AWAY: Journey to the Unexpected

So I'll start by saying this, I got this in the Jingle Jam bundle (so technically not free, but I didn't buy it individually)
I've played just over an hour as of writing this, so I may update this as I go on...
TLDR, cute game, great aesthetic, nice change from a regular rogue-lite if you're looking for a slower pace. Gameplay was semi-challenging (so far) BUT there are definitely fixes and quality of life changes needed...
- Make the 'hub' worlds smaller/get rid of them, far too big and empty
- Allow access to view key bindings for controls and moves learned
- Fix the sound!
The story seems interesting, you start in your room and search the house, you find a frog in your toilet, grandparents in the kitchen and then your dog in the basement. They tell you someone blew a hole in your house, and so you leave through it and are thrust into the first 'hub' world. I started to run around and talk to characters and expected a slow paced open world. But then when I eventually died to the first boss, and was dropped back at the beginning with most of my progress lost, I was reminded this is a rogue-lite. It felt very disjointed and I was a little thrown off. I thought maybe it would pick up the pace after the starting area, but this hasn't happened yet and eventually started to feel oddly grindy.
The same goes for the 'hub' worlds. From what I can tell in each area there's a shop and three goals/switches needed to activate the boss door and progress to the next area. Great concept, it gives reason to the different 'zones', but the hub worlds are SO BIG AND EMPTY! It takes FAR too long to go from the entrance to the shop, back to a cave, then off to recruit a character, then back to the shop etc. I spent so much time just running around doing nothing it got quite boring, and in turn made me quite impatient when it came to combat, inevitably leading to mistakes. Again this made it feel disjointed as combat can actually be challenging.
I understand this is a shorter game (3-5 hrs) but knowing this just makes the large maps seem like they're there to artificially extend the playtime which is disappointing... The only incentive to run around and explore the seemingly empty map is to get enough money to use at the shop (which I found too useful to ignore) or to find the chests which can contain money, items or hearts. If your'e full on hearts, however, it just disappears and you've wasted your time. This was the biggest downside for me, as it felt slow and back-tracky.
HOWEVER, I appreciate when you get further you open 'shortcuts' and can run through (slowly) and get to the next area faster. Maybe you unlock other things to make this less annoying later. You also keep your money, from what I have seen, but you loose your followers which you then have to run and speak to again to get back (if you've also run and picked up the character cube slot thing).
Lastly there's the lack of any form of 'user guide'. For example in many games you'll have the controls and their key bindings in the pause menu. I could not find this anywhere. There was no description on controls apart form a series of pop ups when you first start the game but never again. There is no guide to remind you of your items, what they do, how you swing your weapon etc. Granted, the controls are very simple, but later in my play through I learned a 'charge attack' but i missed how to activate it, because the only time I saw it mentioned was when I died, and it shows what your exp unlocked. I don't wish to die every time I want to remind myself of how to do a move.
Another thing was the sounds. It was incredibly loud on start up so I immediately adjusted the volume to one above zero which was tolerable, but throughout the game certain sound affects were still at full volume (e.g. the first boss screaming at me). This even happened when I turned all sound off. This may just be a bug or be patched already, but it's such a simple thing and made playing frustrating at times.
So there is is. Overall I do like this game. I will play again and possibly update this review in time. It will certainly be for the lazier days where I fancy a rogue-lite type game that's a bit slower and chilled out though.
I cant help but feel with smaller hub worlds (or getting rid of them completely in favour of a linear dungeon crawl layout) this could have been a much more enjoyable experience and a very unique addition to the rogue-lite genre.

Not a review, just a recommendation.

This was a pretty cute game. The graphics were cute and unique, and the whole battle system was interesting (as anyone in your party was pretty much used as a "skill" with a limit on how much you can use their attacks, so in that way, they weren't really a normal team member). The in-game volume controls were a bit wonky and didn't work as it should (when you adjust them, they do work, but not all the time, for example, loading up a new area had them "reset" even though the bars never actually changed). I don't really play any rogue type genres, so I'm not sure how this fits in as a roguelite or not (some reviews and players mention that it does not, so take that as you will). I will say, the game isn't really hard and after a couple runs, it does become really easy to beat bosses. Even playing more runs seemed to spawn less monsters in general. The very last boss battle was pretty cute, albeit disappointing as well (it was waaaay too easy for a final boss). I did enjoy the dialogue aspects of the game, and that your dialogue choice did matter on whether or not the character would join your team. Unfortunately, for as good as the game was, it did seem way too short. There could have been so much more content to the game that it seriously felt like a missed opportunity.
Overall, I really enjoyed this game. If you struggle with difficult games or are looking for an easy game, then I would definitely try this one out.

The game's nice. Feels good to run around in a pretty environment. I like that it's short. Definitely not worth the price they're asking, but it was worth picking up in a bundle.
I wish it was a proper collect-athon, because it doesn't allow itself to be a shooter, and the doom/quake style combat really doesn't work well for melee, and I love exploring the world. Wish the devs would have capitalized on that rather than "rogue-lite". It's extremely light on the rogue-lite. More character interaction would have been good to. Kind of lame that they just become items in your tool belt rather than having any effect on the story.
It's so hard not to complain about this game, because it does a lot well and there's a lot of potential unrealized, but I still stand by it being a good game... Just not worth the $20.

Please see my curator page for more games that are well worth your time
Approximate amount of time to 100%: 4-5h
Estimated achievement difficulty: 4/10
Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 1
Has it been in a bundle: Yes
Is there a good guide available: Yes, This guide from Knoef is wonderful, but you don't really need a guide.
How many people have completed this game at the time I'm writing this review: 32 on Astats
Multiplayer achievements: No
Missable achievements: No
Grinding Achievements: No
DLC-Only achievements: No
Time-gated achievements: No
RNG-achievements: No
Does difficulty affect achievements: No difficulty option
Unobtainable/glitched achievements: No
This guide is more around neutral than positive, but we don't have that option on steam. I enjoyed this rogue-lite game a lot and it was easy to get to 100% but there are things that could have been better.
At the start, the game felt quite hard. I had heard that others have beaten the game before they got the achievement for 15 runs and my first 5 runs went horrible and I didn't even come close to the first boss fight. So I expected that I'm just horrible at this game and would need a bit more time. After a while, I got used to how the hitboxes in this game worked and found some very helpful friends which give you in-game abilities. And I was able to beat the game in around 10-11 runs, so the achievement for 15 runs was also my last one.
The goal of this game is to find friends and beating areas to be able to find more friends. This part sounded fun but was tedious. To recruit a friend the first time, you have to choose the right options in a conversation, and you can only have the conversation with them once each run. So you should learn from your mistakes and choose other options the next time. After a while, this was just annoying, and I'm very glad that once you've recruited them the first time, a new run you only have to talk to them if you want to take them along your new run.
My biggest pet peeve is how big the maps are without much interesting in them. Going to a friendship cube (Which you need to be able to recruit a friend) and walking back to a friend takes ages while there is not much to do on the map. I think that maybe 20 to 30% of my game time was walking on the map from A to B. It felt like a way to make the gameplay longer but with that a lot more boring. If the maps were smaller and just easy to pick things up and get to the NPCs (friends) to talk to them it would feel a lot better.
I do recommend this game because it is fun and an easy 100%, but I wish it was a lot more fun. It had a lot of potentials.

I don't really understand why this game has mixed reviews. It should at least be marked as positive. I saw a lot of comments complaining about the hit-distances, but honestly I got used to it rather quickly. The music in this game was pretty good and the boss fight music was great.
The game was a nice quick, colorful romp through a pretty cool world.
As far as complaints go, I have to say some of the hitboxes are a little wonky, you'll sometimes watch as a bomb flies right through an enemy and it won't explode on contact. My rule of thumb is always strike at the knees and you'll do just fine.
The combat is rather simple, but honestly so many of the dungeons and fights can be so lightning quick you hardly even notice sometimes.
I feel like my biggest gripe with this game is the lack of variety in the 2 main boss keeps. I am okay with the simple randomization in the caves, but returning to the main dungeons was very repetitive.
Also the unnecessary open space in the artic level with very little to do. That level definitely could've done with less walking-time.
And my last complaint is the final boss. I really don't like how all the skills and party members you acquired are thrown out the window for a very random minigame that took no skill whatsoever to overcome.
Otherwise it's a pretty good game. Game sports beautiful colors and scenery, a fun party system, good humor, excellent hand-drawn animations, serviceable combat, and a short and condense experience. Definitely a recommend for me. I'll most likely play this game again someday in the future.

This game is a difficult game to recommend to just anyone, but is also not a bad game to not recommend.
While the game's design can seem rather basic, it is a rather unique take on the roguelike genre. There is not much hand holding, not much of a tutorial and it relies more on the player trying things out. discovering and figuring out what to do on their own with minimal help.
There is not much complexity and it is also rather short once you find your way around and how to play it to reach the end goal. The length is not a negative factor, but instead a positive due to how the game is designed to replay levels a few times. The random dungeon generation helps a little, but you will encounter much of the same after a few deaths.
Those without much patience should skip this game, otherwise the flaws and sometimes confusing design choices can become frustrating without coming in with an open mind.
If the art style appeals to you and the statements above have not dissuaded you yet, give it a shot during a sale and you may find a short and enjoyably experience.