started: 3/8/23 | finished: n/a | reviewed: 3/15/23
played on: nintendo switch (physical) | release year: 2017
i had previously played this game a year ago for like 20 minutes and then dropped it bc i wasnt feeling it. i finally decided to pick it up again recently. i love 3d platformers, and this is a 3d platformer everyone loves. should be a match made in heaven, right? unfortunately im very much in the minority on this one. i gave it a good chance (i played for 3-4 hours and got like 16 of the time pieces) but i just didnt like it. probably my biggest issue with it is that there really isnt that much actual platforming. its mostly just walking around and climbing up stuff - there arent many challenging jumps. it got boring quickly. i had a lot of fun with this one fast-paced level where you have to make it to the front of a train in time, but i realized thats how much fun i would be having in an average level of a game i liked more, like new super luckys tale or donkey kong country: tropical freeze. i like the time rift levels too, but they absolutely suck to find.
theres something about the level design that just really bugs me. a lot of levels (especially chapter 3) just feel big and empty. i had the same problem with yooka-laylee. and i dont feel any incentive to explore and collect stuff. the main collectible (the green things) just respawn if you die or reenter a level. in collectathons i enjoy like spyro and ty the tasmanian tiger, there is a large amount of the main collectible, but once you find all of them in a level, youre done. also, why cant i use the green things to buy time rifts instead of having to go look for them? then i would feel like i had a reason to collect them! i also am just not a big fan of how the game looks. everything looks unpolished and not completely done rendering to me. the characters/story made me laugh a couple times, but they just didnt really connect with me. (i love the conductors design though. weird little creature. i want to pick him up and put him in my pocket)
i did like how the level locations are unique though. like theres a beachside mafia town, a movie studio, an old-timey train, and a haunted forest. it doesnt just fall into the typical platformer settings like ice world, fire world, and jungle world. but, ultimately, i have a personal rule: if i am playing a game and im so unhappy with it that i ask myself "i still like video games, right??" i have to drop the game and move on to something else. and thats what happened here. at least it was the free game i got in a buy 2 get one sale.
score: 5/10