The End Is Nigh (2017)

I've become too dependent on achievements and cloud saves.

I beat this game, this hardcore true-gamers-only™ platformer; normal ending only tho, cause I ain't doing the extra shit. But, because I played the EGS version that was given away for free, I don't have a tiny virtual icon to prove it, and that makes me kinda angry, so I'm leaving proof here. Also, in case I format my PC, I'm going to carry my save file around in a small drive from now on, so I can remind everyone.

I know this is going to be a highly controversial status but seriously, The End Is Nigh > Celeste, by no real measure. Perhaps it's due to my age, and the fact that it feels like something I would've played on Newgrounds, but it just is a tighter game, it feels fair, it's got a good sense of humor and somehow I actually care about the pithy excuse for a plot it has as opposed to the so called deep plot Celeste claimed to have.

Celeste is by no means, don't get me wrong, a bad game. It's well made across the board, from its concept to its visual style (even if it is, like most things now, that cockroach of the indie gaming world, fucking pixel art), but it just...isn't enjoyable to play. It has nothing to do with the fact that the gameplay feels unfair most of the time, because it isn't even about it being challenging. Rayman Origins & Legends was challenging. They Bleed Pixels was challenging. Celeste is just poorly planned and slippery to a fault. But aside from that, it's a competently produced game. It just isn't enjoyable.

But The End Is Nigh feels extremely polished, very goofy, and overall just a much better "challenging platformer". Again, perhaps it's just due to my nostalgia for shitty flash games on Newgrounds or Ebaums World or Albino Black Sheep or wherever it was you decided to game in browser back in the day, but I just have had so much more fun with this than I ever could've had with Celeste.

Bought it for 2.99 and I easily would've paid upwards of 5 bucks or more for it. Solid choice.

Hard single screen platformer from the creators of Super Meat Boy does not raise to the quality of SMB sadly.

So the story is minimal and weird as you should expect from the creators. You play as a blob thing that’s the last living thing on earth and being lonely decides to build himself a friend. So the quest for body parts begins.

Intro is short but annoying. The world is dark and bland.Overall not really impressed with it.

The controls luckily are tight. You get only basic platformer abilities and no double jump which is replaced by ledge grabbing. Each screen is its own level and the game saves when you travel between the screens.

The level design is not bad - but being limited to single screen there is just so much you can do. And they’re generally hard.

Apart from travelling from left to right (up and down sometimes) you’ll get to collect tumors spread along the way. You don’t need to but if you’re like me you’ll be compelled to do so. And what game does not tell you is that you should. There are also some secret rooms in which you can find super tumors.

And that’s basically the game. It supposedly consists of 600 levels of which I’ve beaten probably around 200 and after reaching “Ending 1” and dying roughly 1000 times - I’m done. I really do not feel like fighting the game at this point. As reaching this point you get a new level to beat - and Anguish 10 - I hate that level with all my fibers. Had to look up tutorial which did not help, and needed to see the video evidence that it’s possible before I was able to beat it. And since Ending 1 your life pool is limited… yeah - I’m done.

Did I enjoy the game - yes for the most part. Would I recommend it - only if you’re looking for really though platfrormer. But it’s lacking in theme and atmosphere and doesn’t get even close to super meat boy level.