Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo

There are some top down adventures like the 2D [b]Zelda[/b] games that are mostly exploration, action and adventure, with some problem solving/minor puzzles. Then there are games that go pretty all out on the puzzle/problem solving while still feeling like adventure games, like [b]Mole Mania[/b], [b]Prodigal[/b] and [b]Crosscode[/b]. Pipistrello is somewhere in between these 2.. consistently more puzzly than Zelda, but not as extreme as the latter examples. The game is very well made and would have been an instant cult classic had it released on a Nintendo DS in era. I went ahead and 100%'d it. I wasn't big into the characters and even skipped some of the story cutscenes (thankfully skipping is possible) but i did find the world appealing/charming. The metroidvania-style ability upgrades in this game are all modelled after Yo-yo moves, like 'around the world' and 'walk the dog' which is nice thematically. You also collect badges, and can only equip so many at a time (just like charms in [b]Ender Lilies[/b] or stamps in [b]Paper Mario[/b]. On top of this, you also have heart containers (finding 8 gives you another heart) and Badge containers which increase how many badges you can equip. If this wasn't enough, there's also a skill tree which you will fully max by the end of the game. I enjoyed the game and its systems, with plenty to find and explore. The audio sounds exactly like Nintendo DS games, like [b]Pokemon[/b] or [b]Advance Wars[/b]. I actually don't love many of this games compositions, despite feeling that as a whole it is above average and doing a good job. The limited number of tracks can get a little repetitive at times as well I suppose. Honestly, when I first checked the screenshots for this game I wasn't sold on the weird looking characters and some of the art direction, but I'm glad I went ahead and tried this out, because it was exceptional. If it were a DS game it would have been an instant classic.

This was a wonderful game to stumble across (Thanks to some of the indie covering youtube channels I follow)! I immediately got this because of the artstyle and GBA focused vibe. If Mina the Hollower is channeling Link's Awakening, this is channeling some Minish Cap - and I'm all here for it. That's just why I bought it, though- While playing I was almost shocked with how much freedom I was given to explore large maps from the get-go, and did not feel particularly railroaded. Sure, there are critical paths forward but the game is designed to really let you fill out maps how you see fit and give you rewards for poking around. If something looks like it might be a secret, it probably is. In many other games such prodding would result in invisible walls, big giant 'nopes' but by and large I didn't encounter that here. I should also mention the controls are absolutely rock solid. I never once felt like I was fighting the controller, and playing the game fully with an analog stick instead of D-pad worked wonderfully. On top of that, the developers got to stretch their creative muscles with the techniques in the game, particularly movement ones. This felt less like I was going through the motions of a Zelda-like or Metroidvania. The upgrades obtained were unique and fun to toy around with, especially when it came to being able to solve puzzles in numerous ways by being precise and clever with the movement techniques. I have to give a lot of credit to the game here for presenting intended solutions that are pretty clear-cut, but absolutely not minding if you do it another way from another ability you got or an item you stored away. That's part of what made this rewarding to play on the whole - and it created a lot of funny moments when something didn't quite go right but it was salvageable. Almost felt like a yoyo performance gone wrong but then pulling out tricks at the last moment - yeah I totally meant to do that, promise guys! If I had a critique, I'd say the ending is somewhat weak but it ties everything up for a short fun game like this. I say short, it's easily 10-12 hours on a first playthrough if you explore everything, and probably more if you try to get clever and toy with the world (Was around 15 for me). All in all, solid fun game, completely worth its price tag. Bravo to the developers - I'm super impressed with your map design, the freedom you give players, and the uniqueness of the abilities obtained in the game. I loved playing this. Also gosh Pippit is adorable~

A top down zelda inspired game that honestly, surprised me a LOT. -Is not just a copy-paste of an average classic zelda game, it has really unique mechanics and powerups that match its identity and it doesn't just feel like "Oh, this powerup is like THAT one from X game". -Puzzles are not really hard, but they are INCREDIBLY CREATIVE, they require you to demonstrate if you truly understand the game mechanics to solve them. -A lot of movement techniques wich they feel so GOOD to use and move around. Exploring the hole map feels really comfortable. -Rewards exploration with a lot of secret optional areas, definitely worth to 100% -Combat has its charm, it has decent enemy variety and their AI can take advantage of the same mechanics that you use (such as shooting projectiles at corners to ricochet them). It is fairly simple, but gets catchy when a lot of enemies pile up on you. -Music is a bop, visuals and artstyle fantastic. My only pet peeve with the game is the narrative part, wich is honestly understandable considering the target audience of this game is more for the young, but still, most NPCs are uninteresting, some of the secondary characters lack some personality besides their art style, and the main storyline is really short, linear and predictable. But even with that said, this game is UNDERRATED ASF

Incredible display of high quality level design. The amount of game the devs pulled out of very simple mechanics is worth celebrating. The only NEGATIVE is that the game is hardest at the beginning cause of the lack of special moves and low HP. This is a huge recommendation for any fans of Zelda, metroidvanias or fun games!

I'll be honest, at first glance I wasn't that into the art style, but it really grew on me. I'm impressed that almost every object in the game has an animation for when you hit it with your yo-yo. It's really clear a lot of love and effort went into this game. Another concern was if it would have enough content to warrant a $20 price tag. But it does! Even if you rush, the main plot should take at least 10 hours to beat, and the world is full of fun optional puzzles, secret areas, and side content/minigames. It took me over 23 hours to 100% the game. For me, this is an instant classic. I already bought a copy for a friend who really loved A Link To the Past, since the two games are so similar. But if I had to choose one, I would pick Pipistrello due to the modern features like custom difficulty and an oracle who can help you get 100% on the game without spoilers. The OST is outstanding; I enjoyed every single track. Combined with the witty humor in the writing and the progression system, it made every moment of the game enjoyable. 5/5 Highly recommended!

This does for the GBC Zeldas what Shovel Knight did for NES platformers. It's a super fun, aesthetically unique tribute that modernizes the experience while adding its own distinct twists and personality to the genre. The environments are vibrant and colorful, the exploration and upgrades interesting and rewarding, and the movement options feels smooth and satisfying when chained together. This is a *very* good action adventure.

I do not usually review games, but after looking at the metrics of this, I feel like I have to. I don't want to oversell this game, but I will proceed to oversell this game. I'm only about 4 hours into this game as of writing this, and this is one of the most incredibly designed games I've played in ages. It's not an exaggeration to say the moment I got to control the character, I suspected whoever made this game knew what they were doing. As soon as I got to start hitting things a few seconds later I knew that was true, snd every subsequent few minutes afterwards has only reinforced that, surprised me, and has had me grinning ear to ear. The game truly understands the joys of play and discovery and knows how to teach by letting you learn for yourself. I have encountered 4 tutorials at this point in the game, the first was telling me what to push to jump, and the others have explained new moves added to my moveset. Everything else I've learned organically through great design. Henrique Lorenzo clearly not only enjoys games like Zelda, Dark Souls, Mario, Luigi's Mansion, Metroid, and Castlevania, but fundamentally understands what makes them compelling. Their fingerprints are everywhere on this from the level design, tech, to seemingly unimportant details like having the little hole in the main character's ear. I'm looking forward to completing this game, and I suspect this will be like Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze in that this developer will take something of Nintendo quality and then proceed to surpass it. If you're someone who likes the modern open world Zelda games, but is saddened that they're moving away from the classic format, you need to play this. This is for you. I cannot sing its praises enough. Please don't sleep on this game.

It's been 108 years since I played something this good. Incredible game, it's everything you expect and more, tenfold. Gameplay wise, It feels classic yet it's full of novelties. The world is filled with fun puzzles and nice details. The pixel art is fantastic. Also, if you're a CRT shader freak, you've got some really cool options to play around with. I went with the full handheld experience, scratches and all, it was lovely.

I gave this game a good shot, but it's not for me. You have lots of positive reviews to read from, so I'll share my experience to help you decide whether this game is for you or not. I don't have any nostalgia for the Game Boy Advance — I think that might be a big part of the appeal here that I am missing. I find the character designs overworked to the point of being unclear and unpleasant to look at, although I do like the animations and silhouettes of Pippit's various moves. Pipistrello started slow, overwhelmed me with optional paths and secrets, introduced some fun new mechanics, and then told me to do it all over again. But I've had so little fun with the first half of the game that the expansion of the map in the second half feels exhausting rather than exhilarating. My favorite games are Sekiro, Hollow Knight, Doom Eternal, and Sifu. Something about this game called to me, but unfortunately my tastes don't align with the slow-paced, puzzle-focused, maximalist design of Pipistrello. Its clearly made with love and I hope it continues to find its audience, but if your tastes line up with mine, I would not recommend this game.

It's great. Has character, fun puzzles. You wield a yoyo! Needs more recognition.

It stand side by side with some of the greatest Zelda games of all time. This kind of excellency in 2D dungeon design, and the moveset in particular, deserves widespread recognition.

Really glad there are difficulty options from the get go. I just wanted to relax and enjoy the gorgeous pixel art, and the game totally lets me do that.

Very enjoyable Zelda-like. It was nice to have every upgrade be some form of movement tech and have platforming be so integral the whole way through the game. Looking forward to future titles!

More than just imitating the classic Zelda games it draws from, Pipistrello has its own bevy of new ideas and modern QOL features mean it stands on its own as one of the greats of the genre. This game is exceptional.

Not really a 2D Zelda fan but this Yoyo-vania was a pretty sublime retro adventure that manages to rival even Yacht Club Games in polish and quality.

Super fun game! Being so long since i decided to go for 100% in a game but this one was so chill and fun adventure with Pippit and his cool yo-yo tricks. Overall the game is a really fun classic zelda style game, with a lovely sprite work. The game progression is pretty great it's not super hard but also not a cakewalk and the more abilities you get the more interesting things get, specially in mobility as you get some fun moves. The fighting may not be deep but it's fun enough to keep going. Totally recommend if you want some old school and classic style game with a fun story and characters.

I enjoyed playing this game a lot more than expected. This is probably one of my new favorite metrovania, or rather yo-yovania games I have ever played. I really enjoyed going around every part of the city, fighting enemies, collecting items and figuring out how to solve certain puzzles with your moves and yo-yo. They say this game is 12 hours, but I ending up at 20 hours since I wanted to collect everything. And I'm okay with it. Solid game. Solid game.

This might be the best zelda I've played in 2025, and I'm a sicko for action adventure / exploration games. Charming, fun, and some really challenging stuff if you wander off into the corners most people won't check out. Highly recommended

outstanding in every single way. aesthetically, it nails the look it's trying to go for - early 2000s handled game. it gets it so perfectly it's hard to properly put it into words. the soundtrack compliments the looks of the game perfectly. artistically, the game is no slouch either. the colors are fantastic and complement the (excellent!) designs. everything is a treat to look at in this game. of course, all of those don't mean too much to me personally if the game isn't backed up by solid gameplay. and thankfully, the game is - the yoyo feels good to use and everything is centered around it. a lot of games will go off on tangents and provide tons of upgrades that don't feel terrible but feel there to match some arbitrary requirements, but everything is SO well integrated in the yoyo, from the combat to the puzzles to the movement. this game is a total homerun and i cannot wait to see more from this team - i HOPE we get more from this team!!!

Enjoying some of the freshest most satisfying zeldalike gameplay i've ever had the pleasure of experiencing while shaking my head in disapproval the entire time so people don't think im into the nepo baby protagonist and his ceo aunt

Absolutely awesome game, very much a top down Zelda style, but it mixes in just a touch of Metroidvania. It doesn't really do anything particularly new, but really it simply doesn't have to. It's just fresh and fun, the way games should be in my opinion. The gameplay is fun, the mechanics feel good, and it gives the player the freedom to try to do things their way without rail road them into a specific path or forcing the player to always solve things with one answer. I will say that some puzzles felt a little too open or didn't quite feel like the answer was clear enough, but it's entirely possible that may have come down to my own misinterpretations and odd logic. That said I can't ignore the fact that the game is dripping with charm, filled with pop culture references, and has a ton of hidden little nods to many niche, but noteworthy references. Clearly a passion project, and a game made to be fun, and will likely go down as a hidden gem. However I want to make sure the devs know that I have a lot of respect for the work they put into this.

Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo has so much creativity and charm throughout every aspect of it, it's quickly become one of my favorite games. Definitely give this one a try if you like 2D Zelda games and Metroidvanias, you won't be disappointed!

Otimo jogo, gameplay muito interessante, dialogos divertidos, arte carismática e musicas cativantes!

Very addictive game for me and I love it from start to finish. If you're one of those who was waiting for Mina the Hollower , pick this up instead. ( i dont think that game is even dropping anymore , damn YacktClub Games)

I hadn't heard of this game until about one or two days before it was fully released on steam. I thought it looked neat and saw it had a demo so figured i'd try it out. I played only one level in that demo and knew right away I was going to love the game and waited for it to release instead of playing more demo to avoid spoiling myself. This game is some of the most fun I've had in a single player game in a while. The gameplay feels great, any time i messed up it always felt like my fault and not the game messing up. Even the characters were great, pretty much no one in the story is a completely good person, even Pippit but that just made it all the more enjoyable for me. Over all, would recommend this game for anyone looking for a puzzle exploration game.

One of the best metroidvania games I've played in a while. The traversal abilities are unique and the game offers some of the very inventive puzzles. Worth the price for the gameplay alone, but the pixel art, mechanics, and fun music make it one of the best games I've played this year. Highly recommended!

This game was incredible! The visuals are very GBA and the art style is unique and fun. The music is awesome. But the best part is making your way through the world, getting new movement abilities. It flows so well and by the end you become a yoyo ninja, a thing I didn't know was a fun thing to be, but found extremely fulfilling. Reminds me of some great GBA classics, like the Dragon Ball Z games. The vibes just feel so good. A true gem. Now I have to get a copy of Dodgeball Academia, because these devs know what they're doing!

Exceptionally polished little gem. Highly recommended to anyone looking to scratch the 2D Zelda or GBA game itch.

This game is pretty fun, and falls into a top down, action/platform/puzzle archetype. I think the puzzle and platforming shines the most, with combat being a tad limited to four-directional. The story is fairly direct, and it's expressed through the characters more than the environment. Our hero, Pippit, and his banter with his aunt, Pepper (Madame), is pretty amusing at times, with both occasionally offering commentary on the situation, or immediate goings-on. Some of the puzzle/platforming challenges are pretty difficult, and some even have multiple solutions (especially depending at which point you tackle them, since you get various traversal abilities). There's a lot of ways to tune the difficulty if you just want to roll through the game without much struggle. The game has upgrades in life, and BP--points to equip badges akin to the notch/charm system of Hollow Knight. A lot of them have utilitarian functions, and some have interesting or preferential combat options. You can increase your power using the environment, such as with each bounce of the yoyo, whether it's thrown, or attacked with. Many rooms even offer these options to fight with, and encourage them with enemy layout. This game also sports an interesting permanent upgrade system with functions to Pippit via contracts. You gain the upgrade, but also a penalty, and the penalty is only removed after it's paid off. 50% of all your coins are split into paying it off, so you require about twice as much money than the contract asks (but the rest is pocketed). Initially, this makes it seem like money is not that useful, but it's required to build badge blueprints, refine badges (adding a bonus effect, or reducing BP cost to equip), or buy items from the few shops. Overall, you'll need quite a lot of money to buy everything, and some of the contract penalties, especially early on, can be pretty harsh or difficult to play around while learning the game. However, you CAN farm money in the arena if you want. If you don't, I promise you, there is TREMENDOUS money to be had solving puzzles or exploring in the late game, so you don't need to feel pressured. My only disappointment with the game is probably the ending, and maybe the final area. It just seemed a bit odd and rushed. I felt like the challenges of previous/other primary areas were a bit higher overall, though not the more secret-esque areas that require exploring for. Overall, I recommend it. I'll probably grab Mina the Hollow when it comes out because of this game.

An excellent 2D Zelda game. Don't be scared of the small number of reviews, this is a sleeper hit.

An utterly delightful 8/16-bit zelda-like. The setting is wonderfully inventive [spoiler]One of the first dungeons is a mall with a basement that's all catwalks over giant pits of boiling french fry oil[/spoiler]. It's got oodles of unique enemies and puzzles, and lots of unique moves to beat them with. I had a thoroughly enjoyable time.

I didn't expect this little indie title to end up being the best Zelda-like experience I've had in years. I really appreciate how it stayed engaging the whole way through, with clever puzzles and new mechanics added right up until the very end. It's exactly as long as it needed to be. I'll definitely be paying attention to whatever this team does next.

A fantastic game in every way. Combat, progression, exploration, level design, customizable difficulty options, music, visuals, enemy design, its a top tier game no matter how you slice it.

Absolutely delightful! It's a zelda-like adventure that uses the Yoyo power in very interesting ways, making you feel smart solving the puzzles, and a master-gamer beating some of the (optionally difficult) combat. It has great easter eggs and accessibility settings to boot!

As a fan of Pocket Trap, I was already expecting a quality game. What I didn't expect was a Goty contender, everything in this game is so tightly made from it's amazing gameplay to it's great soundtrack. 9/10

What a great game ! I really enjoyed it all the way through. It had such satisfying combat, the different skills and debt system are really good ways to spice things up. It had great exploration, I was always curious to try reaching places even though I didn't have the required skill. Exploration came naturally, even when I told to myself I was going to the main objective next, I was almost always getting distracted and thinking "Okay, but maybe I can go there now." It had clever puzzles (including platforming challenges) that were cool to solve and just challenging enough. On top of that I really liked the art and the music. Cute and colorful pixel-art but also charming writing !

Masterpiece. If you like metroidvanias you're only hurting yourself by not playing this. Easily worth purchasing at full price.

This is Zelda-like is fantastic. The various abilities you get are unique, and this game have has many systems that work well, including the debt system, the badges, etc. highly recommended.

Just finished Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo, and wow what a fantastic game! A GBA-styled zeldathon, with such fun movement options that make puzzles and exploring so much fun! A little short, about 13 hours to finish the game with a few collectibles and challenges to go. But it'll be fun going back and picking up those few things I missed! Banger soundtrack and amazing character designs! Easily made it's way to my personal top 10 games of all times.

Why people rarely heard about Imbeci!e Game Network harangued about really great games like Pipistrello or Starvaders. According to Sturgeon's law, 90% of their game reviews were not even worthy of your precious 5 minutes toilet time to contemplate whether you should buy it. Instead good games were always being put on the their back burners unless these games suddenly catch spotlight. That'd be the only reason for them to exalt a real great game. What a sublime benchmark for game world, maybe not just game world.

It's a really great Zelda-like! Every ability you get is a movement ability, and the game has some great platforming sections using all of them in tandem near the end. It's also packed with small puzzles and secrets. I've only got a few minor complaints: [list] [*]It would be nice if fast travel points were a bit more common. [*]You can only view the map and completion percentage for the area you're currently in, so if you're hunting for secrets you have to go to all the sub-areas and check your completion percentage in each instead of just scrolling through them in a menu. [*]The Cat's Cradle skill is too strong. If you have a badge or upgrade to reduce the charge time it completely trivializes combat. [*]The conclusion of the story is very silly and comes out of nowhere. [/list]

Very good all around! Took me a bit to get into it but it really picks up once you start getting the movement abilities.

jogo foda, bons puzzles, boa arte e ótimo senso de exploração

Really good Zelda-like action adventure game. The soundtrack and art style really succeed in evoking GameBoy Advance nostalgia. Difficulty overall is at a good level: the puzzles, platforming, and combat offer a decent challenge but rarely, if ever, become frustrating (some of the special moves trivialise the combat a bit at times, though). The platforming challenges get more and more creative as the player gains movement abilities. There's a good amount of game here, too: I spent 15 hours to reach the credits and do a decent chunk of the exploration and collectables. My file was at 75% by the end. Highly recommended.

Not being able to attack diagonally is really dragging this game down for me.

It's a nicely designed game but this is not for casual players. I've beaten and loved every Legend of Zelda game, and while this game has some familiar feel, it is much more difficult than any of them. I'm sure there are lots of gamers who appreciate that but it's not for me.

Tem uma jogabilidade bem divertida, com variações de habilidades para usar, é visualmente carismático. E os diálogos são ouro, diversas referências BR nas conversas com NPCs.

I really tried to like this game, but the core game ideas seem to clash, and my enjoyment with them. You want upgrades? You can "buy" them, but not really. You get a debt, and half the money you collect goes to pay that debt, BUT, you always have a debuff while a debt is active, so it's either less health, less attack damage, no health pickups from enemies, or a combination of those. Sounds fun? Not to me. If I have the money, let me straight up buy it... If I want to have it and I dont have enough money, then the debt option would maybe make sense, but nooo, it is not an option if you want upgrades. This ties with another problem: is your debt payed up? You need to return to base if you want to aquire more debt for another upgrade, so I need to leave my progress, and return to base, otherwise, I feel like the money I pick up is not helping pay for upgrades. This gets old FAST. Did you die? You lose some money, (just why???). Want to try this room again? Awesome! Let's get you back, BUT, with less health, died again because you have less health? You lose more money, and again, want to retry with less health again? I spent the little time I played this game broke, debuffed and with debt...

I do not recommend this game. I did enjoy the game in the first half, pipistello manor, the first two areas after unlocking their movement abilities. In terms of movement mechanics and puzzle design the game is top notch. The only deal breaker is the combat. Combat is very clunky, like it's missing something. Combat abilities never hit the same as movement abilities and some very essential abilities like any form of dodging or negating damage, blocking or parrying, never seem to click. Pippet's movement speed is just right for platforming or puzzles but is far to slow for combat. He should be a high speed low damage on account of his yo-yo being fast and light, but he is just too slow. Spoilers till the end of the review: The breaking point for me came in the third area I tried to complete, The Sports Stadium. The newest movement ability, the wall ride, was a letdown because it didn't click with the other two movement abilities and altered how walk the dog acted after a wall ride. Also it just wasn't as satisfying to execute as the wall dash or walk the dog. Then the combat, oh how I despised the new enemies. First an enemy that can effect your yo-yo unlike any other enemy in the game up till that point. But the worst, the very worst enemy in the game is the hockey player. Their introductory fight is the worst executed fight in the game. Making you fight two: ridiculously large hp, incredibly mobile, ricochet projectile spawning enemies at the same time is bad enough, but then they have the audacity to spawn extra enemies into the arena before you even have a chance to finish one of them off! That single fight completely broke my immersion, any fun the combat had left, and my remaining desire to complete the game. You can't even cheese the fight by spamming special or charged attacks because they aren't effective and require time to cool down and build up respectively. I see potential in this game to be great, but only if the combat is altered. If they make it faster to attack and move with a small amount of knock back. It would match the pace of the platforming in the second half with it's fast paced, quick execution abilities. Sadly I don't think it will happen given that this game is complete and to rework the combat would mean reworking all encounters in the game around it.

Throughly enjoying the passage from NES and SNES nostalgia to the growing wave of GBA inspired games and this one wears the aesthetic flawlessly. A great metroidvania with a surprising amount of customization to your combat abilities, far beyond the "tap to whack, hold to charge for bigger whack" combat of its Zelda-like origins. The difficulty curve is steady and exciting, with later sections that require real platforming finesse. And the game does a great job of naturally teaching the player different interactions and edge-cases with its movesets needed to solve challenges, showcasing a clear thoughtfulness the developers put into designing it and venturing into the realm of puzzle platformer. All in all, great game, currently a hidden gem.