#hell pie

right away, my favorite parts of this game is the movement options. a lot of times its clear that platforming is just treated as a door with an ability-shaped keyhole. in Hell Pie, all your moves are optional while still being valuable. there were a lot of times i biff a platforming section that i totally couldve made with the moves available to me, but then i saved it with a slick use of my kit. when youve got a platformer with this n64 style (as opposed to something with more focus on parkour, for example) thats the best you can ask for, in my opinion

on the other hand, i think the visual design is the worst part of the game. i can recognise that it is competently put together and designed cohesively, with all of the areas being inspired and unique. that said, there is a through-line of gross-out that i never really got past. like, on the beach level, in addition to just... being a straighforward beach level, youve got a little offshore area with innsmouth people, theres a theme of heavy pollution in a lot of places, there a suchi restaurant inside a whale with all the gore and pus they can justify, and also (i am not kidding) literal nazi shit. as in, you do into the sewer, and pieces of feces with the moustache will seige hail before shooting at you. you do you, but its just not really my thing. the pearly gates were the best part, because it had the cohesion and direction without being worn down by the grossout

also, minor nitpick. why do you aim the canon with the right stick? i think it really should be the left stick, but maybe thats just me. i mean like, i get that you use the right stick to look around and stuff, but if youre moving a canon, thats like a centre-stage movement, yknow?

the controls in general are just a little unintuitive, but not enough to ruin the game. like, switching horns with LB and then using your horn ability with RB. i dunno why, but that just took a while for my brain to adapt to. on the other hand, there are a lot of little touches that make up for it. i like how when you attack, you dont have to time your presses with the combo. if you hit x three times, you attack three times, even if you mash it in like a frame

and i know youre not into games like this for the story, but the ending was pretty lame too. the boss was an interesting idea, but the execution was just kinda... platforming. i feel like jak and daxter had a good idea of the best way to make platformer bosses, and a conveyor belt to the weak points isnt it. and then the gatling gun section was more annoying than anything. the ending is bad on purpose as a joke, which is the same as being bad normally but the creators can feel superior for not putting in any extra effort.

so at the end of the day this was... fine? if youre the kinda person whos interested in literally just gameplay and nothing else, this still comes with caveats like the collectable requirements for the horns being too high, the game having no real reward for collecting all the ingredients, and just... how much the 'comedy' weighs the experience down. its not totally worth skipping, mind you, cuz the gameplay really is just that well made and solid as a collectathon. id 100% it if there was like, a way to zero in on missing collectables instead of just stumbling around aimlessly or just replicating a guide for the last 30% of neko or whatever. thats a compliment, i dont usually 100% a game i dont like! its just.... ugh. this is how girls feel when theres a guy whos cute, he has a sturdy job and treats you nice, but there are just enough things about his personality to make your friends cringe when you mention him.

so like... well, there isnt a demo. i guess watch the nitro rad video about it? thatll give you a better idea of if you can tolerate the game's... personality