Research

Celeste - Research

Right from the get go, it is very fascinating to see how the buttons and menu work in such a smooth and fluent fashion, making using the touch controls satisfying. Furthermore, the smooth speed of the transition from the main menu to the game itself is another very organic and fluid movement that is tantalizing to watch. 

In terms of gameplay feel, the way that the character jumps from snowy cliff to snowy cliff is also very organic and satisfying to watch; the way the snow jumps up with the player as they jump makes the game appear more alive and realistic, rather than a static 2D world which is true for most games which use the older more classic look. Furthermore, the blowing snow which moves rapidly across the street makes the game even more lively and serves to perfectly replicate the atmosphere of a snowstorm. 

In terms of in game character however, it is oddly offputting how none of the characters have any facial features. This creates a strange effect between watching the in game characters and their dialogue boxes above which feature cheered and joyous facial expressions. Indeed, it creates an odd disassociative contrast between a more bleak real world look and the dialogue sketches. 

The transition from speaking to the old woman to running across the stone bridge is excellent both in execution and taking the player out of the calm tutorial on mechanics right into the action. Indeed, the audio soundtrack changes just as the bridge begins to break and creates a sense of action and excitement while the tutorial pops back in one of the most exciting and dramatically simple ways I personally have experienced. Indeed, the game leads the player to almost believing they were at fault for having lost but pauses just in time before the player succumbs to show them that another mechanic is possible to save oneself from near falls.

The newly discovered dash mechanic also allows the player to chain jumps and climbs onto different structures in a very free way; there is not really a set path as to how you can traverse the cliffs and jump onto other platforms. The dash gives players an element of freedom and strategy that many side scrollers lack.

Furthermore, the fact that the player is not seriously punished when they make an error and land on any spikes adds a nice element of exploration and experimentation within the game. Indeed, knowing that dying will only instantly respawn you near where you died so that you may try again is an excellent way of allowing players to experiment with their jumping and movements in ways that other games cannot offer due to their risk-punishment systems. The ability to latch onto any edge of a platform also allows players to explore and think about their actions more carefully without the pressure of falling and dying if they do something to quickly. 

In terms of environmental design and camera functionality, the game specifically shows the area in front of the player as a sort of foresight to allow the player to calculate how they will make their jumps to get to the other side or traverse vertical platforms. This is in contrast to games like Super Mario where the camera largely follows the player, leaving the area ahead of the player a mystery to them until they move forward.

In terms of level design, although the platform puzzles provide a very nice way of exercising a player’s intuitive and problem solving skills, because of the fact there are so many paths and hidden areas in each segment, the levels can appear daunting for chronic explorers. Indeed, if the player is the type that just enjoys playing the game then this would be an excellent game. However, for explorer type players, much like myself, this game would be hard to traverse and fully enjoy as its layout seems overly complex, especially for the Nintendo Switch screen also. In turn, it also seems very ambiguous as to where exactly the player needs to go as the game does not seem to offer any specific guides, making it very easy to just get lost.

Initial Audio is calm and serene, which strongly juxtaposes with the raging snowstorm happening around the player. Furthermore, the dialogue audio so far appears to be more of a nuisance than anything pleasant, although as an intentional joke from the programmers it adds a nice step away from the serious serenity of the atmosphere and the dangerous cliff jumping.

The way the audio sounds combined with the overall feel of movement in the game is beautifully done in that stepping on a loose stone will make it shake slightly while the sound effect will make it sound as if you are stepping on loose tiles. This makes the game even more immersive and emotionally thrilling than most sidescroller games who tend to overlook features like these.

Castlevania: Bloodstained Ritual - Research

Castlevania, although essentially a sidescroller, feels like a game that should have been a 3D RPG game instead of a traditional sidescroller. Indeed, the graphics of the game are 3D rendered while the mechanics of jumping, double jumping and combat all look like they belong in a game like the original God of War series. Indeed, it is the freedom to perform attack combos and the fluidity of the jump mechanic, which all tend to be constrained in more classic side scroller examples, which give off the feeling that you are playing a third person RPG beat em up game. The inventory function and look of the game also is reminiscent of games like Diablo or Titan Quest where you can find consumables and also pick up items to wear and use on your character. 

The soundtrack of the game is also reminiscent of games like Final Fantasy or even games like Dark Souls, which are all very different from a side scroller game. In this way, Castlevania is unique in that it does not morph into a classic side scroller with the 8bit style music that would certainly take away from the feel of the game. This further reinforces what I mentioned earlier about the game feeling more cinematic and organic, like other genres of video games. 

On another note, the minimap UI of the game feels a little obsolete and arbitrary in that it does not really show any visualization of the player’s surroundings and placement in relation to the map itself; it only displays a blue vertical rectangle which becomes more complete as the player progresses. However, the fact that it simply follows the player’s path while lending no helpful visuals other than an indicator of a doorway makes the map seem like a distraction.

In terms of environment and level design, the game’s organic graphics make the environment easier to navigate and understand, while the level design itself is made simpler than a game like Celeste for example, where players can easily get lost or confused. Castlevania makes guiding the player easier and integrated into its level design through its simplicity.

Furthermore, there is a feeling of inadequacy in the enemy types within the game. Indeed, as you progress through the game you come across different types of enemies, such as winged bird enemies, giant knights, or demons. However, even if some may seem daunting and others not, they all appear to be easy to kill within a few sword swipes or power moves. Of course, the character’s level and the weapons and power ups they use directly affect this, but it would have been more engaging and exciting to have more differentiation in enemies that you cannot simply mow down no matter what they look like. The enemies seem to be significantly weaker than the player too in that none of them seem to be performing significant amounts of damage.

It is also slightly confusing and hard to understand when and why your character receives ability shards which give you new powers. At first it seems like this is the leveling up system but after playing some more it becomes obvious that that is another system entirely on its own.

Hollow Knight- Research

Generally speaking, the animations and effects of Hollow Knight (ex. When the player slices tall grass in front of them as well as the swoosh of the blade itself) are very organic and feel juicy to the player whenever they tap a button. Indeed, the smashing of rock obstacles and the death explosions of enemies are all very realistic and serve to give the player a feeling of satisfying fulfilment in having performed an action and received the proper feedback. This organic feeling is also true of the environment and background themselves. In fact the environment feels as if it is alive and breathing, with particles swirling around the player while jagged rocks tend to fall randomly from the ceiling. This makes the game more vivid and compelling, things that 3D games do usually due to their more organic and dynamic backgrounds and environments, making the player feel as though they are running through a cave system alongside the character they are controlling. The death of the enemies themselves is another interesting thing to observe. Indeed, Hollow Knight appears to be amongst the only side scrollers that uses enemy corpses after they have been killed. This serves to add to the eeriness of the game as well as making it more realistic and juicy overall. The environment itself also uses the pathfinding system of games such as Metroid to full effect, in that the paths and camera guide the player onward through tunnel like openings, with events like breaking rocks and ground that change the player’s path spicing up the player’s journey. Another thing about the background is that it also serves to create a sense of depth and reality as it also includes the same environmental hazards and obstacles that the player is facing on their path in the distance. This makes the overall scene more organic versus having a simple static background that seems monotonous and dead.

When it comes to sound, the game uses simple atmospheric and ambient sounds to create an eerie and desolate atmosphere, as though the player was exploring some barren land which had been abandoned long ago. The dreariness of the ambient soundtrack of wind blowing combined with the sound of the player’s echoing footsteps really sets the mood of the game effectively and richly. It is also nice to see how dialogue with NPCs does not disrupt this atmosphere with spoken words combined with overhead text but instead opts to use the sound of initial conversation with an NPC while then displaying the text so the player can read while the background soundtrack plays softly and nicely.

In terms of the UI system, it is done well enough that it is certainly part of the whole game’s general aesthetic and feel, with the icons near the top left corner of the screen resembling the main character’s face.