The End Is Nigh Review Summary

Last updated: 2026-02-17
  • Balanced and rewarding difficulty level.
  • Responsive and precise controls.
  • Outstanding soundtrack enhances the experience.
  • High difficulty leading to frustration.
  • 100% completion nearly impossible.
  • Unrewarding and unfair gameplay mechanics.
The End Is Nigh header

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What players like:

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Review evidence

Why players say this

What players like

Balanced and rewarding difficulty: The game offers a well-balanced difficulty curve that is both challenging and rewarding. Players find the difficulty progression appropriate and satisfying.

Responsive and precise controls: The game features highly responsive and precise controls, making the platforming experience fluid and intuitive. Players consistently praise the tight and comfortable control scheme.

Outstanding soundtrack: The game's soundtrack is highly praised for its quality and creativity, featuring remixes of classical music. Players enjoy the sensational and phenomenal music throughout the game.

Excellent level design: The level design is praised for its intelligence, variety, and consistency. Players appreciate the cleverly designed and unique levels that offer a great scale and engaging world.

Engaging and fun gameplay: The gameplay is described as fun, frantic, and engaging. Players enjoy the gameplay sequences and mechanics, finding them highly entertaining.

Common complaints

High difficulty and frustration: Many players find the game extremely difficult, often leading to frustration. The high difficulty level can sometimes overshadow the fun aspects of the game.

100% completion is nearly impossible: Achieving 100% completion in the game is considered almost impossible due to the extreme difficulty of some achievements, which can drive players to frustration.

Unrewarding and unfair gameplay: The gameplay is often perceived as unfair and not rewarding, adding to the overall difficulty and frustration experienced by players.

Difficult achievements: Some achievements in the game are extremely difficult to unlock, contributing to the overall high difficulty level.

Graphical issues and glitches: The game suffers from graphical glitches and unsightly graphics, which can detract from the overall gaming experience.

Gameplay and performance

High difficulty level: The game is known for its high difficulty, requiring many attempts to pass phases. It features a steep difficulty curve and challenging gameplay that tests players' skills.

Precise platformer controls: The game features responsive and precise controls, including moving, jumping, fast dropping, hanging, and swimming. These mechanics are essential for navigating the challenging platforming sections.

Collectibles and secrets: The game includes a large number of collectibles and secrets, encouraging exploration and replayability. Players can find tumors, secrets in every screen, and optional content.

Creative level design: The game features well-designed levels that test different skills. The levels are varied and include hazards and monsters, providing a challenging and engaging experience.

Unique mechanics and areas: The game introduces new mechanics and hazards through gimmicks and unique areas. This includes features like cartridges, backtracking, and precision jumps.

Good performance on various hardware: The game runs well at full resolution and on mid-range hardware, including older devices like a Macbook. It is also noted to be more stable and have fewer bugs compared to similar games.

Optimization and lag problems: Players have noted optimization issues and lag, which can impact the smoothness of gameplay. These problems may be related to the technical issues reported.

Graphical glitches and lack of options: Some players have reported graphical glitches and a lack of graphical options in the game. This can affect the visual experience and customization for players.

Minor technical issues: There are minor technical issues reported, such as slight cuts. These issues are relatively small but can still affect the overall gameplay experience.

Recommendations

Recommended for platformer enthusiasts: This game is highly recommended for fans of challenging platformers, particularly those who enjoyed games like Super Meat Boy and Celeste. It is praised for its difficulty and is suggested for players who want to test their platforming skills.

Highly recommended overall: The game is categorically recommended by many players for its overall quality and challenging nature. It is seen as a valuable addition to the platformer genre.

Appeals to specific tastes: The game is recommended for fans of post-apocalyptic environments and those who enjoy good stories along with challenging gameplay. It caters to niche interests within the platformer genre.

Must-play for genre fans: The game is considered a masterpiece of platforming and is a must-play for those who enjoy the genre. It is highly recommended for its quality and engaging gameplay.

Not for the impatient: The game is not recommended for players with little patience. It is suggested for those who can handle psychological challenges and are willing to invest time and effort.

Platform notes

Steam Deck: The End is Nigh is praised for its gameplay and controls, which are simple and responsive, but criticized for being slippery and too fast. The game's high difficulty is both a positive and negative aspect, providing a sense of accomplishment but also frustration. Technical issues, such as the game not opening due to graphics card drivers, are a significant concern. The music is noted as dramatic but not very memorable, with some good tracks.