[Review] Eryi's Action

There are three kinds of platformers. Those like Super Mario Bros which have a decent difficult, Metroidvanias which tend to be a tad harder, and then there are the so-called "trapformers" which are plain unfair. Eryi's Action is one of them and I couldn't help but to try it given I can't say no to a challenge.

The game features Eryi, a green-haired little girl who found out the melon she was so looking forward to eat was stolen by Farta the Troll (How dare she!) and thus she set on a quest to retrieve her melon. A quest that not even Hercules would be able to fulfill because there are a lot of traps set in the different stages, and they will all catch you by surprise. In fact, the game will count the amount of times you've died instead of telling you how many lives you have and, as if it wasn't already hard enough, that'll change some traps in the game.
Talking about the traps, you can tell they were carefully planned and set up in a way even the most experienced gamers wouldn't see them coming. It can get frustrating yet at the same time it's funny and you will want to try it again, and again, and again until you manage to avoid all the traps in the levels and finish it. Also this game is more enjoyable with friends, especially when you're not the one who's playing.

That melon would better be something to die for

This game is also compatible with Xbox controllers, which I personally recommend to use instead of the keyboard because there are moments where you need to be very precise with your jumps and it's easier to do so with a controller than with a keyboard (and as a bonus you'll have something else to throw at the screen if you get too frustrated).
Art-wise both the characters and the scenery are drawn in a very cutesy manner to contrast with the excessive difficulty of the game. Sadly the resolution is stuck at 640x480 which makes it look a bit blurry when playing on fullscreen.

Look, it's the goal! There are totally not any more traps in this level!

Would I recommend this game? Yes. The game is fun despite of how easily it could drive anybody mad. The game is not unbeatable though, since with enough patience you can figure out how to avoid each trap and finish the levels.

Extra information:

Developer: Xtal Sword

Publisher: Nyu Media
Language: English

Avaliable platforms: PC (Steam)

System Requirements:

- Windows XP/Vista/7

- CPU: 1 GHz processor

- Memory: 512 MB RAM

- Graphics: DirectX 9.0c compatible graphics card

- Hard Disk: 200 MB of available hard disk space

- Sound: DirectX compatible audio card

[Review] Obulis

Today I'm honoured to launch ZenyaGames, a blog dedicated to review PC games. This time I'll analyze Obulis, a game which I bought a few months ago for 50 cents and surprised me in a good way.

There's not much to say about the gameplay since the game mechanics are pretty simple. The goal of the game is to put the coloured balls inside the recipients of the same colour of the balls, and to do so you just have to cut the chains that restrain the balls and let inertia do the rest. It may seem easy at first but, as the game progresses, the levels get more and more challenging and precision becomes more important, to the point of requiring you to cut the chain at the exact moment or else you will fail, even if you cut it a split second too soon or too late.

I've lost track of how many times I've tried this level

If it requires such precision then it must be a very frustrating game, right? Surprisingly it isn't and that's because of soundtrack. Even if it's fairly limited it's fully composed of relaxing tunes, which definitely helps the player to keep themselves relaxed and focused.

They also did a very good job in the art department. Each set of levels have different beatifully done backgrounds which go along with the soundtrack. But the background is not the only thing that changes, the foreground also does. In one level you can find yourself moving balls through a wooden room while in the other you're putting them inside flowers. This game has its flaws though, In some levels you can find some foreground elements obstructing your view of the ball, which I personally find it a bit annoying, and in others there are invisible walls that block a ball from going further, though everytime it happens is because there's always another way to do it.

It even has flower cannons!

Would I recommend this game? Definitely. It's pretty enjoyable and a must-have for any gamer who loves puzzles. On top of that it costs just 5€ (or even less if you're lucky and find it discounted) which makes it a great deal.

Extra information:

Developer: IonFX

Publisher: Meridian4
Language: English

Avaliable platforms: PC (Steam)

System Requirements:

- Windows 2000/XP/Vista

- CPU: 1.0 GHz processor

- Memory: 128 MB RAM

- Graphics: DirectX 9.0c compatible 64 MB graphics card

- Hard Disk: 50 MB of available hard disk space

- Sound: DirectX compatible audio card