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A decent minimalist take on puzzle platforming, but with some odd aggravation thrown in
While you wouldn’t necessarily think that challenging precision platformers would be pretty well a staple in the budget indie space, they’re certainly heavily represented. I suppose the fact that the genre doesn’t require an incredible amount of detail or flashy graphics to work, helps make them appealing, but doing them really well has obviously proven to be a challenge. In the case of Ratyrinth, there’s a mix of both the good and the bad, so depending on what you’re looking for it could still be a good match.You won’t find any story-driven elements or nuance here, the game is all about precision platforming and working with a pretty limited set of moves to survive. I think that simplicity in the controls is always both a blessing and a curse is the thing. On the one hand, less variables usually help to make the controls a bit more focused and crisp, but on the other it can tend to make the stage design less original and varied. I’d say the game, unfortunately, does fall into that trap.With small variations and nuance being the main elements that act as obstacles, there are stages that can be aggravating. The controls aren’t exactly loose, but the need to subtly control precisely where you’re landing can make them not feel quite as tight and responsive as they’d ideally be, at least when you’re in the air. Mix that with what feels like spikes and other elements placed on walls that often force you to wall jump and then need to slide down a little before wall jumping again and so on, and the type of precision that can be required can just feel picky and a bit annoying.I have no doubt that there will be folks out there who’d eat that sort of thing up, needing to become much more aware of all spacings and working on subtle differences in how you play in order to avoid repetitive death. For me though, while I can appreciate that being a tactic to a degree, at some point it just started feeling a bit tedious. I guess I’m the type who wants there to be some actual clear carrot or payoff for conquering challenges, which I don’t think Ratyrinth does at all, it’s only plan is just to keep giving you more and more stick.
Justin Nation, Score:Fair [6.8]