Game Review - SuperBrothers: Swords & Sworcery EP

Alex recommend the team to play this game. This is to explore games similar to our idea of Portage Experience which is going to be set in a forest, with most likely a 2D art style.

On first impressions, the art style and overall aesthetic is gorgeous and enchanting. With a slight nod towards a fantasy environment, the setting of the forest is a beautiful place to look at. The style also allows for an interesting level layout and design. With layered art to create a parallax feature while keeping a single plane allowing the 2D space to venture with a feeling of depth to it, the seemingly flat appearance is very quickly broken. This is feel is a clever way of using 2D art in a 3D environment to create the illusion of depth. The characters are somewhat bizarre to look at. Thick bodies and a couple pixels wide neck and head, the character designs rely a lot on the clothing and general appearance. This I found an underwhelming way to design the characters. The actual art work of the environment assets however are stylised to the overall aesthetic but looks very pretty while also appearing clearly as what it is all meant to be.

The actual game play and mechanics however felt very unclear. It seemed as though I was playing a game in the middle of a series which made no attempt to explain itself. And when exploring and inspecting aspects in the environment, the game would use text to explain it, which is fine, but always spoke in a very casual style. "we saw this and didn't think anything of it" to paraphrase. This also helped me to care less about what I was actually supposed to be doing. And what I was supposed to be doing? Looking for a book or tome, which is pretty clear and obvious yes but the task itself felt pointless. The only interesting part of the journey was to see the very well created pixel art scenes and listen to the rather magical music.

The SFX and music were very well placed. The music had a soul of its own which helps the game a lot. It didn't feel generic or copycat and it had a rather upbeat tone about it. Maybe it matched the slightly cocky and self aware attitude of the overall game which is a good thing, meaning I just didn't enjoy that with the prettiness of the environment. Where the SFX are concerned; running water, bushes rustling, dog barking and ambient sounds create a very charming environment experience. Something I should definitely pay attention to when looking at the sound design for our project.