Fun, but too frenetic – HoPiKo Review

The concept is good and the game is fun to play, but the difficulty ramp is way too steep from stage 1 to stage 2. Case in point, the first couple jumps in 2-1 are borderline impossible, and there are still 4 levels after that. Secondly, there are still too many screen flashes when the "screen flashes" setting is turned off. It's especially bad when you have to restart levels so frequently because of the difficulty. Third, having to beat 5 levels in a row to advance is fine on easier stages, but gets old very quickly in stage 2 when the difficulty spikes. So much of the game relies on precise timing and muscle memory, but it's unnecessarily hard to practice later levels in a set when it takes so many tries just to reach them between runs. A practice mode would solve this problem, allowing players to become good at levels individually, but still requiring all 5 to be completed in one go to advance. Ultimately it still has a lot of potential, but slowing it down over all would broaden the audience. The levels are complicated enough to still be difficult while not requiring absolute perfection just to advance. Unfortunately, the extreme difficulty and nauseating screen flashes hold back what could be a great title.
Review by mr vol on HoPiKo.