Recent reviews by rredar

PROS

• The movement is great - it's fluid and floaty. You can fly far in a few moments.
  
• Although it's a mainly 2d game, you can see incoming elements in the background as the approach.
  
• Great visual aesthetic

CONS

• Too surgical - it cramps you up into tight spaces, and doesn't allow the movement mechanics to shine as much as it should.
  
• Some of the levels in the game are very tedious, while the first chapter is too easy.

Summary/tl;dr
This game has a lot of underused potential, as the some of the levels inhibis movement, one of the best aspects of the game. However, the levels where your movement is free enough to glide around are golden. At the current price of $5, it's worth a shot. Taking better advantage of the movement would make it perfect, but the price is low and it's polished.

+ One main concept, which is done really well and explored fully - like what Braid does with time manipulation, Super Meat Boy with saws, and Portal with... portals.
+ Beautiful environment - each level has a distinct, abandoned feel while still staying different from each other
+ Music is meh, but fitting
+ No hand-holding: the game doesn't give you any advice other than the controls, leaving you to figure things out.

- There are some tedious parts.
- Short(ish) at first: there are only 7 "chapters." First five chapters are quick, but then the difficulty escalates a lot.
- Controls take a bit of time to get used to. Flipside: Once you get used to them, it feels fluid. Just because they're different != bad

Wonderful presentation, solid gameplay - It took ~6 hours to complete, and is very hard to 100% (no one has done it). It explores the "erase to grow" concept really well. Overall, a puzzle/action game worth the asking price.

Note: I got a copy from the developer, and gave an honest review in return. In truth, this has been one of my most anticipated games.

I'll try to keep my LIMBO comparisions to a minimum :)

+ Amazing art. Just look at the screenshots/vid trailer.
+ Complete atmosphere - each level his a signficantly different feel to it.
+ Some good puzzles.
+ Fitting and good music.
+ This isn't a LIMBO clone or sillouhette mobile ♥♥♥♥ - it has unique puzzles/mechanics worth noting.

- The great aesthetics come at a price: hitboxes are crap. Most platforms are rectangular, but have aesthetic bumps/flourishes/♥♥♥♥ that makes them appear bigger than they are.
- Toby has a pathetic jump: this, combined with small platforms, makes you fall in pits a lot when you shouldn't.
- Some puzzles are really easy, and most involving finding walls that you can run through to reach a hidden lever.
- Some things have the feel of a mobile game.

Toby: The Secret Mine is a game that does a lot of things well. It feels smooth and polished. Unfortunately, there a few major problems with the actual gameplay. Toby is slow and has a bad jump. Sometimes I feel like the game is trying a little too hard to be LIMBO. The puzzles aren't as innovative, and there are muddy hitboxes. Because of this, I give the game a 7/10 - worth purchasing at a significant discount.

I was given a copy of this game by the developer. This has not affected the content or scoring of my review.

+Really fun when you go fast!
+Cohesive art style
+Good variety of levels
+Unique exerience controlling a ball - physics feel realistic, and rolling down hills is fun.
+Controller support!

-It took me about 10 minutes to get used to the controls. Camera is wonky at first, but easily adjusting via settings. (the dev is working on an update to improve camera)
-Some levels are really tedious and take a lot of button-tapping. Not my thing.

Polyball is a high-speed platformer, but there are some tedious parts. Controller recommended. Worth $10.

PROS
+ You're rewarded for exploration with things such as +max health, +max ammo, and more guns (and moneyz, of course!)
+ Lots of content, optional planetes to explore
+ Side quests!
+ Controler support
+ Tight controls
+ Fitting music for each area
+ Lots o' guns! Each is unique.
+ Dev listens to players! I remember at one point talking to dev about a problem with lockpick, apparently other players had the same problem. And tada!

CONS
- Loading times. Every time I open the game it loads faster, though.
- I had rare lag spikes for about the first few minutes of playing the first few times I launched teh game.

OVERALL
Great exploration/action game, well worth the price!
9/10

Clean-cut, minimalistic gameplay. Hard, but simple. It's a really addicting flawless port.

PROS
+ Good usage of game features- There are not many types of enemies per level, but individual aspects of enemies are used well in level design and enemies are well-placed.
+ Cohesive art style.
+ Nice atmosphere.
+ Well-presented level design that fits with your small field of vision.

CONS
- There's a lot of precision movement- sometimes you slip between spikes without much breathing space and too much trial-and-error.
- Limited options menu- literally just toggle fullscreen, change mouse sensitivity, change language, and toggle sound.

Overall Score: 7.5/10
Worth full price, easy game to pick up when you're bored.

PROS
+ It's really to fly through the air. You can tether+rocket jump (sometimes multiple per jump!) to get tons of airtime.
+ Polished graphics/nice effects.
+ Wide range of settings, including display, controls, and you can even change your player color.
+ Skill based with smooth level design.
+ When you get gold or better on a level, you breakdance. :)

CONS
- If you get stuck on a level, there is no other way to progress.
- Some problems with alt+tab.
- Lots of quick and accurate mouse movement required. Can be a bit annoying to aim mid-air.
- Story is lackluster, though the focus is on the gameplay.

Summary/ Tl;dr
It's really fun to fling yourself through the air, and there are challenging parts that definitely make it skill-based. I recommend this game to people who played/like A Story About My Uncle but wanted more refined gameplay and a better challenge. Very few problems and addicting. Exceeded my expectations.

9/10

This game seems to draw inspiration from games like BRAID and LIMBO, but still is a unique game in its own right.

PROS
+ Puzzles are unique and swagful - hard, but good hard.
+ Tight controls, even though it sort of contradicts the skateboard thing.
+ Music is okay. Not amazing, bot doesn't get tiring.
+ Options! If the music does get tiring, then I can mute it and play the soundtrack from Braid to help me feel puzzle-y! This helps. Sometimes. :P
+ One of the best games I've seen w/ only one dev. Very impressive! Also, the dev seems very devoted and responds to users.
+ Mini "LogiLock" puzzles that sort of feel like a 2D rubix cube
+ Bare bones of a level editor. (later updates will make it more user-friendly)
+ HATS! UNLOCKABLE HATSHATSHATS!
CONS
- The graphics are rather lackluster.
- Sometimes a puzzle takes longer than it should - I figure out the solution, but I have to retry many times to position things *just* right. However, this scenario is pretty uncommon.
- The story isn't that captivating, so you should probably be into playing the puzzles themselves.

TL;DR / SUMMARY
Hard, physics based puzzle-platformer provides good puzzles. There are no fillers, and gameplay is solid. Don't play this game if you just care about story or graphics, as the meat is in the puzzles :). Sometimes it takes trial-and-error is needed in positioning when the solution is apparent, making the puzzle take longer than it should.

8.5/10

Also, It's better to have previous experience with puzzle games. I recommend getting Teslagrad, LIMBO, or Braid (a few of my personal favorites) before playing this. If you liked any of those, then get this.

Note to the UbiHaters:
If you hate Uplay, check the store before buying.

Originally posted by Steam Store Page:

Incorporates 3rd-party DRM: Uplay

If you're afraid of buggy crashes, buy the game DIRECTLY ON UPLAY. The biggest problem is that there are two DRMs, Uplay and Steam. Ditch Steam for these games if you have a bad history with Uplay crashes.


Story
I haven't finished the game yet, but it so far the gist of it is in the trailers and description.

Originally posted by Game Description:

Aurora, a young girl from 1895 Austria, awakens on the lost fairytale continent of Lemuria. To return home she must fight against the dark creatures of the Queen of the Night, who have stolen the sun, the moon and the stars. At stake is not only Lemuria, but Aurora’s true destiny.

8/10

Gameplay
This game is probably best described as an RPG-Platformer. It's a 2D side view, and how you approach enemies affects combat, so there's a bit of timing involved. (When you approach them from behind you get a "superise strike"). The combat is time-line style. Overall, it's a pretty generic RPG.
9/10

Time/Lasting Appeal
It hasn't lost it's appeal as long as I've been playing. Note that I have more hours than Steam says, as I play a lot offline.

Visuals
The art style is really nice, which you can see from the photos on the store page. Things appear to be hand-drawn.
8/10

Sound
Nice sound effects, and the narration is done well.
8/10

Overall
8.5/10