Blue Sheep

(Failed on linux/Nouveau. Played on W10 with some visual glitches)

There are a few good ideas here, in the mechanics department of the platforming and puzzles.

Unfortunately, the controls scheme is not one of these good ideas. Besides, its implementation fails, with very inconsistent responsiveness.

The combat... definitely not one of the good ideas. While the mobs are just dull and annoying, the first boss fight, one-ish hour in, is a complete buzzkill.
You can barely succeed at both shooting and dodging a couple of times until cornered, and the success of jumping to the other side of the boss to continue the grind (yes, it's the 'boss fight = grind' trope) seems utterly random. With a cap of 10% chances, meaning that you might need 1 million tries before you can go back to platforming and puzzling.

Without me.

At the time of writing this review, Blue Sheep has "Mixed" ratings. Honestly, I believe this game DOES NOT deserve such rating. I had a look at the other reviews: basically all of them, including the negative ones, praise the game for the message behind the story, the cute graphics and the great soundtrack. And that is all true. Most of the negative ones complain about the "difficulty" of the puzzles and the last boss. Really? have you ever played a puzzle platformer? And you call this difficult? As for the last boss, yep, it's hard, then what? you leave a negative review to Dark Souls cuz the bosses are hard? you die, you try again, you get good at it; that's the spirit! As for the controls, the only "issue" I found is with the bow which has a peculiar cooldown timing, but really, you get used to it.
Listen here: this is a fine indie game, with an important message to share. It has been treated badly by reviewers, and that's very unfortunate.

Blue Sheep Review (short)

1.This game has a powerful story to tell, sadly it lost a lot of its value the way it's executed...

2.The art-style is cute and some parts actually impressed me. Not to mention the music! It was very well made.

3.The game and controls on the other hand..
There was a few bugs here and there and at times it was quite hard to control your character properly.

4.I also struggled with parts of the game where there was no indication on how to progress, luckily I found a walkthrough of the game and the answers turned out to be somewhat obvious.

Conclusion: I personally loved the story of this game and therefore would recommend it if you've got 2$ and lil bit of time to spare!

I've been waiting years for the right moment to play this game and I'm not disappointed. The soundtrack is amazing, the visuals are awesome, story keeps you immersed till the end. I've played games like this, Inside, Little nightmares, Limbo, Flower, Journey and others. While this game in its entirety is not as great as those games, it still provided a great experience that those games offered as well. Its a short game, even with controls that I suck at, I still managed to beat it in less than 3 hours about same amount of time as Inside. Gameplay was good had some good puzzles similar to Little nightmares. I feel the story could have been more meaty but I teared up a bit at the end, so good on them. For basically a 2 person team, Im honestly blown away at what they made.

nice game with an interesting story.
the puzzles are sometimes weird combinations of actions that you might not think of, but rarely too complicated..

could have been wonderful when there weren't some major issues:
- the reaction to controller input is sometimes missing, very unpleasant in a fight (though there's not many of them) or when having to do a good time sequence of jumps / movements
- the rendering sometimes fails, it's like the light went out and your lost somewhere in the dark - except for one or two lit spots - and have to guess where you are.. this unfortunately is in one of the lower level boss fights
- the last boss fight is totatlly out of place concerning difficulty.. while most fights of the game are fairly simple and easy, the last one before the end is like a jump into a different dimension / universe; luck alone can help you win this one (be prepared to try dozens or hundreds of times!!!!).. and that makes the end very frustrating / annoying...
- resolution: when having a 4k display you can't play it in fullscreen (max. selectable resolution is 1920x1080 and then you get only upper left quarter of the display filled with graphics, not stretched to full resolution!) and you can't scale the windowed version either, the window will be fixed size (though it starts with a higher size but shrinks as soon as you do something in there).

so without the flaws it might have been a very nice game well worth its price, but in the current state i really can't recommend it

Like what most people are saying, great atmosphere and looks, but some really unpolished things.
Mostly gameplay things, the puzzle with the first flowerpot is one, even when i'm right near the ledge i still
can't make the jump. oh and about the dash why top triggers not bottom? no one likes the top triggers.

Anyway not reccomended till the sequel, neat start guys but not a game for me.

It's glitchy and keeps me from advancing.

I wish this game was better. Story sounds really good, and I want to play it, but the controls are just too hard and the movements non-intuitive. All the controls are on the left hand. :(

This game is a beautifully looking 2d platformer with creative puzzles and an interesting story. It is also however a game plauged with a plethora of problems.

The controls are frustrating and difficult, and although it features control support, the buttons often cease to function throughout the game. The Y button for example fires the bow, but half-way through the game it just stopped work.

Puzzles are vague and convoluted usually featuring jumps that require razor percision timing to complete. Puzzles -are- creative and once you understand what it's actually asking you to do the ingenuity of them is revealed; that's the problem though as the solution to puzzles is often not clear and the level design does not support a clear path to their solution.

Enemies are boring and lack tells, often just running into the player and doing damage with little indication of when they are attacking. Since enemies often come from off screen, it's sometimes unclear of when you can actually hit them. At one point during the final boss fight I became stuck between a big-slam-guy and little minions and was stun-locked into oblivion.

Speaking of boss fights, the final boss fight is single-minded, and a fight that could have otherwise been really cool and exciting is brought down to a level of being mobbed by minions while shooting up.

By the end of the game I just wanted it to be over. Blue Sheep is a wonderfully beauitful game and has some great ideas throughout. It desperately needs a better level designer and systems designer though, and I look forward to their next go.

tl;dr

Completion Time: around 1.5 hours
Graphics 8/10 - animations are lacking, but this is an otherwise beautiful game.
Gameplay 4/10 - Combat is boring, enemies are bland, puzzles are difficult, gameplay is slow
Sound 6/10 - The music is nice.
Story 6/10 - I'm guessing this game is about suicide, but I felt more and more as if I was fighting a nameless evil.

This game's great art direction, beautiful soundtrack, and important story are marred by unresponsive controls, dull AI, and level design on par with bad Little BigPlanet levels. You get the sense that the designers got too close to it without running it by enough outside testers. Instead of encouraging you to stop and think or try a different approach, the design is rooted firmly around placing objectives *just* out of reach and timing hazards *just* right so that only a speedrunner would get any satisfaction from it. A typical player won't enjoy the bang-your-head-against-the-wall repetition.

The game's problems steal your attention from the experience it's trying to share with you, and eventually one too many missed jumps, ignored button presses, spongy attacks, or maddeningly long recovery times leaves Blue Sheep unable to recover.

Blue Sheep is a 2.5D Platformer-Adventure game in which you play as the “Outsider”, a young girl who is experiencing the memories of someone who has opposed “The Beast”. The Beast and The Influence are evil forces that seeks to destroy the people of the land, the beast often manifesting itself as a nightmarish shadowy wolf creature that serves as the games main antagonist. Shortly after leaving her home, the outsider finds herself wandering through a mystical, wondrous world following after the one that stood against the beast and learning what became of him as the story progresses.

The main body of the gameplay in Blue Sheep revolves around platforming puzzles ranging from simple get from point A to point B jumping puzzles to more complicated sequences that require careful use of game mechanics introduced to the player throughout the game in order to be solved. Some puzzles required pushing buttons to open up doorways or using a flower that allows the outsider to float over longer distances than she can normal jump or dash to. One puzzle in particular was quite confusing, involving a series of rooms containing sculpted stone faces on the walls with either all eyes open looking towards one of the two doors out of the room or all eyes closed. Going through a doorway leads to another face room, and the next doorway to another face room, and so on and so on with an occasional enemy. The solution was not very clear, and led to half an hour of trial and error before stumbling upon the exit. Besides that, the puzzles were fun and engaging.

The mechanics of combat are fairly simple as the only weapons available to the player are a wooden sword and a bow. Left click swings the staff and right-click and hold aims an arrow, while releasing fires the arrow. The arrow can be charged up by holding it longer to do more damage. Enemies attack the player a couple at a time, in the movement plane with the rest of the onscreen enemies in the sidelines in either the foreground or background cheering on their buddies in battle against the outsider. As enemies are defeated the others outside of combat will join the fray until all foes are disposed of. There is not much in terms of variety of bad guys to fight, but there is enough to keep things interesting, from bomb toting bullies to hulking beasts that do area of effect damage.

The sound design for Blue Sheep is a great example of how well composed music aids in the story-telling aspects of a game and can really assist in the immersion of a player within the game world. Blue Sheep starts this early by incorporating flowing melodies into the menu, with a little piano tune playing with each click on a menu option or back button each adding to a sort of melody of interaction that makes adjusting something as simple as the game resolution a pleasing activity. Inside the game itself, the musical score captures the adventurous and dream-like aesthetic of the environment and continues to compliment the setting as the environments change throughout the game. Towards the later end of the game, the music does a wonderful job of helping to convey the feelings of the characters and elicit emotion form the player as well. In the environments themselves, little sounds such as the clinking of tiles underneath the outsider’s feet as she hops across rooftops assists in bringing life to the world inside the game. In addition, the game features high-quality voice acting for the narration and story elements of Blue Sheep. One unfortunate sound related issue in Blue Sheep is that the volume controls do not work all the time, as in certain portions of the game the volume was extremely high despite all sound levels being set at minimum.

Visually, Blue Sheep utilizes a warm stylized art style that helps bring depth the game environment, from the lush green hills and trees in the beginning of the game to the stone temples later on. The environmental design is full of small details and accents that add to the beauty of the game, but does not distract from or obscure gameplay elements as the player is making their way through the game. The cinematic style camera following the character around the world of Blue Sheep was a design choice by Noetic as opposed to a traditional player tracking camera that is commonly used in games of this type. This was done to emphasize the narrative/story element of Blue Sheep while giving gameplay a movie-like feel as the outsider travels through the world. The character models used for the main characters and enemies are high-quality and unique in their design. The animations are smooth and varied, and when coupled with the fun and interesting character models, provided personality and a sense of life to each character.

Pros

1. Highly Detailed, Beautiful Environments
2. On-Point Sound Design and Musical Score
3. Appealing Stylized Art Aesthetic
4. Strong Voice Acting
5. Unique and Interesting Cast of Characters
6. Strong Storytelling and Use of Metaphor
7. Story Contains Emotional Depth

Cons

1. Combat Gets Dry
2. Puzzle Solutions Can Be Obscure
3. Sound Volume Spikes
4. Can’t Change Settings In Game, Only In Start Menu
5. Character Controls Not Explained Well
6. Big Difficulty Spike at Final Boss

At this point it is pertinent to share some background on the developers Gabriel Priske and Ryan Kratt. Gabriel always wanted to make games, teaching himself 3D art at age 13 and eventually using his talent as an environmental artist on Dungeon Defenders 2. Gabriel was diagnosed with a mood disorder that manifested in episodes of depression and anxiety. Ryan Kratt was suffering from heavy depression when he met Gabriel. Soon the two started hanging out together and connected over their shared emotional patterns. During this time, Gabriel suggested that Ryan should focus his efforts into something to help move past his problems as he had done to help overcome his own. Taking this advice, Ryan began learning how to program and moved in with Gabriel to focus even further on his endeavors in programming. Eventually the two came up with a concept for a game that would deal with many of the issues that they themselves dealt with. Through this project and personal work Ryan began to feel better, with support from Gabriel along the way. This project was Blue Sheep. Both Ryan and Gabriel hope that Blue Sheep can make a positive difference in the life of someone who plays the game.

Yes, the games combat gets repetitive after a while and can be frustrating at times, but that is not the point of Blue Sheep. It is a game whose purpose is to share a narrative and explain concepts like depression through metaphor, and in this regard it is spot on. By the end of the game I was choked up, sharing in the emotion that was being played out on screen and echoed by the musical score. This sadness was a good thing, as it was brought about by empathy for the characters and the understanding of the metaphors that had come to a point at the conclusion.

Gameplay: 6/10
Story: 9/10
Sound: 7/10
Graphics: 8/10

OVERALL 7.5/10

Blue Sheep is a game that is worth playing for the wonderful storytelling and the unique stylized aesthetic that it uses to do it.

Blue sheep was a good game to play.

Story - Pretty basic. Protagonist is a young girl who is called the Outsider. Help her advance in the world to help people that are plagued by misery.

Graphics/Presentation/Sound - Very colorful and pleasing art style. The background is vibrant in most areas, and the protagonist is nicely drawn. The music is just right to set the mood on what's happening.

Gameplay - Simple platformer with simple controls. Equipped with a melee weapon and bow, you can jump, dash, and grab some items to help you solve some really cool puzzles. Along the way, you will come across some enemies that will stop your progress. Simplistic design.

Cons - I can't really come up with many cons. If there was one or two, it would be not much variety in the weapons used. And that could seem unfair. As simplistic the game is, perhaps having more weapons isn't necessary. The story felt a bit bland and short.

Conclusion - For $7, this game is priced reasonably in my opinion. You can finish the game in about 3 hours. It is impressive that this game was created by just a 2 man team. Just as impressive is the fact that this is Noetic games debut title. And they are off to a good start!

Absolutely great game. This game is a great intellectual game based on suicide and mental illness. It was very well made. The art and sound are stunning. This is probably one of the most beautiful game on the market and for $7 it is well worth the price. A few glitches here and there and an insanely hard boss battle at the end but those are just minor flaws in an overall amazing game. I would reccomend it to anyone and everyone! Thanks for another great game Noetic!

I'm not a big fan of the newer Platformer games but I really took a liking to this one. The music is nice and well created, the sound effects are okay. The Game itself is very good, it runs smooth.. had a glitch and kinda broke the game at one point but I fixed it. I didn't really read anything on the game so it game me so twists. Has some puzzle factors and combat as well but all in all its a great game for the price. Only a little ways through it but it's one I'm going to keep playing.

If you're looking for a game to sit back and play with nice music, and a fetching story grab this game. One more thing that makes it awesome, its not in Early access :D.

https://youtu.be/8UNMe_JEO-4

Great Graphics and Soundtrack like way better than you'd expect at the price. Storyline not the greatest but still pretty good.

Cons
-a few twitchy and hard to actually control spots
-"beast" battle very rng heavy, it just throws massive waves of mobs at you while you are fighting the actual boss and you have to hope none of the attacks chain together or you will find yourself literally stuck while a mob attacks you super fast repeatedly or you get knocked off the edge from any combination of bomb from one of 2 mobs carrying it a giant guy with a knockback attack you are supposed to jump then roll over(while being body blocked by ~12 other mobs) and a giant claw from the sky that knocks you back (all of which also stun you for a short duration) while charging up a ranged attack to hit the claw as all the other mobs just keep respawning. This leads to no way to actually finesse it and you find yourself once you get this far into the fight spamming your jump and roll desperately trying to somehow find 4 seconds to draw your bow when the claw is actually vulnerable and fire before you start jumping and rolling again (and hope you aimed well as you often find yourself offscreen of your target).

Still would recommend as up to final (at least I think it's him) boss battle is a fun puzzle platformer with great graphics and soundtrack that I quickly lost myself in.