Phantom Tides

You know, a few weeks ago there was a discussion on r metroidvania regarding how indie devs should start to work together on creating games instead of trying to go at it solo. I stayed out of that discussion but I did observe how the consensus seemed to be that it would be better if indie devs followed their own passion as they see fit. Well, following my attempted play-through of this game I think it is time for me to join the debate and to take the side in favor of consolidation. It is high times indie devs stopped being so anti social and learned how to work with others to realize a common dream. The dev for this game is clearly highly skilled in certain fields while incompetent in other fields and if he had found others to work together with this could have truly been made into a fantastic game. Here are the devs key skills (he should use this in a job resume): - Knows how to get good performance out of the Unity engine, performance is as smooth and good as in "Have a nice death" and "Hollow Knight", which places this game firmly among the best 2D Unity games to ever come out in regards to performance. - Excellent skills in hand drawn background artwork - Good skills in musi…

Has some indie appeal owing to the art and gameplay mechanics, but most will be turned off by bugs and a significant lack of polish and playtesting. The introduction is brief and covers the hero's backstory. Long story short, when you were young, pirates raided your town and massacred everyone. After they severed your arm and left you on the street, you vowed vengeance. The story shifts a few years forward. Your determination was so great that you became the captain of your own ship. Now you must assemble a crew that will accompany you as you sail into the phantom sea and finally have your revenge. While art is fine and distinctive, the cutscenes are not the best for two reasons. The first issue is that it does not allow you to read at your own pace because they move forward automatically. The speed is too high for someone who’s not fluent in English. This is related to the second issue: font selection and color make the words difficult to read. Sometimes, bright letters disappear in bright background. Although you do not speak, you will encounter characters who have something to say. However, they speak in small letters that appear in a big speech box. Because much of the box …

This feels incredibly janky and aside from some cool visuals is just an ugly messy affair that doesn't entice me whatsoever.

"Phantom Tides" is an action adventure RPG game that plays like a platformer. The game is actually better than the steam video, it has a lot of charm and it's more fluid. The music is amazing and it feels unique. It has a strange mix that I would describe as "hopeful darkness" that is quite attractive. It is an ambitious attempt for a solo developer but it definitely hasn't been tested enough. For starters, it feels like different people made different parts of the game and never communicated between them. The backgrounds are awesome, while the character, npcs and enemies feel like a mockery of cartoons with still and lifeless animations. I could get past that if it wasn't for the worst part... the jump. It's one of the worse jumps I have ever seen in a game... We float... For absolutely no reason whatsoever it feels like we are underwater and in space at the same time with no consistency.. Add the mediocre hitboxes and unfair enemy attacks (many are too fast in comparisson to our character movement and reflex speed) and it's certain death and a recipe for a no fun disaster.. It doesn't matter if there are any complex or interesting mechanics later on. Same can be said for the st…

Very nice 2D action adventure platformer, good graphics, sounds & music. If you're a old school gamer who like to play same style games but with modern graphics, that's your game for sure! Keep in mind the bosses are very hard, you have been warned! :)

Super well made game, Great graphics and sound effects. I also like the combat and boss fights!