Exertus

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, 100% Recommend. At this price it's awesome

Tbh loving it so far — easy to get into. no regrets

So much potential but honestly it's very janky. Getting good doesn't feel like mastering the mechanics, it feels like succeeding in spite of them. Redeemed slightly by the shooting mechanic, less need to interact with the actual movement part. Would leave a mixed review if possible.

Exertus is a first-person platforming title developed and published by Loneminded that places nearly all of its focus on one thing: movement. In an era where many games attempt to balance storytelling, progression systems, collectibles, and cinematic moments, Exertus strips away the extras and presents players with a pure test of agility and precision. It is a game designed for those who enjoy mastering mechanics, refining their skills, and chasing faster completion times rather than simply reaching the finish line. Its minimalist philosophy may not appeal to everyone, but it succeeds in delivering a focused experience that understands its audience exceptionally well. At its core, Exertus revolves around momentum-based traversal. Players sprint, leap across gaps, scale walls, and maintain speed through a series of increasingly demanding obstacle courses. The controls are responsive and intuitive, allowing newcomers to understand the basics quickly while leaving plenty of room for advanced techniques. As levels become more complex, players begin to realize that every jump and every second matters. What initially feels like a straightforward platformer slowly transforms into a game …

Here we are again. If you are familiar with this developer then you might be aware of their previous game Inertia. Exertus is basically Inertia with a couple small differences. All the levels take place in open voids now instead of being in enclosed spaces. There's also a "fire" ability. I don't know what this is supposed to be for other than rocket jumping. Rocket jumping completely ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ breaks the game. The game boasts "semi-linear levels" where you can make your own path. Even with this, the levels do not seem to actually be designed with rocket jumping in mind. It is so easy to bypass almost entire levels using the rocket jump. Disregarding rocket jumping, this game is basically the same thing as Inertia. There are no improvements to the core gameplay. Mechanics do not work properly. Sliding works when it wants to. Momentum is almost impossible to maintain. Platforming does not have a smooth feel to it because single jumps will just barely miss most platforms and double jumps way overshoot platforms if you don't slow down. There really isn't all that much interesting to talk about gameplay wise with this one. Especially not when comparing to the developer's previous game. …

A tiny Parkour practice game