Flynn: Son of Crimson Review: A Dash Of 2D Mario mix with a Shot of Retro Sonic

What's up and welcome to the Single Player Experience. As always, I'm your host, Sebastian Malden, and today I'll be giving you the Envy game recommendation of the week. This week, that game is the Indie known as the Little Gator game. So why am I recommending this game? Find out right after the intro DJ start the intro Mine. Hey, what's up? And welcome to the Single Player Experience. As always, I'm your host Sebastian Malden, and in this episode I'm talking about a 2D action platformer that I definitely think you should check out. Now, I don't think this game is perfect by any means, but I do think fans of the genre are gonna have a lot of fun with this one. So what's the Tuesday Indie game? Recommendation of the week? Find out right after the intro DJ start the intro. Mine. so for those of you who don't know, Flyn son Crimson is a 2D action platformer and it's the first major title developed by Studio Thunder Horse. Side note, before we continue going with this review and this suggestion, I just wanna say that Studio Thunder Horse is a badass dope name for a studio. Uh, I'm just saying, I'm like, I have never heard a thunder horse before, but that is, that sounds strong. Anyways, let's continue on. So let's check on Thunder Horse's first game. Let's start with the good first. Right from the get-go, you can tell that Flynn draws inspiration from the OG 2D games of the past. This game felt like a mixture between Mario Tuda and a dash of Sonic. but Flynn does a solid job of forming its own identity though. Let's elaborate further on the gameplay. I mentioned all the games. This game kind of pays Amish to and kind of takes inspiration from. But this game also has a little bit more sleeker combat than Mario and sda, especially as a 2D action platformer game. This game does a very solid job of giving you abilities and move sets to take out your enemies. One aspect that I really want to shout out is the controls. Everything feels simple, yet tight, and everything feels like it has a purpose behind the control. Let me be frank and real with you. This game is easy to pick up, but it's difficult to master. It can be challenging. However the game feels well-balanced. It's not an easy cake walk in the park, nor is it border lining on a soul's game. Another thing I really want to shout out is the Game's r PPG and Abilities System. In this game, you can unlock different abilities to use in combat and, and those abilities give you the freedom to try to implement in your own play styles while taking on different. Another thing that really caught my eye is that it features a dope 2D pixel art style. You can tell that there was thought and care put into the level designs. There's a nice variety to each and every level. One minute you're squaring off in the trenches in a underwater level, and the next you find yourself squaring up against the knight in a snow dungeon. I really like the variety here and I think that each and every level kind of feels unique and has its own little flavor to it. It sort of reminds me of old retro 2D Mario in that. One aspect that I really enjoy about this game is that it knows what it wants to be and executes it well. It's a chill 2D platformer to the core. This game ultimately boils down to you picking a level of overcoming unique challenges via the platforming or puzzles and fighting enemies, including that region's boss. For the most part, it does all these things well. That said, there were some traits about the game that I didn't personally enjoy, but you might not have qualms with it. For example, there is a story here, but it's thin and kind of generic. It's a standard beat up the generic bad guy because he's evil story. There's nothing special about any elements of the narrative and you'll struggle to remember any of the character's names. So if narrative is a big deal to you, like it kind of really is to me, then you probably won't like that aspect about this. Another big thumbs down for Flynn in my opinion, is the scourge counter system. Basically, the game makes you go back and replay the levels that you already played, but with harder enemies and a horror aesthetic. It doesn't add anything relevant to the game or to the story, though. It's just kind of more content for the sake of having more content. And don't get me wrong, I'm a huge proponent of having replayable levels. I love that. I think a lot of games are missing that aspect. However, you are already allowed to replay the levels here via the Super Mario esque world's map selection screen, so you can already do that. There's no point in having this scourge encounter system. Then. All that said though, despite all the negatives that I just listed out, ultimately Flynn son of Crimson is a fun time. Does it really have anything super memorable to it? Not necessarily, but it does. Everything is set out to do well. I'm not gonna lie to you and say that this game redefines the 2D action platform or genre. It doesn't. However, if you like games of that genre and you're looking for a fun five to seven hour experience, then this game is one that I'd easily recommend you check out. In this show, we practice the 10 games backlog rule. In this practice, you log down 10 games, those games are gonna be your video game backlog. To be as productive as you possibly can be, we recommend that you only play three games at one time. One single player narrative game, one game that's gonna be your chill and relaxed game. And another game that's going to be your palate cleanser game, which is a game that you play when you're not in the mood for your other narrative. When you complete or get tired of one game, it leaves the backlog list. Then you decide which new game is added to the list, and which game on the list advances to your active three games. So where should Flynn Son of Crimson fit in your video game backlog list? So this is an interesting one because I don't think it has a strong enough main narrative to fit as your primary game that you should be playing. However, I think this game fits perfectly in that chill and relaxed spot or that pallet cleanser spot. I think that game fits perfectly in that wheelhouse because this game is really fun to just pick up and play for a couple of hours. Kind of similar to what you felt when you were playing Mario back in the day. It could have been your main game if you're strongly into those 2D action platform or games. Unless you're really big into 2D action platformers, I would say keep this out of your main's primary slot. However, like I said before, I think this is perfect for your pallet cleanser spot, or for your chill and relaxed spot. So that is the game recommendation of the week that you should consider adding to your backlog. If you want me or my community of gamers to give you feedback on your backlog list, then join us in the single Player Experience Discord server. Once you're in, feel free to share your video game backlog list our talk about good single player game experiences that you've had lately. The link to join the free single player experience Discord server is in the show notes. Thank you so much for listening to today's episode, and I hope to catch you in the next one. Peace.