Grapple Dog

Super fun, super cute. Can be a little trickier than you might expect. The story is a pretty basic defeat evil guy, but the story isn't why you're really playing the game.

[h1]Have you tried getting good, fella?[/h1] I really, really liked this one, and feel like it's underrated - and even some of these positive reviews feel a bit unfair and like the game filtered a lot of people that just kind of don't understand it. I really hate to pull out the 'git gud' card but - sometimes I wonder if people just can't accept that a game isn't for them, or don't want to put in the small effort to learn a game beyond its basic controls. This sounds really condescending but I think it's valid when it feels like some of these misguided criticisms ended up making the second game feel like "two steps forward, two steps back." Anyway, Grapple Dog is NOT your typical platformer, and this shows when you start to really understand the grapple and it's mechanics. It having a limited directional range actually feels like a benefit because it makes it consistent and learnable - when to send it diagonally or directly above you. You can save yourself from a fall pretty often by just going neutral on the movement to grapple above. It's also fairly intuitive on how to get more speed, and you're given a pretty generous amount of vertical height when jumping off at the very apex of your swing. Reviews will say the game slows down and gives you less grapple opportunities later on, but this is far from true especially when you start tackling the time trials. Once you really hone in on timing your jumps mid-grapple, you can get some absolutely bonkers speed going and clear levels WELL below the gold par time - sometimes more speed than you can handle if you're still learning! So long as you have some confidence and are willing to make mistakes, the game REALLY starts to open up to you and lets you do some insane shenanigans. The final three levels can be a bit frustrating, but they're not frustrating in the "this is really cheap" way (except maybe 6-2 if you're going for gems, good god that final gem was stressful for me) and just feel really satisfying to clear both in normal play and time trial. Also, the music is fantastic (if slightly repetitive for the first two levels given they just feel like remixes of each other - there's just not enough of it) and reminds me of a mix of Jet Set Radio, Sonic Mania and even Drawn to Life of all things. The sound design is also really solid, punchy and polished, as is the pixel art - slick, modern and has an excellent sense of contrast, especially with the EXTRA THICC outlines. Also, Nul is a really fun villain - I like the way his dialogue is written and how "fake nice" he is to Pablo, I wasn't expecting to like him that much! My only real nitpicky complaints are ones that Cosmic Canines solves - it gets rid of the movement acceleration time and speed penalty when taking damage, and there are some tricks from that game that I wished were here in hindsight when I did the time trials, like the ground pound bounce. The grapple also felt a little tighter and just that tiny bit more reliable in the next game, although it still works great here with few "wait, why did it not" moments once you understand it. You're based if you buy it off sale, but I highly recommended it with one! Just have a little patience and be willing to make mistakes while learning the ins and outs of the grapple hook - it doesn't take forever to, and it's incredibly rewarding when you do.

good but not for me

pretty good

fun movement