People play games for a variety of reasons. It could be that you want to experience a few thrills, get lost in a world beyond your imagination, or simply relax and wind down after the stresses of day-to-day life. Some games, however, are designed to test the very limits of your patience, inducing a level of anxiety that many would rather avoid at all costs. If you’re someone who thrives on tension and welcomes relentless challenges like a warm hug, then Krimson might just be the game for you.
Everything about developer CryingPsycho's platformer, from its visual design to its audio, has been designed to be a total assault on the senses, and for good reason. It takes place in a rather abstract depiction of hell, and your job is to simply make it through each level in one piece. We say “simply”, but nothing about Krimson is particularly simple. It’s an exceptionally tough game that, like Super Meat Boy and Celeste, utilises death as a means to educate the player on how to overcome its myriad challenges.
The world of Krimson is in constant motion, with platforms and hazards twisting, turning, shrinking, and vanishing to the beat of the music. Recognising the beat and using it to time your jumps is key to success, and the game itself encourages you to play with headphones for the best effect. The music itself, in keeping with the hellish theme of the visuals and gameplay, is a face-melting mix of heavy metal and dubstep, with a slight preference for the latter. Think Skrillex with a hint of Slayer and you’re probably on the right track. (If in doubt, the announcement trailer gives you a good idea of what to expect).
In addition to the standard levels, there are also some pretty unique boss battles. Again, this is mostly an exercise in moving to the beat and avoiding an avalanche of projectiles until the sequence is over, but you can also coax the boss characters into being hit by lightning strikes, which flash into view periodically in time with the music. These segments make for a nice change of pace, but a bit more variety with the gameplay would have been welcome considering the number of times you’ll likely die. There are only so many times we can take the same repetitious attack patterns.
Although certainly designed to be disorienting in terms of its visuals, Krimson’s levels can be a tad too difficult to parse at times, with safe platforms and deadly obstacles often blending into one another. This is exacerbated by the swirling, gooey textures on every surface, along with strobe effects that briefly come into play upon death. It’s a lot to take in and the game never lets up, so we often found ourselves wanting to put it down for a little while just so our senses could have a little break. We appreciate the artistic intent, but some accessibility features to perhaps tone down the effects or better highlight certain platforms would be most welcome.
Comments 11
HAHAHA OMFG I played this at pax East last year and I had no idea it was a rythym game because the area was so damn loud that I could not hear any music from the display it was on THIS MAKE SO MUCH SENSE I had no idea it was a rythym game so I played it for like 10 minutes and left saying "that game doesent make sense" LMFAO Thanks for this review I might not write it off now. No one at the booth told me it was a rythym game I thought it was just some weird janky platformer
I wonder if that would be something for me.
I love rythm games, a good challenge and heavy guitars. The visuals are almost off putting though.
There's no demo (yet), but I'm adding this to my wishlist, mostly rythm games actually.
I'll probably just stick with Mad Rat Dead.
Fisheye Lens: The Game
PRO "Very challenging, if you're into that sort of thing"
SO refreshing to see this, instead of the Nintendolife standard:
CON "May be too challenging for some."
😁👍 it's the little things, y'all.
thanks, as always, for the review ✌️
The people who will like this game will know it's for them.
Looking at those pictures I literally have zero clue what is happening in this games. Maybe something that needs a demo
Article: “The music itself […] is a face-melting mix of heavy metal…”
Me: “Oooh! 😀”
Article: …”and dubstep, with a slight preference for the latter.”
Me: “Buh… 🙁”
Same score from us for this one
Yes thanks for this review, the screenshots on the eshop look awesome but without a video there's no clue what kind of game it is. Rhythm based platformer sounds perfect - I thought it might be a twin stick shooter which really don't do anything for me. This was already on my wishlist; definitely going to get it now.
@Magician that one is amazing (have it on PS4 and I Keep Hoping it comes to my local eshop someday)
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