Pankapu

Excellent:
- This game is gorgeous.
Good:
- As a platformer, the developers at least know their history and the fare is varied and skill-testing. As someone raised on Metroid, I did not find any of the levels excessively hard. Sure, you should think a bit. But look, I spent four lifetimes in Blaster Master and never even finished the second stage.
- The bosses are somewhat clever. More is done with less.
- Level design is actually quite good and varied. Complexity is layered nicely.
- Yes, this means you're not going to find anything mindblowing or new (it's no Braid) but whatever. You're here bc it's vvvv pretty.
Bad:
- It's true the controls are more than a littel clunky. (Throw Sword rarely triggers on the first press. The charge-up special takes One Full Second of holding a button, which is wildly too long in a vigorous platformer.)
- Many things are expressed as Well-Drawn Icons and there's no bloody way I remember what the hell they mean. I missed two ... blue yin-yangs? I haven't even seen a blue yin-yang! Wait, I've collected 7? OKAY GREAT I AM SURE I AM DOING WELL THEN.
- Many things do not have help text. But you know of course there's extensive background on the lives and history of every blob monster. Illustrated background. Which is pretty.
Oh Come On:
- Ability text has typos. :P
Overall, Pankapu is fun and gorgeous: totes worth $5.

Well much like the orginal Rayman this game is delightful to look at, plays like a dream but it's painfully unforgiving. If you like games like that because the 80's era of gaming made you a masochistic fuck then go for it, you'll probably dig the shit out of it. I hate it. Like, a lot because of that.
I'm only recommending it for it's technical competence, concept and overall art style. Once again, Steams limited rating system isn't appropriate for my final verdict but whatever.

Review Video
Review
Love it, certainly recommended.
Solid gameplay and mechanics, as well as a great emphasis on art direction.
The music and art go hand in hand to make a charming platformer.
Have to hand it to these guys they made a beautiful game. Looks like their dream to create a good game came true.
Worth the money? Yes.
NOTE: Episode 2 is not out yet. If you buy both episodes, you are pre-ordering episode 2. Something I think that should be denoted on the store page and the description. As of now the game offers 5-7 hours of gameplay.
Gameplay & Mechanics
Plays and feels alot like Trine, as its a standard platformer where you can change roles between melee/ranged/wizard type of deal. Episode 1 includes ONLY the melee and ranged forms, as well as two different weapon augments.
The weapon augments change your current forms abilities to help deal with different situations.
As far as I can tell, utilizing the abilities is not totally covered in episode 1, and will most likely be explored in later episodes.
The level design is good, and usually offers unique challenges for each level.
It also includes a good amount of collectables on each level. As well as having multiples paths to beat each level.
It plays with a mario-esque type of map for level selection. The UI is great, and minimal. And the menu is a book that you can flip through for the map, info, and options. A nice touch.
The controls feel great and fluid. Its really hard to find any fault with the gameplay at all.
The game is also moderately difficult and isnt too hard or too easy.
I would have to say that so far I have found the bosses too easy though.
If I had to nitpick, some hit boxes seem a little strange when attacking something slightly above/below your swings.
On top of that my controller would keep skipping dialogue boxes during any dialogue scenes.
Graphics & music
The soundtracks are superb. No wonder, two composers from fricken Secrets of Mana (1993) worked on the music.
The artwork and graphics are top notch. You can see the talent of the developers come through here. Maybe its just me after reviewing tons of cruddy games, but it was nice to see a such a polished and stylised game.

The artwork is beautifully designed and the backstory is amazing. The platforming and puzzle aspects are a lot of fun. Other reviews put the bosses as weak, but the bosses for me were just the right level of challenge. Other reviews were disappointed that they also had to purchase Episode 2 separately, but when I purchased the game (Complete Edition) it had both episodes.
However, it is not a perfect 10. After dropping a major bombshell at the very end and defeating a major boss, the game simply ends and the credits roll as the narrator states that the next story will have to wait for another night. I checked around the forums to see if there was an Episode 3 and the answer is that if there is a continuation, it will not follow the adventures of Pankapu. That's really disappointing that the game ends on a cliffhanger and that's it.
I would still recommend this game, however. The beautiful artwork and the fun puzzles are the major selling points of the game, and it was very rewarding to collect all of the memory fragments to unlock the backstory.

lovely art style, beautiful music, simple, but effective gameplay. The control are responsive, which is so important in these games. The characters are charming. There is a beautiful menu screen, including a map area. From what i can see, there are also collectibles. You gain different powers as you progress. Been playing for about an hour, and definitely love where this game is going. If you enjoy light hearted platformers, with charm and a nostalgic 90s feel- you can't go wrong with this. And at the price, its a steal. Just remember, there are two episodes. Currently only one is available.

I backed this game on Kickstarter because I liked the concept that drove it. When I played the alpha demo I was sold that I had made a good choice. This game boasts the most silky smooth platforming I've ever experienced: A beautiful acceleration curve, elegant jump controls, and a beautiful shadow to show exactly where you'll land. Even the combat is strikingly well executed. And the full game lost none of the mechanical polish of the demo.
The full release only disappoints in one way: The "A" button on my controller keeps skipping text boxes, mostly at random but always the last box of any conversation. Fortunately the level design is clear and easy to follow so I can still deeply enjoy the game even with half the text missing.
Edit: The text box issue has been patched. Patched in 2 days. I have no complaints now.
Now I can't wait for the next chapters.

The game has a striking art style, is fun to play, and is pretty cheap. What's not to like? Well, there is the false advertising. I bought episode 1, apparently, even though the adverts were not clear and the trailer shows three forms, but you only get two in this episode. A bit frustrating with the poor advertising, but I forgive it because this game has smart platforming that evolves as you go and really, REALLY smart level design. Every level has secrets, however if you pay close attention you can see almost all of them out of the corner of your eye. The game leaves smart hints to help you find secrets. Boss fights are pretty weak, though, sadly. For the price, you can do much worse. Pankapu is a lot of fun, well animated, pretty, and has great level design. Play it now.