Метка: short

Current music: The Almighty Easter Bunny - Console and Cherish the Child You Were

Platform: PC
Year: 2018
Developer: Breadmeat

Return.

It’s not a terrible game. It has its distinct aesthetics and, if you have like 20-25 minutes of spare time with nothing better to do, go play it for free. It may well be the switch of mood you need at the end of your day. Vintage analog video output cuteness doesn’t have any pixels that are too rough or sticking out. You may even want to donate that tiny coin to the developer afterall.

BUT…

Be aware this platformer gives close to no explanation of what you’re expected to do and all the progress will be made through trial and error which is not a good game design practice.

It provides no intro or story aside from seven words long Steam page description. The character is a lost soul and it needs to return to… somewhere.

The controls aren’t too smooth. Basic precise single jumps would’ve been preferable to the triple ones we were offered here. Screen auto scrolls baby pink halo-wearing entity out of existence, so even in this bite-sized gaming experience you’ll be forced to spend a fraction of time just waiting for the right moment to avoid the dangerous emptiness beyond its limits.

While old hardware noises when you turn the game on or off and well-done sounds may properly frame this little adventure, the anemic keyboards loop holds the potential to annoy you before it’s over.

In accordance with the archaic style game offers no option to save your progress between the sessions. Three checkpoints only work within one sitting in which players are supposed to complete the playthrough. And it’s not impossible to autosave before or while dying.

 I see no reason why it couldn’t have been at least twice longer. There are enough elements of level design already implemented into Return. to combine them some more. Early CRT imitating interlaced flickering with blurred color borders could’ve begun becoming a problem at that point though.

Rating: 4

Historical and cultural context:

Two weeks prior (July 15th, 2018), the 21st FIFA World Cup ended. France’s national team won 4:2 against Croatia in a final match in Moscow.

Four days prior (July 30th, 2018), a group of Russian investigative journalists who were making a documentary about international military mercenaries were killed in the Central African Republic.

A week later (August 10th, 2018), mass protests against government corruption in Romanian capital, Bucharest, caused hundreds of people hurt in clashes with the police.

Two weeks later (August 17th, 2018), the first season of the Disenchantment series premiered.