Parent machine review

Birth of German Independent Studio Maschinen-Minsch, Parent It was sold as a breath of fresh air in a cooperative multiplayer. From your trailer you only get a strong understanding of his available community and the devilish sense of humor that gives him undeniable charm. Although I can't say that Parent It is bait and switch-mostly does what he says on a can-I came from it and felt incredibly disappointed.

Parent is Hodgepodge influences. Is clear Botw and Mario DNA in their simple platforms, endurance management and food -based systems; It is vaguely roguelike using procedure generation and randomized improvements; It even has a touch of the dark comedy Edmund McMillan, especially at the beginning of the game, when the title parent machine first reveals that it can basically infinitely clon their “children”.

When Parent He shoots at all rollers, these influences combine into something entertaining and even unique: the game never feels derivative. But so rarely shoots at all cylinders and you will most likely see everything it offers after a few hours. Machin's motherE However, it is clearly designed to play longer than this, because its main campaign continues long after its main mechanics welcomed the welcome. Maschinen-MEnsch seems to have suggestions to become an infinitely repeatable cooperative experience, but but but but but but but also Parent Currently, the inertia does not justify more than an hour or two games.

The parent machine is cute, smart and finally boring

The simple assumption usually works best, especially for multiplayer game. Parent It is built around this age chestnut and gives players a short introduction to their game world-Mimozemic planet overcoming dishonest slot machines before they release them on a number of missions. Players can set out on a total of six different types of missions from their home base, either solo or up to four more. Most of these missions ParentIt is played because you have the task of filling in challenges, collecting upgrade resources and finally activating satellites that will proceed in the main campaign.

These missions can be quite fun, at least at first glance. The game has a great movement mechanics and, like any good platform, is behind every jump or roll a strong feeling of gravity and momentum. There is also a fight in the mixture, although it is much less satisfactory and shrinks on a spam on one attack, while sometimes introduced to avoid damage. Rather than a model of linear progression, Parent It allows you to unlock different different mutations, such as a flatulent double jump or healing of the group, but only one can be active at a time. It is a system that is quite similar to the badges in Super Mario Wonderpromising to offer new twists about existing peas, which are used for the goals of the repeatability and expressions of the player. I was so excited when I saw what Parent I had for me as soon as I grabbed this elegant game loop, but it was over that it did not get significantly before my expectations.

It doesn't take long for a parent machine to feel long in the tooth

Perhaps the most important defect of the game and the biggest source of disappointment is its complete lack of diversity. There are such less differences between each procedurally generated level that it is difficult to realize were procedurally generated. Then there are the above types of missions that feel half -baked. For the most part, all of them are the same, their biggest differences are often cooked with the short -term task you have to complete to access air air or remove an obstacle. These are expected variations in Established types of missions, not variations that form a completely new type of mission on their own.

The type of battery delivery mission is perhaps the only exception of this mold of the sameness, because the players must cooperate on the protection of a drone transmitting a battery rather than just finish the isolated task to bypass the obstacle.

During my eleven hours of playing, I met a total of two types of bosses, including the last boss. There were no variations or twists on these bosses' designs, you don't mind – they were literally the same two struggles that came directly as planned, without variables that would expand them or cause them to feel refreshing. Unfortunately, the Grove DLC, a temporary free expansion to the basic game, does not offer any diversity: it does not introduce new types of missions, nor offers meaningful level design. Misty Grove is basically just an alternative coat of colors for the basic game.

Behind behind is a clear intention ParentThe Barebones progression system, but it is a creative choice that does not make the above kindness. Having access to only one special capacity at a time can work well in a game with a high level of diversity, but with each level and game regime it feels only superficially different, this limited mechanical depth only worsens the feeling of monotony of the game. It does not help that many mutations are unnecessary, such as the ability to make a player-to-brightly brightly so bright, or simply not fun to play, such as the ability to conjure up a projectile fruit that is already easily accessible in the environment. After collecting all these mutations, which can occur before you campaign in the middle of the campaign, there are only one rewards for collecting resources from the small cosmetics fund.

As a result, after completing the main campaign, there is not much motivation for continuing playing, and that would not be so bad if the main campaign stood at the cost of admission, but it is not. The campaign consists of five story missions, separated by an ever -increasing gap of satellite requirements, aka regular recurrent playing. These five missions are quite edging, each of which takes about as long as standard, which is stunning. The real problem, however, is that they are mechanically indistinguishable from regular missions: players must switch to different air chambers and pass several challenges that are also identical to the challenges found in other missions.

The only main difference between the story missions and the normal is exposure dumps that come through the dialogue of the parent machine and various text protocols. But this story is not essential or creative enough to raise immense relaxation Parentplaying. You can give Maschinen-Minsch a lot of grace for other shortcomings-after all, it is a small independent studio-but with a story narrated mainly through the text it looks as if the ball has fallen here. Writing a convincing story does not last aaa budget, and while most people would not come to such a game for a high drama, a captivating story could compensate for disappointment in the unsatisfactory game.

It should be noted that ParentPC power is a subpar. I checked the game on a computer with a RTX 4060 and tried to maintain a stable 60fps above the middle settings. At high settings, especially in DLC areas, FPS would regularly drop to 20s. I also tested the game on Steam Deck OLED and laptop with RX 7600, where the performance was even worse.

Parent He has a lot of personality and some really good ideas that are simply not implemented well. It would be great to see what Maschinen-Mnssch with more time and resources can do, but for being worth it Parent They feel more like a demo or proof of a concept rather than a fully wrapped game.