Info about Smelter:

Official game description:
  
**Smelter** is a strategy, action-platformer combo inspired by classics from the 16-bit era. Lead Smelter and Eve, along with the faithful Zirm forces by expanding Smelter’s territory across the Rumbly Lands in **top-down strategy levels included in the Classic Mode**, or dive into **thrilling side-scrolling platforming mayhem with Action Mode**, leaving Smelter’s forces to annex key locations themselves. Build, attack and advance your army -- unlock, upgrade and unleash elemental action skills against vicious enemies, perilous environments and **take on dangerous bosses with Boss Rush Mode**. Release the power of **Smelter**!  
STORY
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After the untimely destruction of the Garden, Eve finds herself in an unfamiliar world with her beloved Adam nowhere to be found. In her search for Adam, she encounters Smelter, an unusually over-confident, winged creature with the powerful ability to transform and fuse with others, giving them incredible powers.  
Offering his apparently “invaluable” assistance, Smelter transforms and fuses with Eve. They depart on a journey to the treacherous Rumbly Lands. There, they expand Smelter’s territory, allowing them to reach further into the various domains to find out what happened to her Adam, hoping to find him in one piece and find a way back home to their peaceful lives...  
FEATURES
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*   **Classic Mode**: Hybrid gameplay that combines fast-paced platforming with top-down strategy.  
*   Expand your empire across a variety of regions, utilizing a variety of building types, upgrades, and units.  
*   Meet a cast of characters with personalities ranging from the eccentric to the completely insane.  
*   Uncover a multitude of secrets, including powerful hidden upgrades and hard-as-nails trial levels.  
*   **Action Mode**: Take on challenging 2D action levels, enemies, and bosses with their own back stories, while leaving minions to deal with the strategy and base building.  
*   Explore incredible, diverse worlds ranging from the hellish to the beautiful.  
*   Master three skill sets, complete with over 40 upgrades obtainable through multiple challenges, allowing for varied combat, movement and defense tactics.  
*   Fire up the “Smelt” ability, which can be used both in combat and on objects to navigate through difficult terrain.  
*   **Boss Rush Mode**: Battle against the many wild and outlandish bosses in an array of ever increasing challenges and claim your spot as the champion.  
*   Rock out to a killer soundtrack combining synth and guitar, featuring music by Evader, and opening and ending theme by Manami Matsumae (Mega Man, Shovel Knight).

Release date: Apr 22, 2021

Categories: Action Platformer, Top-Down Strategy, Tower Defense, ActRaiser-style City Building, Boss Rush, Precision Platformer, Collectibles


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price:
  - Community fair range: $10.00 - $16.00
  - Reasoning: Reviewers indicate that the game is worth around $20 (16 pounds) but many recommend purchasing on sale, suggesting the current full price is too high. The complaint about beta testing implies the game felt incomplete at launch price, so a lower price range of $10-$16 USD is considered fair by the community.
- Playtime Metrics:
  - Game completion: N/A
  - Story completion: 13.0h
  - Session length: N/A
  - Endgame: N/A
  - Reasoning: Multiple reviews provide explicit playtime numbers for completing the main story or campaign: a player reports 10 hours to beat the game, another estimates the campaign at 10–15 hours, and a Japanese review states it takes about 13 hours to clear. These converge on a story completion time of roughly 13 hours. No evidence supports total 100% completion time, typical session length, or endgame playtime.
- Time-to-fun:
  - Summary: The game suffers from a lengthy and overbearing tutorial that makes the first few hours slow and tedious, but once past that, the platforming and empire-building loop become satisfying and fun for most players.
  - Stance: Clicks after
  - Anchor: Completing the tutorial
  - Time to anchor: 2h 30m
  - Friction: long overbearing tutorial with unskippable dialogue; slow pacing in the first few hours; tedious city management early on; confusing or irrelevant tutorial instructions; forced to build inadequate defenses in tutorial
  - Unlock drivers: finishing the tutorial; accessing real platforming missions; understanding the strategic loop between city management and action; progression system introducing fresh mechanics
  - Conditions: player must endure a long and overbearing tutorial; player must learn both action and strategy gameplay types; player must be patient with a slow initial pace; strategy layer may remain shallow and tedious for some; some players may never enjoy the city management mechanics
- Player Archetypes:
  - Retro Platformer Enthusiast (buy)
    - Motivation: Reliving nostalgic platforming experiences with old-school challenge.
    - Playstyle: Precision platforming, memorization, seeking fair but tough challenges.
    - Experience: veteran
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: N/A
    - Reference games: Megaman; Castlevania; ActRaiser; Mega Man X
  - Cautious Critic (no buy)
    - Motivation: They wanted a polished, enjoyable experience but found the game lacking in key areas.
    - Playstyle: They likely engaged with both action and strategy modes, but the issues overshadowed the fun.
    - Experience: mixed
    - Purchase stance: no buy
    - Labels: N/A
    - Reference games: N/A
  - Challenge Seeker (buy)
    - Motivation: Seeking a demanding platforming experience that tests skill without being unfair.
    - Playstyle: Persistent, methodical, enjoys learning patterns and overcoming tough sections.
    - Experience: veteran
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: N/A
    - Reference games: Wings of Vi
  - Hybrid Mode Tolerator (sale)
    - Motivation: Enjoying the core action platforming without distraction from the strategy element.
    - Playstyle: Focuses on action segments, may rush through or avoid strategy when possible.
    - Experience: familiar
    - Purchase stance: sale
    - Labels: N/A
    - Reference games: N/A


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Tight action-platforming gameplay (weight 0.75): The action-platforming gameplay is tight, challenging, and well-crafted, with smooth controls and level design that feels inspired by Mega Man X. The blend with RTS elements is appreciated by many players.
- Outstanding audio quality (weight 0.36): Players consistently praise the game's audio, highlighting the soundtrack, sound effects, and music as excellent, catchy, and varied. The audio quality is a major positive point across multiple clusters.
- Funny and enjoyable experience (weight 0.24): The game is described as funny, charming, and enjoyable to play, with humor being a core part of its appeal. Players find it a pleasant and fun experience overall.
- Excellent and creative boss fights (weight 0.2): Boss fights are well-structured, creative, and offer fun challenges that require strategic thinking. Most players find them excellent and engaging.
- Well-designed level progression (weight 0.17): Level design is consistently interesting and well-balanced, with a good difficulty progression that keeps players engaged.

Common complaints:
- Controls are clunky and unresponsive (weight 0.59): Many players report that the controls feel stiff, clunky, or unresponsive, with issues in dashing, wall climbing, and input recognition. This impacts platforming and combat enjoyment significantly.
- Trials are too hard and required (weight 0.56): The trial or challenge levels are widely regarded as excessively difficult, often requiring perfection and causing frustration. Many players feel these trials are required for upgrades but are not fun.
- High and unfair difficulty with cheap deaths (weight 0.55): The game has numerous unfair difficulty spikes, cheap deaths, and one-hit kills, especially in later stages. Many players feel the game requires perfection and becomes rage-inducing.
- Strategy mode is shallow and tedious (weight 0.48): The strategy/RTS mode is seen as shallow, tedious, or poorly integrated, with few building types and repetitive gameplay. It is often criticized as a tacked-on element.
- Frustrating platforming with instant death traps (weight 0.39): Platforming sections, especially later ones, are frustrating due to tight timing, instant death traps, and imprecise controls. Many players find the platforming punishing rather than fun.
- Story is shallow and poorly told (weight 0.35): The story is considered shallow, poorly explained, and unfocused, with a main character who feels irrelevant. Narratives are not engaging and have little impact.
- Game-breaking bugs exist and persist (weight 0.34): Several game-breaking bugs exist, including getting stuck during base defense, softlocks in quest buildings, and falling through floors. Some bugs have been known for years without fixes.
- Tutorials are too long and tedious (weight 0.32): Players complain about overly long tutorials, excessive dialog, and slow early game pacing that lasts up to two hours. The tutorial is seen as tedious and not effectively teaching core mechanics.
- Checkpoints are too far apart (weight 0.28): Checkpoints are far apart and death often resets progress significantly, forcing replay of long sections. This is especially problematic given the high difficulty and cheap deaths.
- Lack of polish across multiple systems (weight 0.22): Overall lack of polish is noted in physics, hitboxes, sound mixing, and control feedback, making the game feel unfinished or outdated.
- Overwhelming early game and steep learning (weight 0.21): The combination of many buttons, skills, and systems overwhelms players early, and the learning curve is steeper than expected. Some actions require undocumented inputs.
- Element switching is slow and limiting (weight 0.19): Switching between elements or armors is sluggish and cumbersome, with no direct swap between certain forms. This impedes fluid gameplay.
- Sound and visual feedback issues (weight 0.19): Sound mixing is odd with quiet in-game sounds, hit feedback is average, and damage effects obscure the character. These issues impact gameplay clarity.
- Inconsistent hitboxes cause frustration (weight 0.18): Hitboxes are inconsistent for platforming and enemies, and the player hitbox is large, leading to cheap deaths from invisible collisions or falling through edges.
- Humor attempts fall flat and annoy (weight 0.17): The game's attempts at humor, including the narrator companion, are often seen as annoying or failing. Players find the dialogue and tone off-putting.
- Enemy balance is inconsistent (weight 0.14): Enemy balance is poor: some enemies have too much health, others are too easy, and there is limited upgrade potential for soldiers. Difficulty feels uneven.
- Abilities are poorly balanced, some useless (weight 0.12): Some abilities (like super attack or many powers) are useless or underused, while others (claws/earth) are go-to. Balance between abilities is poor.

Gameplay feedback:
- Platformer-RTS hybrid game (weight 0.67): The game is frequently described as a hybrid of 2D platforming and real-time strategy or tower defense mechanics. Players engage in action-platformer combat in one mode and manage base building or territory in another.
- Mega Man X inspired platforming (weight 0.61): Many reviews compare the platforming gameplay to Mega Man X or Mega Man Zero, citing similar controls, level design, and exploration. The game also evokes ActRaiser and Demon's Crest.
- Tower defense base building (weight 0.48): A distinct secondary mode involves tower defense and base building from a top-down perspective. Players defend their structures from enemy waves and manage resources.
- ActRaiser-style city building (weight 0.42): The city-building or territory management phase is consistently compared to ActRaiser. Players manage an overworld, build structures, and make strategic decisions between platforming segments.
- Three armor form system (weight 0.28): The player can switch between three armor variants, each with unique attacks, abilities, and handling. This provides significant power-up variety and strategic depth.
- Collectibles and upgrade trials (weight 0.21): Platforming stages contain collectibles like apple cores and moxie deposits, as well as optional trials that are required for upgrades. These encourage thorough exploration.
- Top-down ActRaiser sections (weight 0.11): The top-down strategy sections are specifically likened to ActRaiser, with twin-stick shooter elements. This reinforces the ActRaiser comparison for the strategy mode.
- Strategic boss encounter design (weight 0.09): Boss fights are noted to require specific strategies and allow quick restarts, encouraging trial and error. This adds a tactical puzzle element to combat.
- Precision platforming with traps (weight 0.09): Platforming sections feature pattern-based traps and instant death hazards, demanding precision and memorization from the player.
- Melee and ranged combat mix (weight 0.08): The action-platformer includes both melee and ranged combat, as well as shmup phases. This adds variety to the gameplay.

Performance notes:
- Smooth and fast experience (weight 0.21): Players report a stable gameplay experience with no performance issues, short loading times, and quick boss respawning. This performance was achieved on a variety of hardware configurations including Linux via Proton.

Recommendations:
- Recommended for classic platformer fans (weight 0.33): The game is strongly recommended for players who enjoy classic 2D action platformers and Metroidvania games, especially those who appreciate challenges similar to Mega Man, Castlevania, or Actraiser.
- Not recommended by many (weight 0.29): A notable number of reviews do not recommend the game, citing various issues such as bugs, design flaws, or overall dissatisfaction without detailed explanations.
- General positive recommendations (weight 0.23): Multiple reviews express general positive recommendations without specific conditions, indicating overall satisfaction with the game is common among reviewers.
- Mixed views on RTS elements (weight 0.2): The game uniquely blends action platforming with real-time strategy (RTS) and base-building elements, which is praised by some but may not appeal to players who dislike strategy components.
- Gamebreaking bugs present (weight 0.17): A subset of negative feedback is attributed to major bugs and technical issues, suggesting that the game may not yet be in a polished state for full recommendation.
- Not for casual players (weight 0.13): The game is not recommended for casual or easily frustrated players due to its high difficulty and requirement for repeated checkpoint retries.
- High scores, indie gem (weight 0.13): Several reviews give high scores like 8.5/10 or 9/10, describing the game as an indie gem with strong replay value.
- Good value for price (weight 0.13): Several reviews highlight the game as a great value for its price point, with some specifically mentioning that the quality and content are worth the cost.
- Buy on sale (weight 0.13): A few reviews recommend waiting for a sale before purchasing, indicating that the game may be good but not at full price.
- Recommend action mode first (weight 0.12): Reviewers suggest starting with the action mode, as it may provide a better experience for players who prefer platforming over RTS elements.
- Worth buying for interested (weight 0.12): Some reviews simply state that the game is worth buying or playing, without strong qualifications.
- Excessive tutorials early (weight 0.05): One review criticizes the game for excessive tutorials and lack of early content, suggesting a refund.
- Only for those seeking more challenge (weight 0.05): The game is recommended only for players who find base-building and Metroidvania games too easy.
- Play with gamepad (weight 0.04): A review recommends playing with a gamepad for optimal control.
- Dedicated session for final stage (weight 0.04): One review suggests dedicating a separate session to the final stage due to its difficulty.
- Must buy (weight 0.04): One review strongly insists that players must buy the game.

Other player notes:
- Unlock Adam as playable (weight 0.05): Players wish for Adam to become playable either after completing the game or through downloadable content.

Emotions:
- Frustration (weight 0.23): Players frequently cited clunky and unresponsive controls, frustrating difficulty spikes, and unfair trial stages tied to essential upgrades. Game-breaking bugs, poor checkpoint systems, and one-hit kills far from save points compounded the frustration, leading many to abandon progress.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.16): Reviewers praised the vibrant pixel-art aesthetic, charming characters, and beautiful soundtrack. Fluid gameplay, well-structured boss fights, and the creative mix of platforming and RTS elements provided a consistently fun experience that many described as addictive.
- Disappointment (weight 0.1): Players were let down by a boring story, underdeveloped strategic sections, and squandered potential of innovative ideas. Long-standing bugs and imprecise controls further dampened expectations, with many feeling the game failed to deliver on its promising premise.
- Satisfaction (weight 0.1): Satisfied players highlighted responsive platforming, rewarding progression systems, and a well-paced difficulty curve. The sense of accomplishment from completing challenging optional content and the polished state of the game after patches contributed to a fulfilling experience.
- Annoyance (weight 0.04): Common annoyances included an unskippable, verbose tutorial with repetitive dialogue and a condescending narrator. Tedious city management, stiff controls, and unmarked hidden collectibles without tracking also irritated players.
- Appreciation (weight 0.04): Appreciation was voiced for the awesome art, good music, and fun combat, with many recognizing the game as a great blend of SNES favorites like Skyblazer and Mega Man, especially praising it as a spiritual successor to ActRaiser.
- Excitement (weight 0.03): Excitement stemmed from a compelling demo that prompted immediate purchase, the innovative blend of management and adventure gameplay, and the game's unique, fun elements like elemental abilities and cool level design after bug fixes.
- Boredom (weight 0.02): Boredom set in due to tedious strategy segments, a slow initial few hours, and frustrating bullet-hell sections. Repetitive scenarios and being stuck on a challenging platforming section led some players to quit entirely.
- Relief (weight 0.02): Players expressed relief that the RTS mode provided a welcome break from intense platforming, that the game ran smoothly on Linux via Proton, and that developer patches quickly fixed fatal bugs and addressed feedback, making trials less frustrating.
- Anger (weight 0.02): Anger was driven by a disrespectfully long tutorial, lack of early bosses, and cheap deaths from offscreen attacks. A game-breaking bug that erased progress was a major trigger for this strong negative reaction.
- Surprise (weight 0.02): Surprise came from the game unfolding more richly than expected early on, the fresh addition of melee combat instead of purely ranged, and the overall unexpected quality of the experience.
- Joy (weight 0.02): Joy came from thoroughly enjoying the platforming elements, as well as the well-done music, graphics, physics, and power-unlocking system. The strategy/sim mode and a notable low-percentage speedrun also brought happiness.
- Amusement (weight 0.02): Amusement was derived from the funny dialogue, the game's refusal to take itself too seriously, and the comical, expressive NPCs that added humor to the overall story.
- Love (weight 0.01): Love was expressed for the game's engaging, charming, and humorous nature, with unique skills and the enjoyable base-building mini-game. The amazing art and music made it an endearing and full-of-surprises experience.
- Pleasure (weight 0.01): Pleasure was noted from the classic mode providing nice gameplay variety and the tight, fun action-platforming mechanics that formed the core of the experience.
- Rage (weight 0.01): Rage was caused by unfair difficulty jumps and pointless challenges, particularly the extremely difficult last level requiring memorization of patterns, which ruined the overall experience.
- Confusion (weight 0.01): Confusion arose from the initial late appearance of boss designs and the chaotic base-building system where attacks were unseen, leaving players disoriented about mechanics and progression.
- Gratitude (weight 0.01): Gratitude was directed at the developer for adding an action mode that removed the boring city-building segment, allowing players to focus on the core platforming action.
- Irritation (weight 0.01): Irritation was specifically linked to the controls, which contributed to the overall frustration felt during gameplay, hindering enjoyment of otherwise fun elements.}