Koboo: The Tree Spirit

The game is super clunky and super buggy. It's a bad sign when even the tutorial isn't working. I got a black screen not even 10 minutes in. Outside of the bugginess, the combat feels really clunky. There are freeze frames are that obnoxious and it just does not feel smooth at all. Also, after beating the first boss, I got sent back to the main area without any way to progress. The portal that you would normally use to keep progressing was gone, effectively ending the run.

https://youtu.be/YoYkPRD5xdI Limited realization on opponents makes every combat play out mostly the same with no clean reasoning for moving weak spots or lack of enemy attack animations.

This feels more like a school project or a rough experiment than a real game; it has the controls of an action platformer, but enemies are static sprites that don't move from their location, and have weak points pop up like in a shooter or RPG. Dodging their attacks is trivial since you can move freely, or as freely as the controls, which are *extremely* clunky, permit. The game's performance is poor, and compounding the frame stutter is the seemingly random hitstop added to various actions, such as: jumping. The graphics have love put into them but are very amateurish, with mismatched resolution muddying up what might otherwise be charming raster art. The music sounds like royalty-free stuff, and the plot is nearly non-existent as far as I can tell. It's absurd at $15, and I can't even recommend it for $5. There's the seed of a good game buried in here somewhere, but it needs to be redone from scratch to uncover it.

Fantastic little game with a lot of heart, beautiful art, and amazing gameplay. It's a good challenge, while not being brutal. The combat felt very unique and fun, fighting giant humans as a little spirit.

I really enjoy Koboo. It does lots of things that I haven't seen before and the gameplay is super satisfying. Lots to unlock, secrets to find, and builds to make. Definitely don't sleep on this little gem.

I bought this game after looking at it and being interested in it for a little while. I ended up beating the first boss at which point I was dumped back in the starting room with no way to progress. Overall, not a great experience for someone who had just been waiting for a good time to pick this one up and try it out.