Violet Wisteria

TL;DR: This isn't a bad game, it will appeal to a niche for sure, I think it was always gonna happen that way. The color mechanic crippled my enjoyment, however, and I don't think I'm too interested in this title at the moment. 90's style platformer, similar to Valis, but with an added mechanic that hampers my enjoyment. The color mechanic is what is holding me back. The way it's used in game just didn't feel natural. You have to attack enemies with their contrasting color (Red-Blue/Blue-Red/Red-White) to defeat them, and the same color to bounce off them. The bounce mechanic is used pretty extensively, but I just don't dig the color mechanic on the whole for one reason: The enemies colors aren't fixed. Each time you start a run the enemies will have a different color weakness. The same enemies will appear in the same places, but their color weakness will change. This makes the game frustrating and unfun cause you never know what to expect. Generally not a bad thing, but here it ca...

A throwback to games like Valis, Rusty or Psycho Dream and it fits the bill. For enjoyers of obscure, jank yet stylized and charming action platformers from the 90s Violet Wisteria should be played. Game designs great, with creative mechanics and every playthrough is unique. Stages are linear but none of it feels scripted. Enemy weaknesses and attacks are randomized. Progression feels earned, bear in mind its unforgiving. Limited lives and continues, stages that require pinpoint timing. It's a philosphy we don't see often in games these days, even retro inspired ones. Some will criticize it for being dated but preserving these design philosophys give Violet Wisteria a place.

Terribly hard and rewarding. The game is fair, yet still pisses me off. Music is great. My thumbs hurt. 10/10

More flawed than the Valis series Violet Wisteria draws its inspiration from

Awesome 90's inspired game that's similar to the Valis series. It has a strong challenge and good music so I highly recommend it to gamers looking for a retro platformer fix.

Using the magic sword is quite difficult, but I love to play this character !! There's a sensation that you are playing MD games.

I've been playing the heck out of the demo and now seeing the final product in action is beautiful! This game is a throwback to the Genesis days from top to bottom. It was painstakingly crafted to feel like it came out of that era. I just love that it is a brand new game but fills me with so much nostalgia! The game itself is VERY challenging! But that's a deliberate choice. I know that the game's creator, Ultra Healthy as he was known on YouTube, is one of the most hardcore gamers out there and he made a game to give fellow hardcore gamers a monumental task in getting through this gorgeous game. I've never been good at ultra-hard games, but I'm certainly enjoying trying to see how far I can actually get. I will be searching YouTube for Violet Wisteria playthroughs to see if anyone is able to rival Ultra Healthy's skill at games like this! It might be beyond my ability to easily beat, but I'm so glad to have something that feels like a game I would have rented during a sleepover ...

This game really needed more time in the oven. It needed to be play tested much more rigorously. The designer was too in love/invested with the 3 elemental rock/paper/scissors mechanics of the game that it completely took away from the immediacy and feel of the game. I would suggest that the developer test the game outside of his social group or fans. This is not a broken game but clearly a lot of the players/testers(community members/fans?) who played the game are giving it a free pass despite all of its issues. And, I'm going to be much more of a Debbie-downer here, but the music... well the music sounds kind of broken. Discordant. I dare say not good. Especially the first stage BGM. For a first attempt I'd say it needs a bit more polish, and maybe a discerning eye to help push it along.

Some time ago the developer of this game used to have a YouTube channel where he talked about obscure Japanese video games and other rarities, it was very informative and presented in an accessible way. So, when he decided to become a game dev, I had the idea to support him in his venture by buying the upcoming game. Unfortunately the final product is not something that I enjoyed as well... it's a puzzle platformer where you have to match the color of your attacks to the enemies and to elements of the environment in order to defeat them and pass the platforming challenges. It would be nice if this were more puzzler than platformer, however the foundation of the game is one of those difficult 80s/90s titles that leave you almost no margin of error. So not only the game is hard in itself, but it becomes even more frustrating with the puzzle element that makes everything clunkier. Not to mention that different attacks are not just mapped to different buttons, but to fighting game-style b...

If you want a challenging early era SNES/Super Famicom style action platformer, this is the game for you. It draws a lot of inspiration from the Valis games, but has its own unique twist. This game isn’t for everyone, but if you’re into this style of game, it is a lot of fun. You can tell that a lot of passion went into making this feel like an authentic experience from that time. Would love if there were scanline and color options to make it look more retro.