izigame.me

This is a game that sits awkwardly between "recommend" and "not recommend" - while it's far from a bad game, it's one I'm having trouble connecting with personally.
I came expecting a casual exploration-based platformer but found something closer to a "platformer's platformer" - one that assumes significant genre knowledge and experience with similar games. This creates an interesting but sometimes alienating experience that borrows heavily from its influences without fully establishing its own identity. When thinking about MainFrames, it is always in relation to it's sibling games versus what MainFrames specifically brings to the table.
The technical aspects present some frustrations: character-freezing bugs and occasionally imprecise hit detection detract from what should be pixel-perfect platforming. The decision to make the edges of the exits deadly is particularly puzzling and can lead to some frustrating moments after completing long, challenging multi-prompt sequences. I can recall multiple times where my character barely grazed the top of an exit just to be sent all the way back to the starting platform. If this is a staple of this type of game, my apologies for going hard on this critique, but that type of fail-state is not for me.
Where the game shines is in its gorgeous art direction, featuring warm and purposefully chaotic visuals and beautiful UI design. While the abstract characters didn't quite connect with me, the world itself is compelling - especially a touching memorial screen dedicated to a developer's good buddy, which stands as the game's most memorable moment.
Thanks to accessibility options like invincibility and multi-jump, I'll likely finish the game, though reaching for these at the 70% mark made me question if I even enjoyed MainFrames in general. Recommended for genre enthusiasts seeking something new, but casual platformer fans (like me) might want to watch some gameplay footage before purchasing.