Isbarah

Loving the art in the game. It takes a bit to get used to the skill sets in the game. However, this is a pretty good game to sit down and challenge them forearms.

I dislike having to chase the cannons around the stage and having platforms being just too high to jump on. The combination of genres is alright but other games do it better. You're better off playing outland, furi, rabi-ribi, and tohou luna nights rather than this game. Another plus is that all of them allow you to use a controller in a platformer game.

Danmaku are fast frenetic affairs and this one is too slow and clunky, mostly due to the control scheme, to be part of the genre.

An excelent blend of shmup and platforming, loads of fun, much recommend.

Played through the game on hard recently and it was pretty good. You uh, dodge bullets and stuff.

Listen to me. Stop it. Shut up. Listen.

This is far from my favourite game on Steam. It's far from my most played game on Steam. I will say this instead. This is my most admired game on Steam. Currently I own 781 games. I'm not often in the mood to play it, now that I've finished it on hard. However, I keep it installed on every machine I have Steam on.

"But you've played a paltry 20 hours only!" - That's mostly true. I think I played maybe 5-6 more hours that weren't logged one time. That's not the point though. This game doesn't need "progression" systems, with artificially tacked on hooks to trick you into playing indefinitely. You have everything you need to play at the absolute highest level from the beginning. I don't need to drop 80 hours to treasure this... and I find myself returning to it for an hour or so every few months.

I know that this is a weird choice. It's idiosyncratic. If you would like, though, let's try to explore what makes Isbarah so special.

- Bullet Hell Bliss. Dodging is sexy. Dodging in slow motion is double sexy. Double dash dodging in slow motion is... I dunno, I'm not a mathematician. The game is not about you doing combos and attacks of your own. It's about you frantically weaving through impossible curtains of bullets and although you are in a state of absolute panic somehow doing it with grace and beauty. I know that this subgenre is intimidating to people, but strangely Isbarah makes even advanced scoring concepts such as "grazing" incredibly readable and clear. This game will trick you into appearing superhuman.

- Memorisation is for chumps. This game isn't about "learning patterns" and trial and error in the traditional sense. I'm sure that those skills help. However, the game gives you enough tools to dodge, slow-mo, and wall your way through every challenge in a variety of ways that the idea of "solving" a particular pattern, or there being only one way out of a certain boss phase, is laughable. Some of the added challenges you can enable, such as the ghost bullet, really highlight how this isn't a game about min-maxing and optimizing your way to victory.

- Difficulty. Obviously this is a divisive concept in games these days. For most games, I usually start on normal or hard (depending on the game and number of choices) and then find little need to go back and play through again at a higher difficulty. For whatever reason... the itch is here for this one. It's not to scratch off steam achievements or tell my friends how great I am at this somewhat obscure indie game. I feel the drive to get further in Isbarah because I purely enjoy getting further in Isbarah. Currently chipping away at some of the bosses on "7th hell" level difficulty. The game is a thing of beauty at all levels.

To the extent that this game is a new genre (and it sort of is), I am absolutely begging for more in this genre. I cannot wait to see what this developer does next.

Excellent bullet hell/platform game. I find it very difficult, even on the easiest setting, but that does make it very satisfying when you beat a boss.
The lack of controller support is a shame, but makes sense once you get the ability to draw platforms with the mouse (prior to that, it'd be fine to play on joypad).

The lack of controller support in a platformer of all things combined with boss rush-only formatting ("each level is a duel boss fight" didn't give me that impression when I initially bought this) hurts Isbarah immensely; it's mechanically sound, sure, and the art is by all means gorgeous, but there really isn't enough here for me with two glaring issues at the forefront.

Let me use my Xbox gamepad, however, and I'd give it another shot.

Why doesn't anybody know about this game? Tell your friends about it. It's challenging, fast-paced, and good. The normal mode isn't too hard by the way (though the game can give you a challenge on harder difficulties, if you can take it).

I think I almost had a heart attack after I beat a level one day.

10/10 had lasers
would die again

I could google "super mario flash games" and get a better game for free.

Well I guess after over fifty hours of this game, I'm qualified to write a review.
[Spoiler for french readers : Ca tue, les contrôles sont au poil, la durée de vie dantesque et les combats plus épiques les uns que les autres, en bref : mangez-en !]

It's a very original mix between two genres which can seem very weird but in the end it works very well. The gameplay may need a few hours to be fully able to play with all the abilities to control perfectly your character. The game is very progressive in the beginning to let you accustom yourself to the dash/slow-time/barrier making but to truly use them all and switching at the right time between each to get the best of the different cooldowns you'll need a bit more time !

It's a easy to play/hard to master gameplay and it'll allow you to keep improving yourself and elaborate new techniques even after lots of hours.

That's the gameplay but how is the game ?
Boss fight, boss fight, boss fight !
18 bosses, 3 difficulties and even 3 challenges to boost your score when you've mastered a boss.
You can fight bosses you've beaten a long time before but in a harder difficulty or add one or two challenges to change your mind from a boss you can't beat.
Each boss is very unique and you'll have to thoroughly analyze its patterns to find the best way to counterattack by using your powers. At this time, there are still one or two patterns that I can't really understand and where I'm almost always hit.

If you like platformer gameplay, hard but highly rewarding games, fights for survival or playing until you get the top score, this is perfect for you !

If you love arcade games, the kind that's all about boss fight, like Alien Soldier (megadrive/genesis), Sin and Punishement SotS (wii), or Hard Corps : Uprising (XBLA, PSN), then Isbarah is a great title to add to your collection.

Gameplay-wise, it's a perfect 10, and the presentation is nice too.

On a list of things I didn't know I wanted, Isbarah would no doubt be at the top. I love bullet hell games that require you to focus and memorize patterns, and this takes that idea and completely reimagines it. Everything about the game feels polished, and all of the visuals look crisp, clean, and sharp. In the spirit of bullet hell games it keeps you constantly in the action, with only brief periods of downtime between fights for a comicbook-styled storyline. As far as the flow of the game, it feels very much like Touhou. Most of your game time is spent in a fight, and in the event of a game over it only takes a few seconds to be right back into it.

The game has really tight and responsive controls. I've yet to have an issue with them, or a single instance of the controls being the cause of a death. On top of the normal dodging mechanics you'd expect from a game like this you are also given three abilities. The ability dash, which quickly sends you in a a straight line for a short distance. The ability to create a platform, which halts incoming bullets for its duration and can also be stood on. Lastly, the ability to slow time, which slows yourself and all bullets, which is useful for dashing through really tight spots, or placing a platform in the perfect position. Even with these at your disposal each fight still presents an impressive, yet fair, challenge.

The only thing that has been a downside to me with this game is that the railguns sometimes have a habit of floating away from you into nigh impossible to follow places. Not always a problem, and even when it is it usually just requires patience, but can be a little annoying when you have one left to activate and it just seems to flee to the most inconvenient spot it can. Again though, even when that happens it's still a matter of just playing it right and knowing where to go. Beating a stage is very satisfying, and clearing a spell without taking a hit even moreso. I very much recommend the game to anyone looking for something out of the ordinary, as well as anyone looking for a good challenge that doesn't feel cheap or unfair.

I wish this game was more widely known. I'm currently having an absolute blast playing through this and I love the challenge it provides. The mechanics are precise and feel amazing to play.

Usually I don't really care much about artstyle, but this one seems to hit a sweet spot where it definitely deserves to be mentioned for being absolutely gorgeous

Gameplay is great.

Main character is unlikeable.

Jackal is a savage, we all know he laid some pipe hardbody behind the scenes

Video First Impressions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiYFbf4gNnM

It's rare when I buy games purly based off what I see on the store page, but as someone who is heavily into both platformers and bullet hell shooters I must say I am thoroughly impressed.

The game is simple but elegent in the way it melds the two genres together. Isbarah is essentially formatted in a way to where every stage is a boss, and you have to use your epic platforming skills, along with the use of the dash, barrier, and slow time mechanics to conquer said bosses.

In terms of it's gameplay, I fully reccomend it and see little flaws.

One thing I do feel that should be pointed out though is that the game appears to crash for me whenever I beat a level via level select, I'm unsure if this has only happened to me but I feel it should still be pointed out.

The last game I ever played with danmaku tier mechanics that isn't actually a danmaku is probably one of the Touhou spinoff games, Touhou Suimusou (Immaterial and Missing Power). To have the concept as a 2D platformer but more heavily focused on the dodging and survival aspect is an absolutely brilliant concept.

Controls are tight, fluid and responsive. There are no wasted moves, you get three specials and they are all you need to carry you through the game. Survival and wins are heavily dependant on proper use of these skills. You will die, make no mistake... you will die, die again, and again, and then you will die yet again, and with each death you will never feel a boss was unfair. If you die, you know YOU screwed up, which has the effect of making you try harder the next time.

The game is extremely challenging. You'll pick it up within minutes, and then it gets harder... much... much... harder. But no matter how hard it gets, it never feels UNFAIR, which is important.

The joy of succesfully dodging an army's worth of bullets combined with the pleasure of fluent platforming controls.

At first I was like; wut, Tutorial, easy.
Then it was the actual bossfight; easy.

I decided to go straight for 7th hell (hardest difficulty), game seemed easy enough.

But when the 2nd bossfight started I was like wut...
Then his enrage made me go WUUUUUUT
Eventually, killed the bastard, turned out quite easy!

Third boss however: WHAT!?
Easy game
Would recommend
11/10.

On a more serious note:

+ Music. The music in this game is just awesome. Simply awesome. While the game itself is already at a high pace, the music will make the game even more intense. Jumping around, dashing, while amazing guitar solos play in the background, what could be better!?
+ Mechanics and controlls. I was confused at first... mouse and keyboards for a platformer!? But it all makes sense. The dashing click and drag mechanic is something I have basically never seen in a 'platformer'. It's just amazing how well it works. Together with the time slowing mechanics, the dash possibly allows some EPIC plays! Apart from that, the controlls are simple, easy to learn, easy to change and make sense.
+ Bosses. Unique bosses with unique abilties makes you spend a lot of time trying to figure each one out. Learn the patterns, get used to how to dodge those. Some of those could take hours! (For example, 3rd enrage Walter on 7th Hell is pretty hard!).
+ Graphics. Not much to say; I merely like the graphics. They're simple, yet effective. The way the bullets are drawn makes this game look like a real bullet hell.
+ Gametime. I personally played this game for about 12 hours as I write the review. I started on 7th Hell and got stuck at Walter, continued on Hard. When I reached Bolgur I decided to try Walter some more on 7th hell. I eventually killed him! However, to make my point. I've already had 12 hours of gametime and I only killed 6 bosses on Hard and 4 on 7th Hell. 21 Bosses or so I heard, so lots of gametime left!
+ Normal difficulty. Played 2 bosses on this mode, for me it's been insanely easy (even though I heard even normal gets harder later on), but I can imagine some people new to platforming will find this challenging. I believe this normal difficulty is perfectly well made for the less-experienced platformers.

- I found one glitch so far; when you alt tab from windowed mode, your sound often disappears and you have to alt tab again in order to get it back.

Mechanics: 9/10
Music: 9/10
Graphics: 9/10
Boss Design: 10/10

GAME RATING by Kep: 9.25/10.

Note, I'm a variety gamer who prefers rage platformers and bullet hell games - my rating related to the actual game (not music/graphics, basically) might be biased!

What a unique game, Isbarah is certainly a fantastic piece of work.

* A very important aspect of Isbarah is the difficulty. It's tough. Tough that there are achievements that mock you for dying multiple times in a row to the same boss. The difficulty is a lot like Dark Souls where you may need to face a boss multiple times to learn its move sets before beating it, so you will die a lot. But it's a very enjoyable difficulty, you will want to keep trying until you win!

* The core mechanics in this game are really neat. You have the ability to slow time which will allow you to dodge projectiles more easy, you can dash to maneuver around the stages and you can create platforms or walls to stand on and or block most projectiles with. You will need manage your resources for each of these tools well to be able to beat a stage.

* The games graphic style is really nice to look at. Between each stage the story is told in a comic strip style, and the backgrounds to all of the stages are well animated and detailed.

* The story is fairly decent, though a few parts of the dialogue in the game caused me to cringe because it was so corny, and the pacing sometimes felt a little odd as well; Such as teleporting to a new area in one frame because 'something' happened.

* The music in the game is very good. It really fits the style of the game and makes you feel like you are in an epic battle.


Overall this game is extremely fun, and I seriously recommend it to anyone who loves the Bullet Hell / Shoot 'Em Up genre. Plus the price is very resonable for the amount of detail and work that was put into this game.

Good luck and I hope you enjoy the game if you pick it up!