Exoder

I tried writing a review for this game and it ended up becoming so long I hit the steam review character limit while I was still describing the first level. I think I'll try another way of sufficiently describing my thoughts on this game. But for now all I'll say is, this game is pretty beautiful. It blew my expectations away for a super unknown indie game I had never heard of... though to be fair, I love that stuff. The art and general vibe of the game definitely drew me in pretty hard with its retro style, its difficulty, its beautiful visuals and sound. The small bits of story I gleamed from it were also very interesting and hit pretty well into what I like in narratives. I love the art and music a lot. The developer has an incredible art style, it's very sort of raw and grimy yet in the cool retro way (the cover art is also very impressive! Maybe a weird thing for me to point out but I like doing art myself and am a bit of a nerd about that). The in game pixel art gets especially fun with how crazy some of the bosses look. And there are quite a few bangers in the soundtrack. Shout out to the title screen theme, the first level's theme, the 4th level's theme, the 6th level's t…

Flawed and chipped, but a gem, in it's own way. Beat the whole thing in one go, since I was not sure if it had a save function. Turns out it does, presumably after beating an area. Tutorial almost put me off due to how bad it was, but there's a bit to enjoy here. The game has no difficulty curve, more or less. First stage will be a showstopper for most people, but if you can make it past that, you can beat the whole game. IMO game caters to masochistic players, since a lot of attacks can be very hard/impossible to avoid. First stage started to click once I started using dash more and bouncing off enemies to other platforms. + Good OST + Varied levels/bosses/enemies + Well priced + Easy mode, although it limits content if you use it * Story is ??? * Got used to keyboard controls but they are questionable, gamepad is recommended - Rarely unclear hitboxes, sometimes even unfair - Some jank - Explains very little about obstacles/some key mechanics - Design often expects you to get hit and then just remember to avoid that later (similar to rage games) - Checkpoints can mess up your run if they are placed in a bad spot, somewhat avoidable by your own actions but not always - Final …

DEEPLY ABSURD! It's frontloaded with the second hardest level in the game, and has you navigate what appears to be the strange innards of a subterranean leviathan [and the deconsecrated cityscapes atop it], so I render my two-word judgement categorically. Exoder is in the gut of a living, alien hell, and as her puppetmaster, you will feel her pain and catharsis in spades. Get her out of there. A few levels, including the very first, are like running a marathon through hail—long, exhausting, there are projectiles hitting you from who-knows-where possibly thrown by some sort of evil deity, and you WILL have a runner's high by the end of them; other levels will feel like mellow palette cleansers, some like proper adventures. The flexible checkpoints are upsetting and brilliant—lots of strategy deciding when to place them, when to [i]hang onto them[/i], even when to run down the clock and let the Wanly devour an old checkpoint, forcing a new one to appear on Exoder's current roost. Default control bindings are clunky [bless you autohotkey scripts] but the in-game responsiveness is tight and precise. Bosses are *ALMOST ALL* breaths of fresh air after long levels, only a few enemies m…

I can't beat the first level

This cute little platformer game makes me want to go to my local grocery store and mow everyone down with an assault rifle. 10/10

great if you can get past the first level