Claire a la Mode

I'd still recommend it, but with caveats. I love the music, the art is all very good, and the story is more Colorgrave(Good). The gameplay, though, is frustrating for me. The normal speed feels a little slow (which is fine), while sprinting is horrendously fast and floaty, ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. I was constantly overshooting, barreling off edges, and bumping into enemies because of it. It's not a deal breaker, but just a heads up if you're impatient and have anger issues. The one hit nature and floaty sprint will get you.

A little delayed writing this but, genuinely a wonderful experience, the movement with each character feels satisfying and rewarding to get down. Everything from the art to the music has such refreshing whimsy to it and if you're a fan of 2D platformers then this game is more than worth a try.

Sakuraaaiiiiii...!!! Okay, I didn't expect the next Colorgrave game would be a love letter to Kirby and Smash Bros, with several deep cuts from other games. The formula here is spastic but [i]very[/i] refined, with somehow more arcadey refinement than Curse Crackers had going for it. Overall, it feels great to play. The not-insubstantial lore expansions to the main Colorgrave continuity are also greatly appreciated here. I really dig the universe they've been spinning since Prodigal, and having that alongside the action is wonderful. I do strongly recommend playing Curse Crackers first (and if possible, Prodigal) to get the most out of this game, as the lore and setting directly follow from it. But otherwise: recommended.

Claire a la Mode is a colorful action sidescroller with a huge cast of characters from Colorgrave's universe, stage design similar to the Kirby games but with faster-paced gameplay spread out across 15 stages (each with a boss) and a final boss stage. Pros: - Graphical style looks great, focused on colorful tiny sprites with lots of personality. - Music slaps hard. Guitar riffs in the first few stages? Oh yes. - Lots of playable characters with unique primary skills that all play slightly differently. - Each stage has hidden items to collect, adding to replay value. - Lots of fun extras in the game's hub world. Challenges, bonuses, unlockables, etc. - It's easy to skip dialogue or scenes. - Did not encounter any glitches. Cons: - Quitting the game and returning will dump you into the game's hub world for the first time with no guidance. Normally finishing each level will just send you into the next one. It took 10 minutes for me to figure out where exactly I had to go to get back to the level progression (it's in a building with 15 mirrors that function as doors to each stage). - Stages are inconsistent with their invisible upper ceilings. Sometimes it seems like there is none. O…

Overall love the game. If you've played ColorGraves previous game CurseCrackers, Claire is more arcady and faster paced, which for me was just a little "too" fast. Took me a bit to get used to and even by the end I still wouldn't say I was 100% in the groove like I eventually got with CurseCrackers. The pixel graphics go for a different aesthetic and are a bit less detailed but still look very nice. Music is a master class as always. Some repeat songs or remixes, but they are all bangers. Looking forward to their next game!

Yeah, I don't know about this game, dude. Pretty sure my issues with it are "skill based" so I'd hesitate to say I don't recommend it (another plea for a "neutral" rating). But on the other hand, the controls genuinely never felt as tight as those for Curse Crackers, despite the game demanding pixel precision. Seriously, what [i]is[/i] up with the "run" in this game and the character whose dash is so far and fast that it feels like a death wish? Anyway, I know there are people for whom this is a non-issue, but at least as far as I'm concerned, this one isn't for me.