Game Details
- Publisher: Finji
- Developer: Bits & Beasts
- ESRB Rating: “E10” for Everyone 10+
- Genre: 2D Platformer
- Pros: Gorgeous visuals; great music; some clever puzzles
- Cons: It isn’t very fun
- MSRP: $10
In Feist you play as a fuzzy little something-or-other whose
village of other fuzzy little creatures was raided by a bunch of big fuzzy
monsters who proceed to kidnap your friends so you set out to rescue them. The big monsters aren’t the only things out
to get you, however, as pretty much every other living thing in the forest is
trying to kill you. That is, if the
devious traps all over don’t get you first.
If that sounds familiar, that’s because it is. Just like Limbo and INSIDE, Feist is a trial
and error puzzle platformer where you have to navigate 2D side-scrolling levels
while avoiding traps. Unlike Limbo or
INSIDE, however, Feist actually lets your weak little hero fight back and kill
enemies rather than having to simply avoid them. Your offensive capabilities are limited at best, though, and are
where Feist starts to unravel a bit overall.
First, though, the platforming itself. Feist has somewhat floaty jumps, but it
generally feels pretty good to actually play.
Everything is physics-based and little details like jumping on a tree
limb and having it slump down from your weight is a neat feature. You also use items to set off traps, slide
heavy rocks downhill with good ol’ gravity, or stick spiny chestnuts to walls
to create your own platforms to jump to.
The puzzles and platforming overall are decently solid in Feist.
Too bad the cruddy combat gets in the way. As I mentioned above, just about every other
living thing in Feist is trying to kill you so you have to either fight back or
die. Weapons include pinecones to throw
at enemies, sticks to swing like a club, or even flying creatures you can
capture and use to shoot projectiles, but actually using any of them is an
exercise in frustration. Everything is physics-based
and while it is fairly consistent, every encounter has to be done in a very
specific way in order for you to be successful. If you aren’t absolutely precise in the order and timing and
technique you dispatch enemies, you die a quick death. While the floaty controls are fine for the
platforming, the lack of precision makes fighting enemies extremely
frustrating.
The game also gives you zero feedback on how much damage
you’re doing, how much damage you’re taking (you can, thankfully, usually take
more than one hit, at least), or even how much health the little insects you
collect can re-fill. More troubling is
that the game doesn’t seem to be consistent at all in how health and damage are
calculated so the same combat scenario can play out a million different
ways. You never know if that attack you
survived on your last attempt is going to instantly kill you this time. That inconsistency ramps up the frustration
factor ten fold.
The result is a game that just isn’t fun to play. The combat is awful and inconsistent and
even though the platforming is generally fine, it isn’t anything particularly
special either. It is a shame that is
the case, too, because the presentation in Feist is absolutely stunning. While it borrows the silhouettes in the
foreground style of Limbo, Feist has brightly colored backgrounds that depict
different parts of the forest or the time of day and it looks outstanding. The soundtrack is also incredibly good. The music is subtle and atmospheric and
perfectly matches the mood of the levels you’re playing through. It is also surprising in that it is
electronic and occasionally even industrial sounding, yet it matches the
natural organic world you’re playing in extremely well, which is quite the
accomplishment.
All in all, Feist is one of the most “indie game” indie
games I’ve played in a while. It is
impeccably designed in the presentation but sorely lacking where it matters
most in the gameplay. You’ll want to
love it because of the absolutely stunning graphics and insanely good
soundtrack, but it simply isn’t any fun to play. Skip it.
Disclosure: A review code was provided by the publisher.
