Bug Butcher - When you cannot squash them you shoot them

Before I start this review I want to say that Triangle Studios were so nice to give me a key for Bug Butcher after I approached them. I did my best to stay objective but I believe it is good practice to state if you gotten a game from the developer/publisher for free.

Bug Butcher is 2D scrolling shoot em up with enemies coming(mostly) from above. In the game you get in the role of Harry, your friendly (badass) neighbourhood bug exterminator. You are hired by a group of desperate scientists who are almost over run by giants insects. The game is composed of 30 levels with 5 bossfights each of which will test your ability to adapt, kill and survive to the maximum in the dangers which Bug Butcher has prepared for you. 

The Beauty of the small things

The sentence above pretty much sums up the whole Bug Butcher, but here I want to mention few things beside game mechanics and gameplay. First of all the look of the game. I have never imagined that something so cartoony can be so horrifying. Graphically Awfully Nice have achieved great combination between funny and cartoony and bizarre and gruesome.
And only one more thing between continuing with the fun stuff. Bug Butcher is action/chaos packed game in which you will run left and right non-stop and in such games controls are really important. Thankfully they are not overlooked and are tight and responsive. The game supports game pads and while I am not fan of them most of the time here I will suggest you to use one as it is simply more comfortable than the keyboard.  

"I am defenseless, you must protect me..."

On each level you are accompanied by a scientist from the base and while he is not involved directly in combat, he will spawn power ups for you and in co-op he is even more important as you will be able to buy powers up from him. The problem is that there is this one kind of spiders who reaaally likes smart brains and will go always after the scientist. And if he dies you will soon follow. Managing to keep him save is the smaller problem though, the bigger one is that...

They bounce in from all sides!

Usually in shoot em up enemies come always from one side and do not have complicated movement patterns(there are some exceptions). This is not true with the case of Bug Butcher. At the start the insects will always drop from the ceiling but with levels passing they will start appearing from the floor and walls. And they will not only fly in, they will start to bounce all around the place! This will force you to be on the move constantly calculating where they will drop if you do not want to be the one who is squashed. The problem won't be the huge amount of enemy projectiles, but the amount of enemies on the screen. Speaking about the enemies Bug Butcher offers ridiculous amount of different all horrible bugs which try to kill you. They split in smaller ones, puke smaller bugs, shoot lasers, follow you around, stomp you, burn you and many more horrible things. Each new bug has its own unique design and model. I personally quickly started to give them names and hate most of them for in different combinations they are absurdly deadly and unleash unspeakable chaos on the screen. This combined with the ever becoming more hazardous levels will test your skills to the maximum.

Oh yeah!

Now that you know how horrible are the enemies it is time to see how awesome are the weapons. Harry(you) like two things the most - killing bugs and killing bugs with devastating guns! After every few levels you will unlock new power ups for the scientist to spawn for you including mini guns, rocket launchers, devastating, zapping guns and more. Aside from those the bugs will occasionally drop life, bonus damage or movement speed buffs which will often give the little you need to survive the last two or three nasty hoppers.

Conclusion

Behind Awfully Nice Studios and Bug Butcher stand two veterans from the industry and this is obvious from the start. Bug Butcher stinks of finished and polished product. The developers did not only had great idea what they want to make but they also executed it perfectly! If you are into shoot em ups then Bug Butcher is a 100% for you. It has everything you might be looking for from the nasty enemies through the chaos caused by huge amounts of enemies and hazards to the badass, over the top weapons and cheeky humour. And if you think its not chaotic and crazy enough when you play alone you can jump in the co-op and enjoy double the amount of bugs!

Where to find:

Awfully Nice Studios 

Steam

Triangle Studios

Pankapu - Jumping to you in episodes

After my disappointment from Seasons after Fall I went into Pankapu without any expectations. I just did not dare to have any. What attracted me was the interesting idea of episodic platformer and the colorful graphics. 

Pankapu is a 2D action platformer made by Too Kind Studio. The game revolves around the fairy tale told to the traumatized boy Djaha’rell. The story follows both the brave savior of the Dream world Pankapu and the boy Djaha’rell. The developers from Too Kind promise that the story will play big role in this attempt for episodic game, but so far I have not seen any heavy story telling or interesting dialogues. 

Oh there are a lot of them for sure and some are too long for a platformer game, but I cannot say that they have made the story of the game more interesting for me. We will see how this will develop as this is only the first episode and it is early to scratch the story from the picture. But do not expect atmospheric experience from the sort of Valiant Hearts for example.

Despite the story Pankapu pretty much excels in every other aspect. The game looks great with bright colors, thought out mechanics, responsive controls, well designed platforming action and secret areas to find. Yes, your guess is right you will have to replay levels after each gain of new powers. And new powers you will gain fairly quickly as this first episode is not very long and unfolds with satisfying tempo as the levels are usually short, but packed with action and you rarely run more than few meters without jumping, slashing or dodging something. 

But I mentioned new powers and did not said anything more about them. There are three powers which you will be able to switch between in real time if need be. Your default starting one - Bravery which will give you a sharp sword and a shield. Ardor which will make you nimble and dodgy to hit  while at the same time allowing you to strike from distance. And the Faith which will allow you to be a mighty wizard smashing your nightmarish opponents in mass. In your venturing through the world of Omnia you will also have the chance to upgrade different aspects of your character like his health and damage. 

Conclusion

Pankapu is great, short (because of its episodic nature) platformer done with great deal of understanding how a game in the genre should function, look and feel. At the same time Too Kind Studio have decided to make their game in episodes which I see no reason for. Platformers never been known or played for their deep story and great writing or dialogues. So far I have not seen Too Kind changing that. I am not saying that story is bad it is decent may be for a bit younger audience than me, but is nothing revolutionary. If you like platformers you will probably have fun with Pankapu - I did and my curiosity what they will manage to do with the whole episodic thing makes me keep an eye on them.

Where to find:

Official site

Steam

Quick Opinion: Samorost 3, The Curious expedition, Everspace, Seasons After Fall

I do not have an excuse anymore other than the ridiculous amount of games which catch my attention and the opposite in amount time I have. So this will be fairly regular format for smaller games.

Today we will take a look at Samorost 3 ( old favorite series of mine ) a crazy adventure game, The Curious Expedition which is similar to Renowned Explorers International Society, Everspace a FTL like game with a twist and last Seasons after Fall a cute platformer  for which I had certain hopes which it may or may not have fulfilled. First is...

Everspace

Everspace is a sci-fi roguelike, similar to FTL, created by ROCKFISH Games. But here you control a small fighter and try to reach the center of the Universe(mhmm, familiar I know) for unknown even to you reason, but pushed by the AI of your ship. The other big and may be the main difference is that Everpsace is not turn-based, instead is a dogfight/exploration game where you mine, fight, collect money, find equipment for your ship and run when needed(often at the beginning) from bigger ships. In similar to FTL way you will jump from system to system when you are done with each one.
After each try(read after each death) you can modify your ship with the collected money trying to make it better. Strange fact storywise - your pilot remembers his previous attempts which rise some questions like is this real, are you revived somewhere after each dead? 

With your progress you will learn form the AI more and more about not only your mission but also about the few factions and the story of the game in general. The AI will also occasionally mock you or urge you to do this and that which brings strange humorous note to the otherwise kind of grim and lonely space around you.
Sadly as most roguelikes Everspace have the specific for the genre slow start and steep learning curve which may easily put you off from this otherwise great looking space dogfight/roguelike game.

Oh, oh the game is in early access so you might want to wait a little.

Where to find:

Official site

Steam

GoG

Seasons after Fall

I have great amount of love for Ori and The Blind Forest, a game which is not only great in very aspect but also a title which rekindled my attraction to platformers. So when I saw the first shots from Seasons after Fall I was immediately reminded of Ori and got excited...may be too much. In Seasons after Fall you are small "seed" which by a mysterious voice is given the task to gather the powers of the Seasons by meeting their Guardians. Seasons after Fall is very beautiful game with charming characters and interesting idea - solving puzzles by controlling the weather. BUT it is repetitive, there is a ton of backtracking and not in the sense of metroidvania, no, there is only one way. So when you acquire new power and need to return back you can go only the way you came. Which is boring to say the least... This together with the fact that you do the same over and over again, which is going, getting the power from the Guardian and going back makes for one not very interesting or exciting game. Which is sad as it does has potential and it does look great.

...or may be I expected too much of it...

Where to find:

Official site

Steam

The Curious Expedition

Because I have started with the disappointing games and I want to end this post in good spirit I will tell you about another title which sadly did not meet my expectations. May be, again, because I compared it to something else and expected more. The game is The Curious Expedition by  Maschinen-Mensch where you will take the role of a famous person( like Lovecraft, Tesla, Alister Crowley, Charles Darwin etc.) who, for some reason, has decided to explore what seems like the jungles of South America. During your adventures you will collect loot which you can sell for honor or money. At the beginning of this post I have stated the game to be similar to Renowned Explorers International Society and while both games share some similar mechanics like the honor cost of items, choose your own adventure aspects and the whole expedition theme Curious Expedition is a lot lighter, simpler and sadly repetitive game where you will always look for the Golden Pyramid. Granted Renowned Explorers had its repetitive moments and you always tried to beat the most famous explorer but it had unique battle system, genuine feeling for exploration and adventure and a lot more interaction between the different characters which all together managed to make you feel invested in the game. While CE I have the feeling is targeted more to the people who like to jump in a game, make a short session or two and be on their way. Which for exploration game like this one it does not really work for me.

Where to find:

Official site

Steam

Samorost 3

And last but by no means least an old favorite of mine with its third installment - Samorost. For those of you aware of the series I can only say more of the same which we so much loved in the previous games. Interesting puzzles, quirky characters, beautiful and very detailed environments. For those of you who have not heard of Samorost ( and I will not be surprised if there are such among you ) this is an adventure exploration puzzle game where you will have to solve some really original puzzles if you manage to undestand what is wanted from you only from the gestures and pictures provided by other characters as there is no speech in the game. Samorost is work of Amanita Design the creators of Machinarium and will easily charm you with its amazing aesthetic, music and bizarre characters. And the story is pretty decent too...if you manage to figure it out.

Where to find:

Official site

Steam

GoG