Game:

Dandara (2018)

Duration: 30:33

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The newest video in the QT30E series is the #PS4 version of #Dandara Trials of Fear Edition, a game from Long Hat House.

I went into this game wondering how much of a puzzle platformer it was going to be. was it, at one extreme, similar to Super Meat Boy or on the opposite end was it more similar to Dead Cells. The marketing i had seen from this game over the years was never really clear. But after playing for 30 minutes, i still don't know.

The game starts with some world building and introduces the story. getting this before actual gameplay made me think that this was going to be a narratively driven platformer. But that ended up as the only story i got. i started exploring the world but it felt like i was on my own for a lot of it. only at the campfire did the game interact with me to explain what it does. this game quickly became one where we have to figure it out on our own. it's a shame because that's not the first impression the game gave me. it turns out this game is maybe more akin to a Roguelike. once i realized that, this game became less interesting. when i died my character lost all the currency and it was never clear to me if or how i could get it back.

I did like how the platforming kept the arrow showing direction. it was very useful. but i don't understand why something similar wasn't on screen for shooting. in a way, it feels a little like the game borrowed ideas from many other games that it itself didn't really have an identity other than the main character and art style. but those things that are unique to this game are somewhat meaningless as the game failed to communicate to me their significance. the only reason why i was able to quickly get up to speed in this game was my previous experience with roguelikes and not because the game communicated to me what it wanted me to do or why.

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