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Showing posts with the label Scram Kitty and His Buddy on Rails

The Economy of Space in Dandara

Dandara is not an easy game. One could attribute this to the speed of its primary attack function, labyrinthine design, limited health and energy regeneration systems, or perhaps most obviously the punishing currency mechanic, but I would argue otherwise. The most unfamiliar aspect of Dandara, and what largely sets it apart from other games, is its movement system. This aspect dictates the momentum and difficulty of almost every moment of game, and without it, Dandara would likely be a lovely conceptual experiment in Afro-Brazilian artwork and storytelling, but would fail to make an impact otherwise. The addition of this system pushes Dandara into a whole new level of interactivity, even when most of its content is deliberately and intentionally scripted. While linearity in an interconnected-world action platformer (I ain't callin' this a Metroidvania) is not usually considered much of a positive aspect, I would argue that Dandara is actually much better because of this choic...