CASSETTE BOY

This one is so mixed for me. I really like the ideas and puzzles in the Fez esq adventure, but the bad enemy and boss designs are just horrible. The writing is uninspired and insta deaths feel bad. It is a big achievement releasing a game as a solo developer, but ultimately this game was just a boring slog to get through.

Cassette boy is really trying to punch above its weight. It wants to be a genre-bending wow-inspriring game, in the likes of *Fez* or *Tunic*. But unfortunately it's clunky, confusing, and obtuse. The core idea is that objects don't exist when you look at them, which is cool! And there are a lot of interesting puzzles that it uses this for, like to delay the flight of arrows, or keep buttons down held. But it seems to be applied inconsistently, and a lot of puzzles end up feeling samey or tedious. It's got a cool 3D graphics with the gameboy palette, but it kind of makes things muddier and harder to discern objects. It's not always clear how to progress, and often you have to do a lot of re-tracking the same steps to trigger required events. Combat is kinda clunky and underwhelming. You can use geometry to make enemies disappear, but that doesn't usually do much. Every nice thing I want to say kind of has caveats. I sspect this is a solo project, but I haven't reached credits and the studio's website doesn't have many details. Sucks, I think this game is cool but has a lot holding it back

Feels like a combination of traditional Zelda adventure with Fez-style camera rotation puzzles, except that it doesn't come to the exploration highs of a Zelda or the "ah hah!" moments of Fez. Combat feels serviceable, and the puzzles feel serviceable. Writing and music is cute and fits the theme of everything going on. This is one of those "potato chip" games where you can pick it up and complete it over a lazy day, enjoy your time with it, and never really think about it again. I would recommend it to anyone looking for something in that vein and is a fan of light puzzle adventures.