can help foster the speedrun playstyle you seem to be incentivizing. But with random elements strewn around and awkward controls (can't change rotation direction without moving) this is more frustrating than rewarding. The art direction was nice and minimalistic, and the music was nice. It was cool that the music's tempo was set to the rhythm of how you would have to tap to move in a straight line. If your core audience was masochistic speedrunners, I think this game misses…

This game needs more polish. The collision is unlenient, so you will die sometimes despite not being really hit by lethal objects / structures. The level design and its mechanics was not built around the games movement at all. You cannot change the rotation of yourself so if you are in the off rhythm you might as well just lose a life. The UI breaks when the scaling of the window changes at all. There are no control options or any options at all. This game just brings negative emotions. It has a great premise but is poorly executed. The music is good though.

Very high level of difficulty from the very beginning. If someone likes such challenges, I recommend it. Great music while playing adds to the mood.