Main Post - Part 1
Main Post - Part 2
#16: Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash: 13.2 hours
Beyond the context of it's existence though, it's a 2D platformer that doesn't really have anything special to offer. The idea the game banks on and is named after is using your cord as a whip, which lends itself to trick shots and swinging. But the swinging can be a little awkward so the game doesn't really do anything interesting with it.
The game's main problem (which I admittedly avoided for the most part) is it's insane amount of padding. There are six worlds with six levels each, and these levels are arranged into a ring. When you finish a level you have to spin a wheel (which thankfully is easy to manipulate) that determines how many levels you advance. If you skip a level you have to go around the world until you land on it, or spend in-game currency to add panels to the wheel until to get the number you need. Once you finish all six levels the world boss appears, and beating them will enable you to freely select levels in that world. Then when you get to the end of the sixth world you're told that you need to cough up a certain amount of money to unlock the final boss.
On top of this, there are the toys. There are three kinds of collectibles in this game, one of which is lovingly rendered Japanese snack foods. Each world contains a portal that transports you to a toy that has a craving for some of these snacks, and by handing them over you unlock descriptions of them in the gallery. The level each toy can first be found in is randomised, and to get back to them later (which you will have to do because a lot of the time they want snacks you don't have yet) you have to go through much of whichever level they've moved to (which is thankfully marked after the first encounter).
Overall I found that the padding, while egregious is easy to overlook. But that doesn't change the fact that it's just a mediocre 2D platformer on a system that isn't starved of them. It's fun, but it's not that fun.
Currently playing: I've got one quadrant of the Breath of the Wild map left to explore, then it's time to end the game
Main Post - Part 2
#16: Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash: 13.2 hours
This is a hard game to talk about because I haven't played a Chibi-Robo game before but I know enough about to series for this entry to come off as really weird and out of place regardless. There are a number of aspects that seem to be lifted from the older games (Chibi-Robo himself is adorable and deserves to be in more interesting games) but I can't say for sure.
Beyond the context of it's existence though, it's a 2D platformer that doesn't really have anything special to offer. The idea the game banks on and is named after is using your cord as a whip, which lends itself to trick shots and swinging. But the swinging can be a little awkward so the game doesn't really do anything interesting with it.
The game's main problem (which I admittedly avoided for the most part) is it's insane amount of padding. There are six worlds with six levels each, and these levels are arranged into a ring. When you finish a level you have to spin a wheel (which thankfully is easy to manipulate) that determines how many levels you advance. If you skip a level you have to go around the world until you land on it, or spend in-game currency to add panels to the wheel until to get the number you need. Once you finish all six levels the world boss appears, and beating them will enable you to freely select levels in that world. Then when you get to the end of the sixth world you're told that you need to cough up a certain amount of money to unlock the final boss.
On top of this, there are the toys. There are three kinds of collectibles in this game, one of which is lovingly rendered Japanese snack foods. Each world contains a portal that transports you to a toy that has a craving for some of these snacks, and by handing them over you unlock descriptions of them in the gallery. The level each toy can first be found in is randomised, and to get back to them later (which you will have to do because a lot of the time they want snacks you don't have yet) you have to go through much of whichever level they've moved to (which is thankfully marked after the first encounter).
Overall I found that the padding, while egregious is easy to overlook. But that doesn't change the fact that it's just a mediocre 2D platformer on a system that isn't starved of them. It's fun, but it's not that fun.
Currently playing: I've got one quadrant of the Breath of the Wild map left to explore, then it's time to end the game