Table of Contents
Information:
Developer: Potata Company
Publisher: You Sometimes
Price: 14.99$
Download size: 2.4GB
Genre: 2D Side Scrolling Platformer/ Adventure
Platform reviewed on: Base PS4
Also available on Steam and Xbox One
Playtime and Progress made in the game:
It took us around 8 hours to beat the game from start to finish while also collecting all the trophies along the way.
Visuals:
When it comes to the visuals, the developers have done a great job. The environments are well detailed, the colors pop out, and the sprites are well animated. This quality of visuals is consistent throughout the game, and it all accumulates into a great looking game.
Optimization:
We don’t know at what resolution or the frame rate this game operates on (If I had to make a guess, I’d go with 1080p and 30FPS for the base PS4 model). Unfortunately, this game suffers from colossal frame rate drops, and this issue became common when I progressed further in the game, apart from this, I didn’t run into any other issues except for this one time when the game wasn’t letting me Progress, but reloading the game fixed that issue.
Sound:
The sound effects are nicely done, from walking to sword-swinging to jumping to ladder climbing, etc., each action performed by the player is beautifully complemented by a useful sound effect, an equal amount of detail is also present in the sound effects of the environment.
The soundtrack is pleasant, but no track stood out to me except for that one looping track which plays throughout the game.
There is no voice acting as the game tells the story via textboxes.
Story:
The story is about a young witch Potata who incurs the wrath of a fairy when she messes with a magical flower. What follows is her quest to collect all the petals of that magical flower. The story is easy to follow. The characters appearing in the game have been given a backstory, Though none of them feels fleshed out as Luna, who is a recurring character in almost every mission.
Gameplay:
There are three pillars of the gameplay: Platforming, combat, and puzzle-solving.
The level design is what stood out to me the most about this game. You have these levels where the environmental puzzles are cleverly interwoven, and such a level design encourages the player to look for every nook and cranny in the degree to progress.
Unfortunately, all this hard work is undone by putting a giant puzzle in every level which sticks out like a sore thumb.
Usually, this wouldn’t have been a problem if these puzzles were adequately materialized. But that’s not the case; there is no clue, and to get a clue, you have to spend a significant chunk of your in-game currency, and you’re still clueless after that as the “clues” are pretty much useless. Rather than posing a genuine challenge, these big puzzles artificially inflate the difficulty and the playtime and, in turn, harm the pacing of the game. I could’ve achieved 100 Percent completed the game in 5 hours instead of 8 if it was not for those poorly designed puzzles.
When it comes to platforming, this is another section where this game drops the ball. The controls feel clunky and are imprecise, which leads to a lot of cheap deaths; I also noticed a slight input lag and unresponsiveness in the controls as Potata sometimes doesn’t interact with the objects at all. This became a huge annoyance in the challenges side missions where you have to make pixel-perfect jumps throughout the whole level to clear it. Otherwise, it’s back to the starting line. The collision detection is also very underwhelming. There were many times where I lost my health without even touching an obstacle. There was a boss fight where some of my hits weren’t registering.
The combat is a very straightforward affair, You have a wooden sword, and you can attack it by pressing the circle button. I wish the combat scenarios were more creative.
Special Notes:
If you are going for 100% completion in this game, then you need to know that there’s no level select in this game. So if you miss any trophy/ achievement, you have to replay this game from the beginning, So make sure you take a proper look at the trophy list before playing.
Final Verdict:
For the most part, Potata: Fairy Flower is a well-made game that has the potential to be a great platformer as the developers have a lot of great ideas as was imminent from its level design. Unfortunately, its myriad of issues bogs it down.
