The End Is Nigh: harsh but fair (Switch)
Picking this game up, I was happy with the fact that I might never fully complete it or that it might take me a very long time - because I knew what I was letting myself in for.
The End Is Nigh comes to us from Edmund McMillen and Tyler Glaiel and is available on a range of platforms, mine being the Nintendo Switch.
I have enjoyed a number of Edmund McMillen's other projects - Super Meat Boy, the Binding Of Isaac and several of his other titles in The Basement Collection for instance.
This game bears his trademark feel and look, which I love.
The End Is Nigh is a tough platform game featuring Ash, a blob living in a desolate and dangerous land following some kind of apocalyptic event.
At the very start his game console breaks and he decides to go off in search of a friend.
To do that, he has to make his way across some very perilous landscapes indeed.
I really enjoyed the range of environments and the use of colors in the game. Some were really eye popping while others were quite muted and bleak.
Like Super Meat Boy, the controls feel spot on which is a relief given the tight and precise nature of the challenges you face throughout the adventure.
The emphasis is on perfecting your use of the limited number of abilities Ash has, which include jumping, hanging on the edges of platforms and leaping away from those edges.
Should you touch any hazard such as spikes, bullets or enemies death is instant in most cases.
Each new area you find will present a number of these hazards, gradually layering them up and using them in different combinations until there are very few spaces to stand at all.
However like all good games of this type, the solution is always there and it is always possible.
The reason you're dying again and again (and you will die, probably a lot) is because you as a player simply need to sharpen your skills, keep experimenting and persevere until you find the safe path through to the other side.
Most screens also have hidden 'tumors' to find which, in addition to testing your skills by collecting them, have their own significance which I won't spoil.
The soundtrack is an absolute treat as well, featuring dark re-imaginings of a range of classical pieces which fit The End Is Nigh very nicely.
So how far did I get? I'll be honest with you - much further than I expected to, but not to the end.
Far enough to know that I would recommend this game to any fans of platformers who are looking to challenge themselves.
I have reached a point which I know is going to take some considerable practice and likely several hundred more deaths (the game kindly keeps a tally - mine's at more than 1,500 at present).
But I fully intend to keep it up and one day maybe I'll get there! It's been a treat to play thus far and I'd say it's well worth a look.
I picked it up in an eShop sale for a few quid, so I have no complaints at all!
Have you played The End Is Nigh? What did you think? Let me know below!
The End Is Nigh comes to us from Edmund McMillen and Tyler Glaiel and is available on a range of platforms, mine being the Nintendo Switch.
I have enjoyed a number of Edmund McMillen's other projects - Super Meat Boy, the Binding Of Isaac and several of his other titles in The Basement Collection for instance.
This game bears his trademark feel and look, which I love.
The End Is Nigh is a tough platform game featuring Ash, a blob living in a desolate and dangerous land following some kind of apocalyptic event.
At the very start his game console breaks and he decides to go off in search of a friend.
To do that, he has to make his way across some very perilous landscapes indeed.
I really enjoyed the range of environments and the use of colors in the game. Some were really eye popping while others were quite muted and bleak.
Like Super Meat Boy, the controls feel spot on which is a relief given the tight and precise nature of the challenges you face throughout the adventure.
The emphasis is on perfecting your use of the limited number of abilities Ash has, which include jumping, hanging on the edges of platforms and leaping away from those edges.
Should you touch any hazard such as spikes, bullets or enemies death is instant in most cases.
However like all good games of this type, the solution is always there and it is always possible.
The reason you're dying again and again (and you will die, probably a lot) is because you as a player simply need to sharpen your skills, keep experimenting and persevere until you find the safe path through to the other side.
Most screens also have hidden 'tumors' to find which, in addition to testing your skills by collecting them, have their own significance which I won't spoil.
The soundtrack is an absolute treat as well, featuring dark re-imaginings of a range of classical pieces which fit The End Is Nigh very nicely.
So how far did I get? I'll be honest with you - much further than I expected to, but not to the end.
I have reached a point which I know is going to take some considerable practice and likely several hundred more deaths (the game kindly keeps a tally - mine's at more than 1,500 at present).
But I fully intend to keep it up and one day maybe I'll get there! It's been a treat to play thus far and I'd say it's well worth a look.
I picked it up in an eShop sale for a few quid, so I have no complaints at all!
Have you played The End Is Nigh? What did you think? Let me know below!
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