In terms of the presentation, the art is wonderful and the graphics are polished, it makes a lovely piece of eye-candy. The environments, full of detail and hidden places to explore are wonderful, the blood and destruction a nice touch to the madness of this world. Even the way Alice walks, jumps and fights are stunning. The way she twirls and floats with butterflies fluttering around her, the way she skillfully destroys enemies while making fighting look like a dance. Music is spot-on, blending into the environment and the piece that completes the picture as haunting and eeriely beautiful.
The plot is an added bonus. Alice revisiting old places that have become different, the Mad Hatter on Alice's side, Dormouse and March Hare turning evil, the disturbing intentions of the Walrus, a whole new asian-based world just based off seeing artifacts at her lawyer's house, Queensland gothically deterioating, the halluciations of Alice in the asylum and finally the horrifying truth in the end. The plot manages to come off new and inciting without being contrived, packs a realistic message we can relate to and is still relevant to Wonderland
However, that is where the cracks come in. Gameplay is mostly repetitive and unoriginal, even though successfully destroying enemies gets a good reaction at first, they soon become boring as the enemies repeat themselves, merely becoming a hindrance. The platforming is the same, really, pull a switch or lever, place the jackbomb on a pressure plate and get somewhere before time runs out - the developers had lots of elements to work with, but their potential wasn't realized. And, considering platforming is integral in the game, gameplay itself comes off as boring and annoying, nothing particularly interesting. Even though collectibles have a sense of novelty and work as clues and foreshadowing, after a while seem like a cheap trick to keep player interest. Minigames are also few and far between, and degenerate into irritating obstacles to clear. Level designs, even though stunning, do nothing much for gameplay. There is no original take on platforming, just the same old stuff.
This is WONDERLAND. It's supposed to be weird, different, eccentric, surprising. But it isn't, not much. The game's presentation is wonderful, gameplay...not much. It's a pretty and haunting piece of work, but the follow-up is disappointing.
A little off, it seemed
In terms of the presentation, the art is wonderful and the graphics are polished, it makes a lovely piece of eye-candy. The environments, full of detail and hidden places to explore are wonderful, the blood and destruction a nice touch to the madness of this world. Even the way Alice walks, jumps and fights are stunning. The way she twirls and floats with butterflies fluttering around her, the way she skillfully destroys enemies while making fighting look like a dance. Music is spot-on, blending into the environment and the piece that completes the picture as haunting and eeriely beautiful.
The plot is an added bonus. Alice revisiting old places that have become different, the Mad Hatter on Alice's side, Dormouse and March Hare turning evil, the disturbing intentions of the Walrus, a whole new asian-based world just based off seeing artifacts at her lawyer's house, Queensland gothically deterioating, the halluciations of Alice in the asylum and finally the horrifying truth in the end. The plot manages to come off new and inciting without being contrived, packs a realistic message we can relate to and is still relevant to Wonderland
However, that is where the cracks come in. Gameplay is mostly repetitive and unoriginal, even though successfully destroying enemies gets a good reaction at first, they soon become boring as the enemies repeat themselves, merely becoming a hindrance. The platforming is the same, really, pull a switch or lever, place the jackbomb on a pressure plate and get somewhere before time runs out - the developers had lots of elements to work with, but their potential wasn't realized. And, considering platforming is integral in the game, gameplay itself comes off as boring and annoying, nothing particularly interesting. Even though collectibles have a sense of novelty and work as clues and foreshadowing, after a while seem like a cheap trick to keep player interest. Minigames are also few and far between, and degenerate into irritating obstacles to clear. Level designs, even though stunning, do nothing much for gameplay. There is no original take on platforming, just the same old stuff.
This is WONDERLAND. It's supposed to be weird, different, eccentric, surprising. But it isn't, not much. The game's presentation is wonderful, gameplay...not much. It's a pretty and haunting piece of work, but the follow-up is disappointing.