APPLECALYPSE

"Apples aren't what they seem" - a hilarious reference to Twin Peaks, which transforms this little game into a humorous parody of Lynch's universe.

You find yourself on the outskirts of your house when, suddenly, you realize your TV is displaying an image of an apple. Upon going outside, you see another enormous apple in the sky. Curiously, the entire population is eager to eat this fruit, forgetting, if necessary, all their moral and ethical values ​​in the process.

The game is a point-and-click adventure with beautiful scenery using real images. You face enemies through a minigame in the best pinball style, which after a while becomes quite fun. A short experience, but with a peculiar universe, characters with well-crafted art, and subtle nuances of humor.

This is one of those situations where I look at the trailer and I can't tell if the game is actual slop, or it's just a clever developer pretending to make something that gives off the slop vibes. I finished the game in about 70 minutes and very much enjoyed the uncanny vibes and the playful writing, so it would appear to be a genuine game. I won't pretend that I understood the narrative, although the developer probably was not trying too hard to make something coherent, something about the apples showing up in the clouds, feeding apples to decapitated ladies, learning interesting apple facts, apples something and something apples.

The game is evenly split between 3 graphic adventure sections and 3 fighting gauntlets. The minigame you see in the trailer with the bouncing apples is actually the core mechanic, it looks simple but the game will add more complexity to it, for example some bosses have unique mechanics or interactions, sometimes forcing you to optimize your trajectory or be more careful with how you use your resources.

It can be a little difficult because some mechanics are not immediately obvious, if you running out of apples or ammo, pay attention to the combo meter in the first phase of every battle, sometimes it's better to play safe and go for easy hits, you will generate bullets and coins for keeping up with the combo and not missing hits. Eventually you will realize that it's very efficient to aim backwards, although sometimes the obstacles in the way will force you to make suboptimal shots.

Pros:

(+) It's pretty much a game for some uncanny vibes and unusual writing, there is not a lot to it, but I enjoyed the atmosphere and the experience.

(+) I assume it's just compiled photos which sometimes people confuse with AI, I liked the weird look of the game, not the first time I see it but always enjoyed that high contrast aesthetic

(+) Has some unusual and creative ideas for gameplay

Feedback:

- during the applehead fight the game would not kill me if I had no apples, also the 3 talking achievements did not trigger until I re-entered the game

- I kinda wish the graphic adventure sections were a little longer, you only in them for 2-3 minutes at at time

- I imagine a few people may find the apple games too punishing, they are pretty strict with optimization and low margin for error

Overall Thoughts: 7/10

Slightly unusual game with interesting ideas, I know it looks like junk but that was probably the whole point. There is not a lot to it, it's about 70-80 minutes if you playing decently, but I thought the writing was interesting and overall it had a good atmosphere. The gameplay can be a little punishing so it may get frustrating.

(BTW dev, I declined the review copy, I already purchased it)

Niche, obscure and underrated games: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31294838-Hidden-Gem-Discovery/

"Ideas are like fish. If you want to catch the big fish, you've got to go deeper" (DL).

And APPLECALYPSE dives fearlessly into those deep waters. Point-and-click adventure with great story. Dense and unsettling atmosphere charged with symbolism. Real-life photographs. Excellent experience that feels strange, mysterious, suggestive and psychologically haunting.

Recommended.