- Stunning visuals create an immersive experience.
- High-quality, polished, and free to play.
- Short, sweet, and offers replayability.
- Captivating story evokes strong emotions.
- Clunky mechanics can be unforgiving.
- Widespread performance and framerate issues.
Emotions
Emotion: satisfaction
Emotion: joy
Emotion: excitement
Emotion: frustration
Emotion: disappointment
Verdict
Mostly positive
Summary
Positive 98% · Negative 2%. Score: 2 / 100
Positives:
- The game features stunning visuals, including detailed pixel art, beautiful environments, and impressive lighting effects, creating a captivating and immersive atmosphere. The art style is often described as unique, charming, and emotionally resonant, enhancing the overall experience. Many reviewers also praise the graphics for being surprisingly good, especially for a free game.
- The game is praised for its high quality, engaging gameplay, intuitive controls, and overall polish, especially considering it is free. Many reviewers express surprise and appreciation for the value offered, stating it rivals or surpasses paid games. The game is also noted for being accessible and enjoyable for players of all skill levels.
- The game is noted for being relatively short, offering a complete and satisfying experience within a concise playtime, often around an hour. Reviewers appreciate that the game doesn't overstay its welcome and leaves them wanting more, with high replayability due to achievements and secrets. The short length is seen as a positive, ensuring the content feels substantial and avoids unnecessary padding.
- The game features a captivating and emotionally resonant story that is often described as simple yet powerful, heartwarming, and memorable. Reviewers appreciate the narrative's ability to engage players and create a lasting impression, despite the game's short length. The story is often cited as a key element contributing to the game's overall charm and appeal.
- The main character, often a sheep or lamb, is described as adorable, cute, and endearing, enhancing the game's charm and appeal. Reviewers appreciate the character's design, animations, and overall presence, which contributes to a more enjoyable and immersive experience. The character's cuteness is a recurring theme in many positive reviews.
Negatives:
- Players reported issues with the game's mechanics, particularly jumping and movement. Some found the controls sluggish or unresponsive, while others struggled with the precision required for certain platforming sections. The double jump mechanic was also a frequent source of frustration.
- Reviewers criticized the boss fights for being repetitive, frustrating, or poorly designed. Some found the boss strategies unclear or the fights too easy, while others encountered bugs or unskippable cutscenes that added to the frustration.
- Many reviewers experienced problems with controller support, including the game not recognizing controllers or displaying incorrect button prompts. Some also noted a lack of keyboard and mouse support or the inability to remap controls, leading to a less than ideal control experience.
- Several reviewers found certain achievements to be overly difficult or bugged, particularly those requiring no deaths or perfect runs. The lack of chapter selection made it difficult to replay specific sections for missed achievements.
- Some reviewers found the level design uninspired or confusing, with a lack of guidance or clear direction. The absence of level selection or the ability to return to previous areas was also a common complaint.
Gameplay:
- Players progressively unlock new abilities like double jump, dash, and flight as they advance through the game. These abilities enhance traversal and are often tied to overcoming challenges and accessing new areas. The game rewards exploration by gating off areas until the player has the appropriate abilities.
- The game world encourages exploration to uncover hidden collectibles, lore, and upgrades. The story is revealed through environmental details, notes, and recordings found within the game. Crystals are sometimes used to assist with navigation.
- The player controls a sheep or sheep-like character, often a stuffed animal brought to life. The story often revolves around exploring a ruined world, collecting items, and reuniting with friends. This unique character and narrative setup distinguishes the game.
- The game employs environmental storytelling, conveying the narrative through the game world and atmosphere rather than dialogue. The story often explores themes of innocence in the face of catastrophe or presents a post-apocalyptic setting through fragmented storytelling.
- The game includes boss fights that test the player's skills and acquired abilities. Some reviewers found the boss fights to be very difficult, with one-hit kill mechanics. Each ability is tied to a specific hard lock, lacking ability combinations.
Performance:
- Many players report experiencing performance issues such as lag, stuttering, and frame rate drops, even on systems exceeding recommended specifications. Some users have found the game unplayable due to these problems, while others note that performance degrades over longer play sessions. The severity of these issues varies, with some players reporting single-digit frame rates.
- Several reviews mention audio problems, including desynchronization with video, intermittent sound, and mismatched music. These issues detract from the overall player experience and immersion. The audio lag seems to be tied to low framerates.
- Input lag affects character movement and ability usage, making actions like jumping and dashing unresponsive. This directly impacts gameplay and player control. The unresponsiveness makes the game less enjoyable.
- The game pushes hardware to its limits, causing high CPU and GPU usage, which in turn forces cooling fans to operate at maximum capacity. This could lead to thermal throttling or other hardware-related problems for some users. This point is important because it highlights potential hardware strain.
- The game's performance degrades over time, with frame rates and hitching becoming more pronounced during longer play sessions. Restarting the game temporarily resolves these issues. This point is important because it highlights a potential memory leak or other performance degradation issue.
Recommendations:
- The game is overwhelmingly recommended, with reviewers calling it a 'masterpiece' and urging everyone to play. Many reviewers express a willingness to pay for the game or a sequel, even though it's free, and promise that players won't regret trying it.
- Reviewers highlight the game's short playtime (around 1-2 hours), making it perfect for a single sitting or a quick break. Many plan to replay the game to find secrets or complete achievements, indicating high replayability.
- The game is described as a charming and heartfelt adventure, often compared to titles like 'Limbo' and 'Ori'. Reviewers praise its cute protagonist, relaxing atmosphere, and artistic design, making it a 'gem' for those seeking a peaceful experience.
- Many reviewers express a strong desire for a sequel or more content from the developers. This indicates that the game left a positive impression and players are eager to see more of the world and characters.
- The game being free is a significant factor in many recommendations. Reviewers emphasize that there's no reason not to try it, given the zero cost and potential for enjoyment.
Miscellaneous:
- The game is short, typically ranging from 30 minutes to 2.5 hours, and is available for free. Many reviewers highlight the surprising quality given its price, making it an accessible experience.
- The game features a dark, subtly-told story involving a corporation, mysterious crystals, and a wiped-out staff, discoverable through environmental clues and audio logs. A related webtoon provides additional background.
- The game is best experienced with a controller and headphones. While it runs on Steam Deck with some configuration, keyboard controls can be challenging, especially later in the game.
- Reviewers anticipate a full version or sequel, and some appreciate the possibility of future language updates. Some reviewers state they would gladly pay for the game.
- The game is associated with MrSuicideSheep, a YouTube channel known for promoting independent music. It was created by a young team of indie developers and musicians.
