GameCritics.com Podcast Episode 3

I'd like to clear up the mistakes about Art Style: Rotohex.

First off, there's a dedicated two-player mode. I don't know how it works, because the people I'd be most likely to play with are both colorblind, but it's there and it looks pretty cool. It's called "VS", so I assume it's competitive. You can also play cooperatively, just by bringing another controller to the Solo mode. The gameplay doesn't change- you've just got two players instead of one. Again, I don't know how well that plays.

Secondly, this game gets much more difficult than Brad realizes. There are eight colors, not six. This is not to say that the game is unfairly difficult, though- I'd guess Brad's having trouble with three because he hasn't picked up on the patterns of gameplay yet. But it's inevitable that he will, if he keeps at it. (And it's addictive, so I imagine he will.) Once you see the credits, that's when a new mode opens up with actual levels. And they make the whole Solo mode look downright simple.

So there's actually a lot to do, a lot of room for getting better, and lots of hardcore fun to be had. I think Brad does the game a disservice by saying it's not as good as Cubello- once you figure out how this game works, it's fantastic.

Hey Mory,

Thanks for the comments.

You're actually correct about Rotohex's 2P mode. Sorry for the error, I should have double-checked before we recorded and Tim's question caught me off guard. my bad for not preparing better.

Also, I had just started playing the game and i did state that i hadn't finished it at the time we recorded... a little while later i got further and figured out that i wasn't as close to being done as i originally had thought.

Anyway, the podcast game segments are really more impressions pieces than reviews, so i hope you werent left with the feeling that it was a sort of 'final judgement' on Rotohex. i'm actually still playing it, though i still think it's not quite as good as Orbient or Cubello. = )

B

I understood they were just impressions, and I don't fault you for incomplete information.

I tried out the cooperative Solo mode, with one of my aforementioned colorblind friends. He stuck to the few colors he could make out, I did the rest, and we very quickly beat the game. I'd say it's easier with two players, but it's very fun. I highly recommend trying it out (just press A on the second controller to join in), especially if you're finding it hard on your own.

As for how it stacks among the Art Style games: It's obviously not as great as Orbient. But Cubello's endgames are awkward, and I don't feel there's quite as much depth there as in Rotohex. Rotohex also gets points from me for the cleverly interactive minimalist soundtrack, and for having the guts to make the main mode of the game so unconventionally straightforward. These little differences push Rotohex over Cubello for me, though of course they're both exceptional.

you're spot-on about the awkward endgames in Cubello, but something about that robot voice saying "good game" at the end just makes me smile. ; )