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xyzzysqrlGame: Pixeljunk Eden
Played Before Now: No.
Time played: 19 hours.
Finished? Yes.
100%? No.
How Much is it Right Now? $10
Did I pay that? I don't think so. I think this came in a bundle.
Recommended? Oh hell yeah.
"Okay there are basic flying star things and you pop them and pollen shoots out and then you grab that to make big light seeds and those seeds make vines, but there are like bigger buzzsaw stars and they will cut your web so you fly off and can't swing but it's okay you just hit those dead-on, and then there's UFOs and they shoot lasers, and some of them go scrt-scrt-scrt and shoot like -homing bee missiles-, but that's okay too because you can outrun them, BUT THEN there's these dudes who look like Shuma-Gorath and THOSE GUYS ARE ASSHOLES because they EAT YOUR VINES and you can't hit them because they RUN AWAY FROM YOU seriously those guys are JERKS but anyway you're looking for weird glowing symbols the end."
If you let my inner twelve-year-old describe the gameplay of Pixeljunk Eden, you'd probably assume that my inner twelve-year-old was on LSD. Pixeljunk Eden is a weirdly minimalistic experience. The hub levels have flat backgrounds and dark shapes, large plants growing everywhere. Make your way into a level and there's color and light everywhere as strange techno-beats play. Your goal, as a tiny ... insect person... I think... is to collect Spectra, which are glowing color-shapes. You do this by destroying enemies to make pollen fill in empty outlines, which become "seeds" from which "plants" grow. Those plants are your platforms, you can jump off them or swing from a web. It's a platformer.
The flow of the gameplay looks like this:
1: Spawn into world.
2: Find a plant, jump on it.
3: Jump off it, leaving a web trail. Spin in big circles on the web to activate RADAR. This points you at the nearest Spectra.
4: Go find that Spectra.
5: What the fuck.
6: Seriously? How do you even GET there? There's no way to get THERE. That's impossible.
7: Oh wait.
8: You can probably grow a platform or something. Work on popping enemies.
9: Ah-ha.
10: Okay, I think I can get there now.
11-47: What the CRAP who decided there should be WIND in this game augh there's no WAY to make this jump maybe I should grow some more platforms oh hey look there's a second spectra I'll get that one wait I can't get through this oh hey landing on these things makes the platforms slide around HOLY CRAP WHAT DOES THAT DO I'M FLYING WHEEE
48: Spectra GET.
49: Okay, now there's four more Spectra in this world...
As you can see, it's a surprisingly complex game. I really can't say a lot that's BAD about it, this is gorgeous and ... weird, and fun, and... it's neat!
Although I did spend a few hours trying to figure out if the "bom bom bom bom bom" noise on the soundtrack signified anything, or if they just thought I would like some more drums in my life. I think that was meant to cue me in on the UFO. The abstract art and ... abstract... music... I guess really worked for this game. I also loved the names of the levels. Names like "~color()" and "Winter In Summer". (But not Rain in Sunshine.)
Screenshots: Un
Deux
Three
I did finish this game and get a congratulations message by collecting 75/75 Spectra. The game hinted I might want to revisit the levels, and there's a lot of achievements I haven't gotten yet. I'm going to leave this installed. But for now...
Pixeljunk Eden COMPLETE
SEE YOU NEXT TIME!
Played Before Now: No.
Time played: 19 hours.
Finished? Yes.
100%? No.
How Much is it Right Now? $10
Did I pay that? I don't think so. I think this came in a bundle.
Recommended? Oh hell yeah.
"Okay there are basic flying star things and you pop them and pollen shoots out and then you grab that to make big light seeds and those seeds make vines, but there are like bigger buzzsaw stars and they will cut your web so you fly off and can't swing but it's okay you just hit those dead-on, and then there's UFOs and they shoot lasers, and some of them go scrt-scrt-scrt and shoot like -homing bee missiles-, but that's okay too because you can outrun them, BUT THEN there's these dudes who look like Shuma-Gorath and THOSE GUYS ARE ASSHOLES because they EAT YOUR VINES and you can't hit them because they RUN AWAY FROM YOU seriously those guys are JERKS but anyway you're looking for weird glowing symbols the end."
If you let my inner twelve-year-old describe the gameplay of Pixeljunk Eden, you'd probably assume that my inner twelve-year-old was on LSD. Pixeljunk Eden is a weirdly minimalistic experience. The hub levels have flat backgrounds and dark shapes, large plants growing everywhere. Make your way into a level and there's color and light everywhere as strange techno-beats play. Your goal, as a tiny ... insect person... I think... is to collect Spectra, which are glowing color-shapes. You do this by destroying enemies to make pollen fill in empty outlines, which become "seeds" from which "plants" grow. Those plants are your platforms, you can jump off them or swing from a web. It's a platformer.
The flow of the gameplay looks like this:
1: Spawn into world.
2: Find a plant, jump on it.
3: Jump off it, leaving a web trail. Spin in big circles on the web to activate RADAR. This points you at the nearest Spectra.
4: Go find that Spectra.
5: What the fuck.
6: Seriously? How do you even GET there? There's no way to get THERE. That's impossible.
7: Oh wait.
8: You can probably grow a platform or something. Work on popping enemies.
9: Ah-ha.
10: Okay, I think I can get there now.
11-47: What the CRAP who decided there should be WIND in this game augh there's no WAY to make this jump maybe I should grow some more platforms oh hey look there's a second spectra I'll get that one wait I can't get through this oh hey landing on these things makes the platforms slide around HOLY CRAP WHAT DOES THAT DO I'M FLYING WHEEE
48: Spectra GET.
49: Okay, now there's four more Spectra in this world...
As you can see, it's a surprisingly complex game. I really can't say a lot that's BAD about it, this is gorgeous and ... weird, and fun, and... it's neat!
Although I did spend a few hours trying to figure out if the "bom bom bom bom bom" noise on the soundtrack signified anything, or if they just thought I would like some more drums in my life. I think that was meant to cue me in on the UFO. The abstract art and ... abstract... music... I guess really worked for this game. I also loved the names of the levels. Names like "~color()" and "Winter In Summer". (But not Rain in Sunshine.)
Screenshots: Un
Deux
Three
I did finish this game and get a congratulations message by collecting 75/75 Spectra. The game hinted I might want to revisit the levels, and there's a lot of achievements I haven't gotten yet. I'm going to leave this installed. But for now...
Pixeljunk Eden COMPLETE
SEE YOU NEXT TIME!
