Harlow Reviews

Pretty good game. I didn't think there could be such a thing as a "zen" precision-platformer, yet here it is. The gameplay is original and works well, based on physics engines and the ability to recharge the double-jump each time we touch a surface - well almost all surfaces, and that's one of the many small issues the game has. Sometimes the double-jump should recharge and yet doesn't. For instance, if we bounce too quickly, it seems it doesn't have time to trigger it. Or sometimes even standing still on the ground doesn't recharge it for some reason. And since we can only move by jumping, we're stuck until the game suddenly decides to let us jump again. (I'm not sure why the devs didn't simply make it so that touching anything recharges the double-jump. That would make things not only clearer but less glitchy.) Other than that, the movements are pretty fluid, and it's fun to be able to bounce everywhere. The main issue is definitely the lack of checkpoints. Not that it makes the game particularly difficult, since we never lose any progress, but it's still tedious to restart from way too far, especially considering the time it takes to respawn, which is way too long for no apparent reason. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if the levels were supposed to have a bit more checkpoints but were removed to extend the play time - it's a short game. The main appeal is the graphics and musics which are simply beautiful. There's also a sci-fi story which is surprisingly dense for this type of games, although it didn't really catch my attention. And the level design is well built overall. It can sometimes be a bit repetitive since there aren't many different mechanics, but the difficulty curve is pretty good. Anyway, I recommend.