Flowing Lights

Reviewed after S ranking the full game. Interesting little puzzle shooter. Level design is pretty creative and has a nice mix of requiring precise movement and aiming, as well as puzzle solving. Occasionally I'd hit a wall where something seemed too hard but it always ended up being a case of me missing a different way to complete the section. The level design feels a bit too basic for the first half of the game but the second half is much more interesting; with the final 4 levels of the game being standouts for excellent design as well as creative uses of the games mechanics to give them a unique feel. My biggest complaint with the game is that the first half feels a bit too samey, and doesn't really introduce much in the way of meaningful new mechanics past the first level. I could also forsee grinding hard for score to be frustrating because of the way the power up system works, though I have not grinded score enough to be able to say for sure. Overall the game is definitely a hidden gem and I hope it gets more attention in the future.

I don't hate this game, I'm marginally thumbing it down. It's pretty, it sounds nice, but the controls are super frustrating and often get in the way of the gameplay. The gravity effect is cool, but because your ship is affected so strongly by it, you end up fighting it instead of just using it to curve bullets. I spent too much time spamming the boost button to try and get up a small hill with ultra strong gravity, while the enemies just float around. I'd really like to try a game with similar bullet gravity mechanics to this game, but with less of an effect on the ship Overall it's an OK game, but I found it flawed, it's often frustrating rather than enjoyable - but it's not terrible. It might be worth a try if you think you'll like it

A one of a kind shooter... visually striking, the gravity thing/shape of the world looks and plays in a very fun way. For me the puzzle / time trial ranking aspect falls flat, so it's not for me, but the game is really cool. Recommend giving it a try at least.

Wow! This game is great! It would have been a monster hit back in the arcade era! It's pretty unique too. You can approach each level as either a puzzle to solve, or just go guns blazing and blast through.

This is barely a thumbs down, but I just can't recommend this game. The visuals are there, the music is there, and I think there's a really cool fundamental idea there, the game just isn't... fun. Every new mechanic that would unlock I'd go "Oh, [i]this[/i] must be the mechanic that ties everything together," yet it never was. The game is so close to being good though it's hard to come up with helpful criticisms, and I think the problems are all just in that last 10%. The ship is fine to control, but the obstacles and enemy placements feel clunky to navigate around. The "billiards," mechanic of using gravity to steer your shots is cool, but not being able to aim your main weapon feels very limiting, and the slow speed of the secondary weapon felt out of place against most of the enemies in the game. In general it felt like I had very little player agency in how I solved levels, which is a shame because the game has a really neat vibe that I would have liked to spend more time in.

This game is so pure. It's fully committed to a single idea and executes it well. It also makes a point of using the entire range of the analog stick, you shouldn't always press 100% in any given direction (almost feels a bit like F-Zero GX or Monkeyball in that way, or the boost ball in Metroid Prime). The ship, bullet, and enemy movements are smooth as butter. Every segment is a SHMUP puzzle, not requiring crazy reflexes, more about figuring out the right strategy (and then some reflexes/control to execute). The lack of reviews is depressing, I feel lucky I stumbled onto this. Bought it on sale but now that I've played a bit I kinda wish I had payed full price to support the dev. Definitely give it a shot if you were on the fence like me.

Literally the definition of a hidden game. Game has a good tutorial and as long as there's a decent number of levels it's an easy recommend. I am going to go out on a limb and say if the trailer is interesting you should go for it. It's shockingly good for a casual friendly bullet hell. It has a neat couple of combo mechanics.

Super unique and very fun. Those who enjoy puzzles and those who enjoy shoot em ups will both find a lot to like in this game. Edit: If a DLC with more levels were released I would buy it in a heartbeat.

A fun and clever shmup where you clear bite-sized challenges over longer courses which pull and twist on the games core mechanics in their own unique ways. A simple but appealing visual style is accompanied by a smooth, dynamically-scored soundtrack to give each level - and some of the longer challenges - its own arc. The game is basically all killer, no filler - with each level paced to have an enjoyable up-and-down difficulty curve that makes for solid flow. The only issue I think I have - other than maybe some minor moments where the loose movement feels a little finicky for puzzle-solving - is that there are a few points where the glow effect around each bullet makes it difficult to tell *exactly* where each bullet is without looking directly at it, meaning you'll sometimes get hit when you don't expect to - this is particularly frustrating in one specific encounter, though the game provides ways to skip past or otherwise ease the difficulty of its more frustrating encounters if this sort of thing becomes an issue for you. Ultimately, it's worth the asking price and, more importantly, worth the time.

A great puzzle shooter game

good