Verdict?

"Meh"

I loved it! :D

it's very well done, creative and beautiful - but unfortuantly it wasnt really my kind of thing personally.

A very beautifully visual game. The sad thing is the controls and movement mechanics. I had the hardest time doing the more simple things in the game: jumping, swimming, spinning to hit enemies.... It eventually made it harder and harder to play the game...(and I only got to the second level)

I can't even play this... It goes to the site and nothing happens, I can't even click on anything.

I've only played the first level so far, but I'm enjoying it a lot.
From the comments so far I feared this would actually be one of the flash games with beautiful graphics and mediocre gameplay, but so far I can't confirm this. The slippery movement, which reminds of the Fancy Pants Adventures games, does take some getting used to, but it didn't bother me. While the gameplay does seem rather classic, it also feels very dynamic because of the "physics", and the beautiful graphics and sweet music add to this very suitably. I like it so far :)

Great! Lovely game. I personally didn't have a problem with the controls and rather enjoyed them! It's fantastic to see such an accomplished flash game out there - I would probably even (dare I say it...) PAY for this game! I hope they make it available for download at some point.

It's a beautiful game, and the music and sounds are excellent. The atmosphere would've been great if it wasn't in a tiny rectangle in a browser window.

Because yes, the format really hurts the game. I've nothing against flash, but this is one game that really shouldn't be confined to a tiny browser frame. I want to play fullscreen! (I tried zooming the page to at least make it a little bigger, but the game bugs after a little while if you do this. The screen gets offset outside the visible area.) The game loading a new page for every level is also off-putting.

I also didn't like that I can't talk to people about everything. Once I select the "right" thing to talk about, I can't ever talk to them again, even if they're still there.

Also, using the action button (or enter) to dismiss dialogs doesn't work sometimes, despite the game claiming that it does.

I only got the sedon level, and I was very impressed with overall production values, especially concerning the intro. The second level's tedious gameplay was a huge turn-off, though, and I don't intend to return to this game unless someone can say the gameplay greatly improves later on.

Also, the collect-a-thon doesn't fit in very well, I think. I guess nothing [i]forces[/i] me to get everything, but even if I didn't, the world would be littered with little crystals and dead fish for apparently no reason. Detracts more than it adds, I think.

(Despite all these flaws though, I do like the game. I just think it could've been much better.)

If it isn't clear, I meant "second" in the above post. I have no idea how I typed "sedon" without realizing it. :/

Also, there's two different anonymous posters alternating here :). I do agree with the other one though. I don't like the second level much.

I agree that the second level is a bit tedious. Those blowfish are rather annoying, I guess mostly because the invincibility-time after taking damage is too short. This way you can take several hits if you make a single wrong move. That's also why I had to replay the whole level just before the checkpoint, which was a little frustrating. After that you continue walking above ground, and judging from the trailer there are several more different gameplay elements which didn't appear to that point. So, I gess you really should go on playing :)

I found collecting everything fun so far, though. Once I got used to the controls I thought the jumping was quite fun and collecting the fish and crystals provided some challenge which wouldn't have been there otherwise. And since you don't have to collect anything like that, I think this element is fine as it is.

Lastly, I also agree that a downloadable version would be a great advantage. For example when the camera zooms out a lot it all just seems too small, whereas it could be fine in fullscreen. And especially a game with a wonderful atmosphere as this one just feels that much better without any virtual border around it.

Seen the red dwarf episode about the great sandwich with ugly individual pieces?

This is that sandwich in reverse. It looks superb, the music is great but it's just, to quote the OP, 'meh'.

yeah, It looks incredible.. but it reminded me of fancy pants adventures.. just as slippery, just slower.

meh

The OP didn't say 'meh', Anonymous. The first commenter said 'meh'. The OP is not the first commenter.

That trap on the second level that sends you back to the beginning and right into a spiky fish is a real dick move. It's almost unavoidable if you want to collect everything, thanks to those jellyfish blocking the safe route.

MisterX, my point about the collecting was that, whether or not you collect things, they don't fit in very well. If you don't collect them, they're still there, littering up the landscape.

We're on an adventure to find a mysterious man from our troubled dreams, not to collect floating crystals, heaps of fish and underwater console videogames(?!) for no reason.

I guess my point is that it feels like collecting things was added as an afterthought.

Dick move #2: Checkpoints doesn't remember things you've collected. Time to restart the entire level, again!

I really love it. I just finished the third level, and while I agree that the controls take some time to get used to, it is really fun once you do get used to it. The incredible art and high production values make this a fantastic game.

...aaaand on level 3: Miss a jump, start over the entire level. This just keeps getting better.

collecting things is an option

Flawed gameplay (weak controls, awkward movement tedious and repetitive tasks), excellent graphics.
I hate games that look THAT good and still fail delivering a good overall experience.

No, collecting the bike parts beyond that jump is mandatory.

Certainly not the most playable platformer (extreme inertia+low framerate=not good), but it's certainly the most beautiful flash game ever (kinda like America mcGee's Alice meets Samurai Jack)

I love it.

I understand what you mean "Anonymous", but with that logic you could disapprove of many gameplay elements in many games.

I understand that you feel the collectibles are out of place, but I just don't :)

hmmm.. seems that the idea was somewhat stolen from the game on the cover of this:

http://rapidshare.com/files/221427606/latest_issue.pdf

at least there are striking similarities

Glad to hear people are enjoying the game. If you're having trouble loading it, or if it's running slow (sluggish controls?) then try loading the game in a new window, or close some of your open web applications (ie Gmail). I know it might sound silly, but it does seem that this makes a big difference, probably because of shared processors.

Tarwin: could you please make it available as a standalone .exe, too ? Maybe this would help.

We're looking at the option of a downloadable version. Not sure when / if it will be available though.

Easy is way too hard for me. -.-

-= Game Updates =-

The game has been updated in response to users feedback, with more to come at a later date.

Changes include:

* tighter "physics"
* new control scheme: UP for jump, SPACE for attack and activate
* no more false virus alerts
* new servers for faster loading
* completely new swimming mechanic: you just press the direction you want to go - should be easier for those people who have to rotate maps to find their way.

Have fun, and please keep the criticism, and praise, coming.

Tarwin - Touch My Pixel

Hi,
comments on the update:

-swimming is definitely better
-up to jump is better too
-I hated the bike part (holes are unforgiving), and to my surprise after logging in it looks like I skipped it, nice.
-in the forest level, apparently you die if you swim outside the screen, I wasn't expecting that :(

Anyway: this game is a piece of art, visually & in its ambience. Now what you need is the technology :)
I think it's not something Flash can deliver, or maybe with good hardware acceleration.
But you started a platform game with physics and lots of inertia, while this requires a framerate (imagine Mario at 20FPS) that Flash can't deliver.
If you had started with a free-tile-based engine like in Aquaria or Braid, sure it'd have been less sharp & "flowery", but it'd have worked better as a game.
Really, IMHO it's a slight detail (framerate & lack of fullscreen) that becomes a big flaw for a game, but everything else is there, it already works as a "world".

Bugs btw:
In the tree level, at some point it stopped autoscrolling, had to restart the level as I couldn't get the screen to scroll on the character anymore.
Then I restarted & at another point I got booted out of the screen, didn't die (was under the level), and had to restart too.

Wow, you really took our comments to heart, didn't you? The controls are vastly improved now, thanks!

...but the nasty collision issues are alive and well.

Main problem: I can't figure out where I can jump and where not.

Example: the very beginning, the ladder - I can't reach ScaryGirl's bedroom because there's no collision at the top of the ladder. Also, nothing tells me there's a platform for ScaryGirl to sit on in the middle of the tree's trunk (you can reach that by holding on the orange hat (?) hanging from the tree)

Still, there's a huge improvement, well done !

p.s. A stand-alone, downloadable version would be awesome :)

Bug report:
"Press both SPACE and up" not "SPAVE and up"

Collisions badly marked in the tree area in the first level (some branches looked solid and weren't).

Pressing SPACE sometimes pauses the game instead of launching actions (in the underwater level)

The octopus dialogue in the first underwater level can gen derailed if you do a little platforming there (walk and jump at random - the dialogue will start, ScaryGirl is frozen in place, but the text... err, symbols bubbles aren't displayed.

this is a fun game. way to go. whats wrong with all you complainers?

In my machine (Pentium D 3 Ghz, 1 GB ram) it runs like Crysis (playable, but not acceptable). Gonna try later with less windows, with other browsers, etc.