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Future Cartoon Network Video Game Star

  • zDS
  • 01/04/2017 01:38 AM
  • 1810 views
Flatwoods, to me, is like an animated short before the big CGI movie. Short, sweet, and a really pleasant use of 25 minutes. Now how can one review a game so short? The answer is obvious to one who has played this game: The amount of effort the developer spent crafting these 25 minutes of game really shows and makes the game shine bright.



Flatwoods is a breed between adventure game and a series of animated shorts. The animated shorts wowed me. I cannot believe one person did that, yet it's true. One talented person was able to pull that off. It looks really nice and professional.

The actual game isn't much. I do not mean that in a negative way. You only walk around and collect certain keys and or key items. No combat. No puzzles that require more thought than remembering where to backtrack. Now you might ask: No gameplay? Then why should I play this game? The answer? Every single map is filled to the brim with charm.

The game begins inside Lemon's house, who is possible the most uniquely designed main character ever, and you just kind of explore his house and talk to his little brother. The music is very nice on the ears and the sound effects remind me of a game boy color game and fills me with warm nostalgia.



Most furniture will give you a flavor text. Bookcases reveal book references. The beds will give a gag about the character who sleeps on them. Through furniture flavor text, you learn a LOT about Lemon and his family. Every tile was placed with care, you can tell.

Exploring the small world of Flatwoods is relatively the same as the first house. All turnips reveal a different fact, dead trees will reveal a different gag, and Lemon will name each chicken you come across different.



The forest is short and sweet and I instantly understood how to get the good ending. I had to go back and get the bad ending just out of curiosity. You can't really say much about the story. A curious kid explores a strange happening. It's cute and short.

The pixel art in this game is really nice. The variety in trees, the charming interiors, and the adorable grass and flowers scattered across the grass are pleasant on the eyes.



Flatwoods, all in all, is a GREAT example of how to make your first game. It was not a 20 hour epic that tried to change the world. It was the developer knowing what he could do and decided to hone his skills by making a 25 minute adventure game with the most charm he could possibly add to such a short time.

For what the game is, there is not much I could suggest to improve. I could say make the forest less flat, but then one can only look at the title of the game. It's supposed to be flat! Flatwoods is all about charm and it more than succeeded in that regard. When the developer releases a game with more of a gameplay to it, I will have full confidence the other sections (such as exploring the world and dialogue) will keep me more than entertained.

I can recommend Flatwoods to just about anyone. Take half an hour to play it. It will bring you joy and there is not much more I can say about it.

Posts

Pages: 1
author=greensdream
No, @visitorsfromdreams. It's a GREAT thing that those LP'ers didn't read the flavor text... All of that stuff is there only for those who love it. And the ones who love it will seek it out. It also adds to replayability!


Ha ha, I don't know about that (flavor text is one of my favorite things about the Souls series, I just don't think I made it obvious it existed. In my current project I am trying to make which items can be interacted with more visually obvious. Glad you dug it though!
No, @visitorsfromdreams. It's a GREAT thing that those LP'ers didn't read the flavor text... All of that stuff is there only for those who love it. And the ones who love it will seek it out. It also adds to replayability!
Aw man, what a great review. I am glad someone took the time to read all that stuff because I noticed almost nobody who LP'd the game read much of anything, I guess that was partially on me for not making interactive objects more obvious.

Thanks for taking the time to write this mate, really put a smile on my face. :)
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