I am a huge fan of rhythm games and play them whenever I get my hands on one. Klang by Tinimations takes the idea of a rhythm game and sticks in a platformer in a way I have not seen before. Mixing beats with dodging mechanics and jump puzzles makes for some interesting gameplay but damn is it punishing.
The Experience:
Klang opens up with a cutscene full of color and sound. I am not sure what exactly is going on but you look to have clashed with some god of beats and now you must take your tuning fork swords and defend yourself from him and his minions. The animation quality is pretty cool but it comes at the cost of a really long loading time when you first start this game. That is unless you have an SSD. I do not because of excuses.
The music you're playing to is house and a bit downtempo so far. I am a house head so I am digging the soundtrack. The environments and bosses are in sync with the music. For example when you are wall jumping there is a laser that pulsates from wall to wall on the beat. This requires you to jump in rhythm to avoid damage. This took some getting used to because I was fixated on following the image and found myself jumping to the lasers.
There is a map of the world where you travel node to node to get to the next level. You are rated on your performance in each section of a level and you can revisit to perfect your run and get a higher score.
In the levels, you will have enemies that attack you on the beat and you will need to counter these attacks by pressing the correct direction on your controller, jumping, or ducking depending on what is indicated on the screen. Movement is a lot easier to do with a controller IMHO. I was trying on the keyboard first but was having the biggest issues with quickly going from the angles to the cardinal directions efficiently. It is a lot more manageable with a controller. It's pretty fast and sometimes there is just so much on the screen you can easily lose track of your next move. The screen is very busy and this can really hurt when you can be killed with one hit.
Klang is not an easy game. There is a mode where you can slow everything down for those who want it or run out of patience. You will die a lot and that means you will have to retry certain areas of the map several times. Well, at least I died a lot. I am sure there are some platform junkies that can eat this game alive.
I can't express enough how much I like the way the game looks. Movements are smooth, the animation is tight and vibrant, and the random cut scenes are enjoyable. It's just a little frustrating getting past some of these puzzles and it's pretty early on in the game. I will finish this game but my patience may require me to pace it out. Still, I do have some desire to see it through.
TL;DR:
Klang is a good rhythm game mixed with a platformer all covered with a great art style. The screen sometimes gets too busy and makes it hard to see what your next move needs to be, which will be severely punished. I am interested in finishing but the difficulty of the game may require some pacing.
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