CleanFall

This is one of those games that I really want to like. I've made it partway through chapter 2. I love the core concept: A roguelike where you have the opportunity to build a "ship" from a bunch of basic parts to defend against incoming swarms and eventually fight bosses; placement of turrets, walls, and traversal nodes matter and have gameplay effects. I like the "alchemic turret" system, where you can combine different turrets to find cool and powerful effects. I like the horrory atmosphere, how a bunch of enemies have different behaviors that you have to learn and don't get handheld/preached about. The trap limo train is crazy. And of course I like BEHOLD! THE MAN! Frankly, I like most things about the game... except the usability, and unfortunately that turns the whole review negative because it bleeds into every mechanical aspect of the game. -As far as 2d platforming goes, the physics aren't great. It doesn't seem very consistent whether you'll ramp off of a piece of ankle-high...

This game is like a sci-fi version of Noita where instead of building wands to fight enemies you're building a war machine out of turrets along with an arsenal of guns and drones. There's a lot of hidden depth here too that requires experimentation to uncover and enough player freedom to allow for really overpowered builds while also being unforgiving enough to always be a challenge. Plus it comes with an anime girl protagonist right out of the box so there's no need to mod one in like with Noita so that's nice. I've really been itching for another game with this kind of mystique and its made all the better by having such a unique gameplay loop. Every run so far has had unexpected discoveries and I'm looking forward to seeing how deep the rabbit hole goes. Definitely recommend it and I hope it gets enough support to receive plenty of content updates into the future.

I tested the game so I already have a lot of hours played. The game is a bit difficult and confusing in the beginning but it encourages exploration and slowly learning about all the creatures and gadgets and mechanics in the game. And as you learn more, the game eventually becomes easily beatable, and extremely gratifying to get your first win. You'll go from not knowing how to kill basic frogs in your first run to eventually building giant war ships that commits mass destruction.

I'm still stuck on one of the early-game roadblocks, but everything I've seen in this game so far is very, very impressive! The art style is charming, the world-building has me interested to learn more, and most importantly, the gameplay is great. The game wears many of its influences on its sleeve - Terraria, Noita, Rainworld, and even a little World of Goo...? - but it isn't derivative at all. It's also very cool to see all of this coming from a solo developer. Would definitely recommend, even at full price.

This game is being developed by a solo dev, and it really stands out as something unique set in a fascinating world (it strongly reminds me of Made in Abyss). The tutorial is still a bit bare-bones, but the community and the dev himself are very active on Discord and even on the Steam forums, so you’ll never feel lost. It’s definitely a hidden gem, and I truly hope it gets the success it deserves.

This is a very interesting and unique game! Although I can absolutely see the inspiration it got from things like Noita, Terraria, RainWorld, and more, this game manages to provide the player with something new and exciting. The gameplay is fun and engaging and encourages you to use just the right balance between thinking things through and stumbling around. There are quite a few ways of customizing your play-style before the run, once you get a little ways into the game. The lore is very intricate and well thought out and, although it doesn't force it on you, it's there for those who want it. The soundtrack is great as well, good enough that I'll probably buy it a little bit later down the line. Overall, the scope of this game seems to be quite large, and since there's more coming it gives me a lot to look forward to in the near future and beyond. I'll probably update this review once I've put in a little bit more time so that I can reflect in a little bit more depth. I just wanted t...

am i crazy for thinking this is one of the best roguelikes to release this year? something about it just gnaws at my brain. can't wait to see where this game goes

I forgot to write a review earlier than now but this game looks very promising, I expected a Noita clone but instead got a very unique game with some similarities.

Cleanfall evokes the era of classic Flash games at their pinnacle in all the best possible ways. The hand-drawn visuals are charming and have a lot of character, and gameplay grows from an initially simple number of tools to enabling chaotic bouts of murderball ship combat against hundreds of enemies. Cleanfall wears its developer's interests and inspirations lovingly on its sleeve, and rather than trying to emulate their success it's full of twists on them and original ideas it's not ashamed of. It's hard to stay upset at a run cut short when the return to surface cutscene is one of the greatest things I've had the pleasure of experiencing again and again in a game. For an early access title the content that's already here is basically complete and playable enough to sink dozens of hours into with only a few rough edges. At no point did anything feel like it was missing or unfinished before reaching the current cutoff point.

The premise and characters are cute and bizarre. Exploration is very random, but rewarding, and full of horrific creatures to learn about and loot. Defense building is wonky, but the controls are helpful (the radial menu for inventory is much appreciated), and turrets/drones being your main attacks makes for novel gameplay. The unlockables for reaching further depths seem to change gameplay significantly, too. It's hard on normal difficulty (the developer has added easier modes), and it could use controller support (it's simple enough to set up a configuration using Steam Input, but many things could easily be less click-based), but I'm having fun with it, and expect that to continue for many hours.