Nikoderiko: The Magical World Review (Emperor)
Review
Great game, 8/10, definitely get it if you like Donkey Kong Country
+Beautiful art style, (it's REALLY pretty!)
+Great level design with tons of variety
-Controls could be snappier and are a bit floaty
-Voice acted cut-scenes are a bit cringe and feel uncessary
Nitpicks
This could easily be a 9/10 or even a 10 for me with some small tweaks. For example, there's a slight delay after you jump on an enemy or after you fire a barrel. If you'd just speed up the animations that would help improve the feels of the control. The character could use a bit more weight when falling down too. Gameplay collisions could also benefit from more impact juice. Part of it may be due to the sound effects lacking some punch. Basically the game feels too soft compared to DKC.. There are other small quirks like in the mine cart section when pillars fall; it's strange that jumping on top of the pillars makes you take damage instead of just rolling on top. I also had a bug where after coming out of the water I could still swim on dry land and in the air. Also the dialogue is corny and feels forced. Story content for a kid friendly platformer like this... you have to be either funny like mario/banjo-kazooie or be a bit edgy like megaman/sonic. Niko doesn't hit neither of these things so the dialogue just ends up detracting from the core experience. Final thing is that I was expecting more from David Wise. The soundtrack is fun and fits the game but it lacks memorable themes and it's definitely a step below what can be found in any DKC (tbf, that's a hard bar to match!).
This is all nitpicking of course. The game is great and enjoyable as is. Hope it sells enough for you guys to make more as it's clear the team is really talented. The artists in particular should get a raise haha