Rhythm Doctor - Simple, but Charming Rhythm Game (Flashing Light Warning)
0Health Caution: Possible Flashing Lights
Disclosure: This game copy was bought by the reviewer. Due to my underlining medical conditions (neurological/physical), I have major difficulties with 2-3. Please note this is not a reflection of the game.
This was a rather surprising experience with a simple concept elevated by the game's growing difficulty (slowly introducing new tempos and adding new ways of messing with you such as moving your game window around on the monitor) and the overall charm of the narrative. I have completed the game since recording this video with the main story (with some Nightmare versions complete, still have five to do) at 3 and a half hours. There is a level editor and custom levels through the Workshop with a surprising amount of levels already available to play around with.
Music is pretty good, some nice lyrics and just overall mellow tunes to keep the focus on hearing the rhythm. Visuals are pretty basic, but songs can get extremely trippy to the point you might benefit from playing with your eyes closed to ignore the visual stimulation. Story is very sweet, dealing with addiction, young love, and just being overall wholesome. It is a breath of fresh air and brings a smile.
Issues are rather minimal, if any. Calibration is rather thorough and the levels can be adjusted manually if things are still seeming off. My only real problem is with the tutorials being hard coded into the levels, so if your replaying a level with a tutorial, you can't skip it naturally (you can skip it by going into the pause menu and skipping it). Easy fix might be to set the tutorial as its' own level before the level it effects, or allow disabling it after the first time, re-enabling option in the settings if needed.
I was caught off guard by how great this game was and while I am unable to play it well, the developers provide some nice accessibility options to make it simpler. It is still rather short right now for the price (only 4 acts with around 30 levels including extras/nightmare versions), but it is an amazing start. I look forward to see where they go with it, so definitely keep an eye on this one.