Nocturnal Review (Fubar the Magnificent)
I feel extremely conflicted about this game.
In TLDR terms I would say its not bad, but its not particularly good. It has the potential to do good stuff, but doesnt succeed.
I have a strong feeling the developers wanted to make this a longer and more complex game as well as a metroidvania, but then cut back and made it an action platformer.
The visuals and art style are quite nice. Has a fair bit of detail. Sound wise fine, but nothing impressive.
The story you learn mostly through notes and shrine writings. And while you will understand the general idea of what you are doing and whats going on, a lot of detail is not explained and not presented. So this area is left lacking.
In regards to gameplay I get the feeling they wanted to do more with it, but cut down and tried to make it as accessible as possible.
The platforming is usually fine and simple, although at some points there seems to be a jump in skill and attention required to complete certain segments and that catches you off guard.
Conceptually the combat is quite good and varied. You have human and shadow enemies, the latter requiring you to use fire to harm them. You can unlock skills that give you extra abilities to handle enemies. There is a good variety of enemies for you to fight. They properly telegraph when and how theyre about to attack. There are some boss fights as well.
It all sounds great, but is undermined by the fact that your base skills are too effective. Jump in, attack, jump out works way too well. I actually tried to engage more with the detailed mechanics of the game and found it was just simply easier to work with the basics.
You also have a heal that you can use after a short cooldown by using up your swords flame and if there is a non extinguishable torch nearby you can charge it up again as many times as you want.
Later on in the game you have less or single use torches and more enemies in a locked room. Its meant to give more challenge, but what it does is force you to jump around more.
The mechanical fundamentals for more thoughtful combat and engagements are there, but its usually just simpler to jump around more. Sure, you need to pay attention, but its not satisfying. If you "get gud" the combat can feel much more fun and engaging, but there is not enough room in the playthrough to do that. Even with the base mechanics I sometimes feel I dont get enough opportunity to explore them.
I do appreciate that there are plenty of save points that compensate for my clumsiness.
The problem with the game isnt that its 2-3 hours long, but rather that it doesnt quite manage to do anything great with those 2-3 hours, even though it has the potential too.
Despite all my criticisms I still much more preferred a compact forgiving experience to a dragged out slog.
I think its perfectly fine to get it on sale, but at full price I think it has a hard time justifying itself to be honest.
5.5/10