Info about Mago: Official game description: ** ⭐A nostalgic experience worth your time⭐ ---------------------------------------- ** A classic magical adventure with beautiful pixel art and intuitive controls. Travel a vast world with many levels, mini-games, and secret locations! ** ⭐Unique areas to explore each with its own mechanics!⭐ ------------------------------------------------------ ** Hand-crafted levels, each with its own challenges: from colorful teapot prairie, a humongous tree guarded by a fierce centipede, ancient ruins of a mysterious civilization that rests on the back of a huge bird - this journey has it all! ** ⭐You get a wand. You also get a mecha!⭐ --------------------------------------- ** Use your magic wand to purify evil from the world, solve riddles by affecting your surroundings. Some levels allow you to use a powerful mecha robot. It's time to show the villain's enemies what you are made of (metal, mostly)! ** ⭐A great variety of bosses and enemies as well as collectibles to unlock⭐ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ** Each level presents a different challenge, each boss - a new threat to overcome. By collecting secret orbs in each level you unlock new items and improvements. Can you find them all? ** ⭐Chill in the beautiful town of Musicalia⭐ ------------------------------------------ ** Looking to take a break? In the town of Musicalia you can buy new upgrades and meet interesting characters, some you might even recognize! ** ⭐An amazing soundtrack⭐ ----------------------- ** Listen to a beautiful soundtrack brimming with nostalgia that will instantly bring back the nostalgia of the golden age of video games. Release date: Jun 21, 2022 Categories: 2D Platformer, Action Platformer, Pixel Art Creation, Collectathon, Boss Fights, Retro, Side-scrolling, Precision Platforming Feature scans: - Steam Deck: score 40; verdict: Mixed Experience; summary: The game has received mixed feedback regarding its performance on the Steam Deck. While some users have reported a seamless and enjoyable experience, others have encountered significant issues with the controls, which affect gameplay, particularly for speedrunning. The positive feedback highlights the game's good performance and enjoyable gameplay, while the negative feedback focuses on control issues. - Hardware Profile: No data Feature extractions: - Community Price: - Community fair range: $10.00 - $15.00 - Reasoning: The evidence shows that users feel the game is worth the price tag of around $15, but also suggests that a slightly lower price of $10-12 would be more appropriate, especially during sales. This indicates that the community considers the fair price range to be between $10 and $15. - Playtime Metrics: - Game completion: 15.0h - Story completion: N/A - Session length: N/A - Endgame: 19.0h - Reasoning: The evidence provides several direct and indirect references to playtime. The first two quotes suggest that the game offers around 15 hours of content, which can be interpreted as the time needed for game completion. The third quote indicates that it took a player about 19 hours to complete the game fully, including collecting all upgrades and costumes, which supports the endgame metric. The fourth quote mentions playing for 36 hours, which further supports the endgame metric. However, there is no specific evidence provided for the typical single-session length or the typical time to finish the main story/campaign. - Time-to-fun: - Summary: The game has notable early friction due to repetitive sections and unclear mechanics, but it becomes more enjoyable as players progress and understand the game better. - Stance: Fun after - Anchor: Understanding game mechanics and progressing past early levels - Time to anchor: 3h 0m - Friction: Stuck in the tutorial; Repetitive and boring sections; Unskippable intro cutscenes; Unclear mechanics and item purposes - Unlock drivers: Progressing through levels; Figuring out game mechanics over time - Conditions: Patience to endure early friction; Willingness to experiment and learn mechanics - Player Archetypes: - Completionist Grinder (buy) - Motivation: Achieving full completion and uncovering all secrets. - Playstyle: Thorough and persistent, willing to grind and explore every corner of the game. - Experience: veteran - Purchase stance: buy - Labels: completionist; grinder - Reference games: Undertale; Mago - Nostalgic Challenger (buy) - Motivation: Enjoying the nostalgic feel and challenge of retro-style games. - Playstyle: Patient and persistent, enjoying the difficulty and retro aesthetics. - Experience: familiar - Purchase stance: buy - Labels: old-school gamer; retro fan - Reference games: old, difficult games; Nintendo Ness - Action Platformer Enthusiast (buy) - Motivation: Seeking a balance between lighthearted fun and challenging gameplay. - Playstyle: Enjoys action-packed platforming with a mix of challenge and fun. - Experience: mixed - Purchase stance: buy - Labels: platformer fan; action gamer - Reference games: action platformers; 2D pixel platformers 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: - Great gameplay experience (weight 0.66): Players enjoy the gameplay, finding it excellent, well-crafted, enjoyable, and fun. - Beautiful graphics and art style (weight 0.55): The graphics and pixel art are frequently praised as beautiful, impressive, detailed, and nostalgic. - Praised for its soundtrack (weight 0.48): The game's soundtrack is widely appreciated, with players describing it as excellent, fantastic, beautiful, and captivating. - Retro-style game appreciated (weight 0.47): The game's retro style is well-received, with many players noting its nostalgic feel and classic design reminiscent of NES/SNES platform games. - Well-designed and creative levels (weight 0.38): Players appreciate the level design, describing it as well-designed, creative, unique, and entertaining. - Good amount of content (weight 0.29): Players feel the game offers a good amount of content, making it worth the price and providing lots to discover. - Balanced and progressive difficulty (weight 0.23): The game's difficulty is noted as balanced, adjustable, and progressive, providing a good challenge without being too overwhelming. - One of the best platformers (weight 0.13): The game is considered one of the best platformers and indie games played in recent years. - Charming and enjoyable experience (weight 0.12): Players find the game charming and enjoyable, with a full and rich content experience. Common complaints: - Checkpoint issues (weight 0.41): Checkpoints are often poorly placed, infrequent, or require in-game currency, adding to player frustration and difficulty. - Game bugs and crashes (weight 0.4): Players have encountered various bugs and crashes, including game-breaking bugs and issues with saving progress. - Difficult game mechanics (weight 0.35): The game is noted for its high difficulty level, which includes challenging controls and complex movement mechanics. - Frustrating level design (weight 0.28): Levels are often described as tedious, frustrating, or poorly designed, with some sections feeling repetitive or unfair. - Grinding and repetitive tasks (weight 0.27): Players find the game grindy, with repetitive tasks required for upgrades and collectibles, which can be tedious and time-consuming. - Poor control design (weight 0.26): Controls are frequently criticized for being slippery, uncomfortable, and imprecise, leading to a frustrating gameplay experience. - Frustrating enemy design (weight 0.24): Enemies are often criticized for being unintuitive, appearing off-screen without warning, and causing cheap 'gotcha' moments. - Boss fight difficulties (weight 0.22): Boss fights are noted for being particularly challenging, with some bosses requiring many hits and lasting long periods. - Confusing mechanics and explanations (weight 0.21): The game is criticized for having unclear explanations and confusing mechanics, which can lead to player frustration and confusion. - Visual and audio issues (weight 0.21): The game has been criticized for its low screen resolution, blurry character appearance, and repetitive or unmemorable music. - Hitbox problems (weight 0.2): Hitboxes are frequently described as clunky or poorly defined, causing unfair player damage or deaths. - Save system issues (weight 0.19): The save system is criticized for its long intervals between save points, lack of multiple save points, and issues with saving progress. - Lack of story depth (weight 0.13): The game is criticized for having a generic or shallow storyline, which detracts from the overall experience. - Lack of innovation (weight 0.12): The game is criticized for not being innovative and feeling generic compared to other games in the genre. - Lack of accessibility options (weight 0.09): The game lacks customization and accessibility options, making it difficult for some players to enjoy the game fully. Gameplay feedback: - Classic 2D platformer gameplay (weight 0.59): The game features classic 2D platformer gameplay with side-scrolling mechanics, inspired by classic Mario games and 16-bit platformers. It includes double-jump mechanics and a retro feel reminiscent of SNES-era games. - Retro style with high difficulty (weight 0.55): The game combines retro pixel art and 16-bit style with challenging gameplay. It offers adjustable difficulty, making it accessible yet demanding for players seeking a tough platformer experience. - Secrets and collectibles (weight 0.26): The game is filled with numerous secrets and collectibles, including costumes, wands, heart pieces, and special items. Players can explore hidden areas and find various collectibles throughout the levels. - Creative boss fights (weight 0.17): Boss fights in the game are creative and challenging, with specific patterns and mechanics. These encounters add depth and excitement to the gameplay. - Transformations and controls (weight 0.16): The game includes transformations and special abilities that add variety to the gameplay. Controls are straightforward but essential for mastering the platformer mechanics. - Hub world and world map (weight 0.1): The game features a hub world with levels, enemies, towers, save stations, fast travel, and mini-bosses. Levels are connected by an overhead world map, providing a cohesive and colorful world to explore. - Jump mechanics (weight 0.09): The game features various jump mechanics, including jumps for momentum and jumps of faith, adding to the challenge and depth of the platforming experience. Performance notes: - Bugs and crashes reported (weight 0.17): Players have encountered various bugs and crashes, including minor errors and crashes on the first day of release. - Optimization issues reported (weight 0.14): Several players have reported that the game lacks optimization and has performance issues. This includes general optimization problems and specific instances of the game crashing. - No cloud save support (weight 0.06): The game does not support cloud saves, which is a significant inconvenience for players who want to save their progress across different devices. - Low screen resolution (weight 0.06): Players have noted that the screen resolution of the game is very low, affecting the visual experience. - Full screen option not remembered (weight 0.05): The game does not remember the full screen option, causing players to reset their preferences each time they launch the game. - Steam Deck compatibility mentioned (weight 0.05): A review mentioned the game in the context of Steam Deck, but no specific issues or details were provided. Recommendations: - Highly recommended for retro fans (weight 0.27): The game is frequently praised by players who enjoy retro and platformer games. Many reviews highlight its appeal to fans of old-school, challenging gameplay. - Strong general recommendations (weight 0.26): A significant number of reviews strongly recommend the game without specifying particular aspects. This indicates a broad appeal and general satisfaction among players. - Lighthearted with challenging gameplay (weight 0.05): The game is recommended for its lighthearted experience combined with riveting challenges, appealing to players who enjoy a mix of fun and difficulty. - Recommended for completionists (weight 0.05): Some reviews suggest playing the game to beat it rather than to achieve everything, indicating that it may have a high level of difficulty or a lot of content to complete. Other player notes: - Simplified Chinese display issues (weight 0.06): There are reported problems with the display of Simplified Chinese text in the game. Emotions: - Frustration (weight 0.29): Players are frustrated primarily due to the game's high difficulty, which is exacerbated by issues with the checkpoint system and controls. Specific pain points include clunky hitboxes, long waits for boss weak spots, and levels that feel overly long or repetitive. Additionally, bugs and optimization issues, such as game crashes and unresponsive controls, contribute significantly to this frustration. - Joy (weight 0.24): Players experience joy from the game's charming and enjoyable gameplay, which is enhanced by its beautiful pixel art and nostalgic elements. The overall positive experience is also attributed to the game's excellent design, fun levels, and enjoyable soundtrack. - Excitement (weight 0.07): Players are excited about the game's unique mechanics, retro style, and rich content, including a variety of mini-games and collectibles. The anticipation for updates and the game's overall quality, including its perfect soundtrack, also contribute to this excitement. - Nostalgia (weight 0.07): Players feel nostalgic due to the game's retro feel, which reminds them of classic 90s platformers and Super Nintendo games. The game evokes memories of older titles and the sensation of playing classic games, enhancing this nostalgic experience. - Enjoyment (weight 0.06): Players enjoy the game for its fun and addicting gameplay, as well as its great soundtrack. The overall experience of playing the game brings them enjoyment. - Positive (weight 0.04): Players have a positive experience with the game, appreciating its story, graphics, and soundtrack. They find the game entertaining, well-made, and better than other indie games, contributing to an overall good time. - Admiration (weight 0.04): Players admire the game for its polished level design and mechanics, as well as its association with a favorite YouTuber. The quick updates to fix bugs and the game's beautiful design also contribute to this admiration. - Satisfaction (weight 0.03): Players feel satisfied with the game's graphics, mechanics, soundtrack, levels, and bosses. The sense of accomplishment from completing the game's challenges is very rewarding. - Disappointment (weight 0.02): Players feel disappointed because the game's potential is not fully realized due to various issues. These include non-intuitive enemies, grindy and repetitive aspects, and a sense that the game prohibits fun. - Appreciation (weight 0.02): Players appreciate the game's references to classic games, its OST, and the effort and care put into its creation. The perfect difficulty and visual beauty are also highly valued. - Excited (weight 0.02): Players are excited about the game's variety of levels, skins, secret bosses, and mechanics. The challenge of achieving 102% completion and the game's length also contribute to this excitement. - Gratitude (weight 0.01): Players are grateful for the developer's effort and the game's impact on their lives. The appreciation for the game's creation and its positive influence is significant. - Satisfied (weight 0.01): Players are satisfied with the game's overall quality and experience. The game meets their expectations and provides a fulfilling experience. - Addiction (weight 0.01): Players find the gameplay addicting, which keeps them engaged and wanting to play more. - Confusion (weight 0.01): Players feel confused due to unclear interactions and lack of explanations in the game. This lack of guidance can make certain aspects of the game difficult to understand. - Enthusiasm (weight 0.01): Players are enthusiastic about finishing the game and achieving the maximum percentage of completion. The positive experience with the game fuels this enthusiasm. - Felicidad (weight 0.01): Players feel happiness from the game's fun and entertaining nature, which provides hours of enjoyment. - Pride (weight 0.01): Players feel pride in the game's design and variety, appreciating the effort and creativity put into its development.}