Static Head

So, I'm still doing that thing where I check every game in the 50 Days of Representation jam, so here I am, checking out Static Head!

Overall view

This game is quite charming in many different ways. It is not perfect, and I feel like the dev has cut corners in many areas, but it's still pretty nice for what little content it has.

It feels to me like many aspects of this game were rather rushed up. You know, the kind of oversight you commit when you're in a hurry? That's par for the course in many jam games, but you know what? In spite of that, the game is still a pleasant experience.

While the game feels a bit rushed, the story is great, and worth a play by itself. The story is the one department where no corners were cut. There are many characters, lots of fun interactions, and a great idea in general.

Story and presentation

Let me just say that the maps look bland. I'm sorry, they do. They feel featureless and strange, to the point where it's hard to even make out what most places are supposed to be. I mean, that's okay, since obviously this game was done in a very short time frame, but it's still kind of a letdown. Like, I only knew Onora was a city by context, because a screenshot by itself would not have made me realize it. I'm sorry.

The music is kickass, with lots of heavy riffs and stuff. Nothing to complain about here, except maybe that some parts have music that clashes with the feeling we're supposed to have in them, like the very upbeat music in the laboratory.

The story follows two musicians, Ross the gutarist, and Mikey the bassist, on a journey to undo a terrible laboratory accident that turned many humans into monsters. As they venture through this lab, they eventually discover that they love each other. The story is really wholesome and enjoyable in general, and I like the interplay between Mikey and Ross. Dude, their ship is moved by music, that's so cheesily awesome! There's a lot of cheesy but endearing stuff like this in the game.

Ross is such a lovable big guy, I just wanna hug him. His flowery beard is absolutely fabulous. Mike's a bit more shy, but still cool. I like that they come from completely different backgrounds, with Ross coming from a democratic utopia, and Mike coming from a significantly more authoritarian nation. There are some really interesting exchanges between the two of them, and they're, for the most part, well written. I particularly love Ross and Mikey talking about the past of the people who were turned into monsters to appease them. That warmed my heart so much.

Also, while the story is mostly upbeat and happy, there are some legit dark moments that struck deep. They're mostly concentrated on the end of the game, but they work very well.

Overall, I like the story. It's just the right amount of cheesy without going overboard with it, and it's also super emotional. I feel like the overall tone of the story would benefit from a more colorful and flashy presentation, but I understand it is kind of hard to do that in only 50 days.

Now, let me just list some tidbits I really enjoyed (HEAVY spoilers):


Gameplay

The game contains some light puzzle solving, and also some turn-based battles. The equipment system consists of a weapon slot and four badge slots. The badge slots can be occupied by all kinds of different badges with special powers, some increasing stats, some adding special abilities, et cetera. I quite like this equipment system, as it allows us to customize our characters more than we would be able to in a more standard "weapon, shield, armor, helmet, boots" system.

There are some challenging battles here and there, but most battles are too darn easy. This is due in part to the fact that monsters don't respawn when you leave dungeons, meaning you can spam your strongest attacks in any battle and never feel like you're wasting MP, since you can just run back to the nearest healing spot without losing any progress. That makes dungeon exploring more of a little stroll than a foreboding challenge. Not a bad stroll, mind you, but not as good as it could be if I actually felt like I was in danger.

That said, I gotta talk about one awesome thing right at the beginning of the game:


The way you obtain items, including consumables and badges, is by "synthesizing" them from your monster loots (and sometimes your own EXP) on specialized synthesizing spots. That's really cool on one hand, but on the other, it implies you have to remember what spot synthesizes something you feel like you're gonna need, and that becomes a bit cumbersome at times. I think it'd be better if finding the designated spot for a badge simply gave us a recipe that we can use to forge the thing wherever we are when we have the ingredients.

The game also includes some exploration mechanics like Ross's ability to destroy heavy obstacles, and Mikey's ability to jump certain gaps. Their use is mostly contextual, but there are some puzzles here and there. Most block puzzles are a bit on the trivial side, though, like they were thrown in with little care, but they don't ruin the experience or anything.

The dungeon design in this game is not egregiously bad or anything, but it feels rather aimless. Like, I dunno, there are some large rooms that are mostly empty, and it's way too easy to just jump around most blockades. In fact, sometimes I wouldn't trigger a mandatory scene because I'd jump over the tiles that led to that scene.

In spite of the problems, the gameplay in this game's not bad. It's got flaws, but it's okay for the most part. There are some bugs, but I'm gonna report them in a comment so I don't keep taking up review space. I'm not gonna discount points for bugs, as they are unintentional and supposed to be patched out anyway.

Final thoughts

This game is heart-warming, but quite flawed. There are numerous problems, but not enough to ruin the experience. It is fun, funny, wholesome, and interesting.

I'm giving this a 3.5/5. Would be much better with some effort put into the presentation, and ironing out some of the bigger gameplay flaws.