Feathery Ears 羽耳 Reviews

So I haven't beaten this game yet, but I'm already in love with it! You're a creative little girl who doesn't really fit in at school, and a mysterious mishap takes you to the world inside your creation! OK ok it's not the most original premise but it's definitely one of the best told by delightful (and dialogue-free, so you can play without needing to be able to read or speak English) 2D animated cutscenes! The core of the game is a third person hack and slash platformer akin to something like Medievil just with more jumping, your character is responsive, feels like they have weight to them and can grab on to ledges to save them from a fall! (There are bottomless areas, but no fall damage if you fall on a solid). You have a chargejump that you can use to dash to other platforms, which is handy! The main goal of jumping around the world fighting wonderfully modeled crystalline enemies to collect star pieces, which will open up a tower that lets you ascend to the next level. It's fun with no frustration, sometimes I died because I didn't grab the ledge right or I charged at the wrong time but at no point did I feel like it wasn't my fault. The graphics in this game are low-poly but use the aesthetic in a beautiful combination with shaders to create a surreal dreamscape that really feels like a lonely young girl's imagination, I've only been through 2 levels so far but both are designed in a way that feels like a retro throwback game should, lots of care was placed into the design and aesthetic and while not emulating any particular game/console/era it will make you oddly nostalgic for the 32-bit era. The sound design is cute with sounds appropriate for the character, she's not an action girl she's a normal girl given powers and just trying to get back home! All the sound effects are cute, and the music is at times hauntingly beautiful, evocative of the labyrinth of dreams you've found yourself in, at other times it calls to mind platform music of the era, jaunty and fun perfect for jumping around. Now for some stuff I'm not liking so far. I have no problems with not having a health meter but i would like a way to see how many stars i need to get and while i also like some of the cooler moments like the little section of teeny platforms you jump on in the first level, having them practically programmed feels kind of like a copout. Like I feel i wouldn't be able to do it without that, but in that case why have it in the level? Regardless so far if you're willing to set aside your expectAAAtions there's a lot more good I can say than bad. I can't give it a rating until I beat it, but right now I recommend it and I will update this when I complete the game.

I can not recommend this ever. It feels like an early alpha build of something that at some point, may want to become a game. There is no tutorial, there is nothing that shows you where to go in the beginning. Every level is an "open world" kind of thing, in which you collect a few stars to "open" the goal. But you often times don't even understand what your goal is. The "stairs" throughout many levels, are simply walls that are SLIGHTLY diagonal, which you can run up, even though it makes no sense. You walk on the air, you walk on lava, sometimes. Not always, figure it out yourself? One goal requires you to do that, because you can't cross the the platforms otherwise. Then theres a goal which requires you to jump, once inside it. Why? There was no other goal like that. Nothing makes sense. The controls are okay, but thats it. I think some jumps require you to do some chaining of your jump and dash in specific ways, that feel like you abuse a bug, but guess it is intended... platforms are looking too high to reach, but your character just grabs it and pulls herself up. There is no healthbar. You can't die, no matter how many times you get hit by enemies, which makes combat meaningless. Overall, there is nothing worthwhile in it. Everything feels empty. Just like a sandbox tech demo. Sorry to say it like that. This game is far from finished.

I liked the movement in the game and the setting looked interesting and colourful. The music was also very good, I especially liked the vocal track. Because of the lack of an explanation for the mechanics beyond the controller settings, it took me until the third level to find out there was a backwards flip. After that, I never used the regular jump again because the back jump is too much better. The lack of a counter for the collectibles made me not want to bother collecting all of them, since I figured I might miss one and not know about it. I always collected the minimum amount required to progress. (I looked up if there was a reward for 100% completion, but there isn't?) I feel like this game has a problem with ambiguity in general. In the lava level, when I ran up the green spikes, I thought it was a glitch. Later, in the canyon level, I randomly "climbed" up a cliff and also thought it was a glitch. I wish there was a sign of what is clime-able, especially with the latter. Did not like the overall level design much either. Not much I can go into detail here, though. I just thought the maps and pacing didn't flow well together. In the first 2D level, there was a big square obstacle you had to overcome pretty early on by diving atop the left-hand side of the triangular cliff. And then later on, I had to make a very steep wall jump into a dive to progress. All of this would be fine, but the difficulty spike is too sudden (not that it is actually hard). I think its best to start off with simpler obstacles and then place those more thought provoking ones afterwards. So players have time to get used to the mechanics and how they can be used. Enemies felt pretty pointless since there is no health gauge in this game. I ignored all of them except for a single one that was blocking one of those wind gusts. Earlier I said that I really liked the vocal track, but the level it plays in didn't really feel... significant? It plays around the time the hooded figure is revealed in a cutscene. I was fully expecting that level to lead to a final boss of sorts, since the game already had attacks and enemies implemented. Speaking of the cutscenes, I didn't really know what to make of them. The story felt vague and basic, don't know if that's the intention. Also, the entire thing was only about an hour long... definitely not meeting the ~$10 price point imo. Despite the gripes, I think it has its charms and deserves respect considering the size of the dev team. Job well done!

The game Feathery Ears Is a master class of excellent game design, art direction, music composition and an engaging plot structure that will have players replaying this game time and time again. Fans of games like The legend of Zelda, and Super Mario will find a great experience here because Feathery Ears strikes the perfect balance of puzzle, platforming and adventure better than any game that came before! If that wasn't enough the art style blends with the environments to make a surreal experience feel even more believable. The music for this title is on another level because not only does it work it lassos' you into the heart of the adventure and makes you feel like you're actually apart of the world! It's the only time where I felt a games OST was emotional and moving. The games plot structure, while short gives you a reason to keep going and see the end through, and make you feel for the characters in this world. I really hope you give this game a chance because you'll never have this experience elsewhere.

An enjoyable short platformer that eschews dialogue for unspoken words and feelings.

The small segment of story implemented through the game left a lot to question on your own without giving everything away. A nice hint of mystery to the story and quite fluid. Very enjoyable!

Finishing time - 100 minuets God, I love these small games, yeah it's a bit pricey but god do I love it. Yeah it's a small game, but it was also made by a small dev team. The music? Really good! Only wish? If you have 2 screens your mouse will go off it and you can miss click. Very annoying and I personally hope it gets fixed. Love the game, love the dev, nice small game to play!

Playing this game feels like a surreal dream, and it has an overall chill and exploratory atmosphere. It's a great "zone out before bed" sort of experience. The gameplay is very simplistic, which is not necessarily a criticism. Though there are a lot of combat related mechanics that I feel are a bit excessive given that most enemies can simply be ran past or ignored. It's also confusing when you start off, because you basically have to discover all of the mechanics and rules on your own. That could be considered a good thing, as it contributes to a sense of discovery. However, I still don't know what's the deal with those star things, but I collected them all anyways. The story is cute, but I had no clue what was going on by the second half. My last criticism is that the game lacks polish. The character movements are very jagged and glitchy looking, though thankfully there are no game-breaking glitches. It's a very impressive project for something that was made in 3 months. The character designs are especially nice, and so are the designs of the enemies, who fit well with the dreamy aesthetic.

neat little game i cant wait to see what the creators do with the platformer mechanics they feel great. my only complaint is camera.

I *really* wanna leave a positive rec for this game, but I don't feel like it's an improvement over its predecessor, Wings of Glass. I feel like the general platforming in Feathery Ears is more polished, and if you like collectathon 3D platformers with fast, dynamic movement, I'd still recommend giving this a try anyway, because the movement's fantastic. Unfortunately, I don't really think the level design manages that same level of quality. The three forms of level in this game are as follows: 1) Open sandbox levels where the goal is actually very easy to get to but there are collectibles littered all over the place 2) Upward climbs with some challenge towards actually getting to the goal. 3) 2D platforming levels with *very* basic level design. It's nice that these three different types exist but there are almost no extra mechanics to make levels feel any different. the most challenge moments of the 2D platforming stages are nearly identical because neither of them have any unique mechanics. While these levels *are* prettier and more navigable than in Wings of Glass, the older game had several different mechanics which were incorporated in puzzles and platforming challenges. Feathery Ears just doesn't have much of that, unfortunately. Zipping around these levels at high speeds is still fairly amusing, but without much to do in those levels, it gets old kinda fast. The story presentation is pretty, I enjoy the cute 2D cutscenes even if I have... very little idea what's actually going on in this story. The music is a bit awkwardly mixed and the lyrics in the vocal track are a bit hard to understand, but it's still a nice, unique soundtrack that sells the game's atmosphere. Visuals are strange but generally look quite nice! The general presentation isn't bad, again, it's just getting dragged down by the kinda bland level design. Ultimately, the game's also incredibly short, even if you're struggling to figure out where to go and grabbing all the collectibles. I wouldn't really mind this by itself, but considering how the overwhelming majority of my playtime felt padded, it's hard to really recommend. To the dev, I'm sorry for the negative review, but still, good work finishing another game!!