Pode review - An Average Indie Puzzler with Notions
By matthewclarke-June 21, 2018
Lighting up the Neon Levels is satisfying[/caption]
Pode is rife with frustrating design and the gameplay lacks any real meat
Pretentious Game is Pretentious
In Pode you play a rock and a fallen star who navigate a cave system solving puzzles using the characters’ special moves. Pode, being an “ambient” indie adventure is fairly light on story, rife with frustrating design and the gameplay lacks any real meat for players to sink their teeth into. I did not enjoy my time with this title, I think the preceding sentence makes that clear… [caption id="attachment_26888" align="alignnone" width="1278"]
Journey.. it ain't[/caption]
all of the characters move far too slowly
This Game Does Not Deserve More Than Two Paragraphs
This review is far too short right as it is so I suppose I can’t just slap a 4.5 on this and move on. There needs to be some reasons given for this writer’s aversion to Pode. It is boring; all of the characters move far too slowly, the jumping and traversal can be imprecise, and at no point during my playthrough did the game give me a reason to care about the rock and the fallen star. It did not escape notice how very self-assured Pode was that it was charming; any charm was lost on this reviewer. [caption id="attachment_26884" align="alignnone" width="1286"]
The Rock can sometimes be lost in the environment[/caption]
Pode can also be played co-op, this is probably the best way to play it, since it may cut the playtime down a bit. This is a bonus because the constant switching between characters makes the progress feel stunted and the gameplay lack any real flow.
[caption id="attachment_26883" align="alignnone" width="1286"]
Lush levels[/caption]
The worst part of Pode is the dreadful pace of the gameplayGraphically, Pode is quite nice to look at, the colours are vibrant and as the player progresses, the levels do get more visually interesting. The soundtrack is just right for a puzzle game, in that it fades into the background whenever the player gets stuck. Perhaps Pode will be up someone’s alley, but there are more interesting puzzle adventures out there. The main sticking point is the dreadful pace of the gameplay. No matter how interesting and challenging the puzzles are, if it isn't fun to navigate the environment then the game will be a chore to keep playing. Formats: Nintendo Switch Price: €24.99/£22.99 Publisher: Henchman and Goon Developer: Henchman and Goon Release Date: 21/06/2018 Age Rating: PEGI 3+ Review copy provided by publisher
