Alchemist's Castle

short but fun game

Jank. Feels more like dev project than an enjoyable game.

A fun game, but definitely soured at the end by the truly awful final boss. Everything up to that point is pretty reasonable with fun, if basic platforming challenges and a little bit of serviceable combat. The final boss, though, is really a downer. You have to take out two shield generators, one on each side of the room. They are only occasionally vulnerable, and only for about a second each time. You have to use crumbling platforms to get enough height to hit them, and the platforms take way too long to respawn. On top of that, there's fireballs shooting from the top periodically that can destroy the platforms, sending them into their respawn cooldown. Also, he summons an ever increasing number of adds that are a huge pain to hit with the throwing arc of your bombs. All put together, the boss is just incredibly miserable to fight, basically anti-fun. If they cut the boss entirely, I could easily recommend this for a quick little 1 hour or so romp, but ugh. I'll still recommend it, but maybe just stop when you get to the boss.

Very fun little platformer, definitely worth the price. Not a lot to it, but the story is good enough and the game is over pretty quickly. There are a few bugs (at time enemies make an entire attack after they've been killed), and I wish the game had traded it's blind jumps into death for a couple more check points. But it's a good enough title, that I really enjoyed exploring.

A mini-Metroidvania, focusing more on semi-puzzly platforming than combat. A bit too open for its own good towards the middle where if you miss one particular exit you can go down several dead ends where potential progress is just out of reach, but I'll admit that's on me for forgetting there was a room which I'd entered but died pretty dumbly.

Once you get all abilities (and thus can get back to the final boss) a huge chunk of the game is just for optional challenge rooms, a few which net you upgrades but mostly just items needed to unlock the golden ending. These are nicely designed to take advantage of the few mechanics the game has, but could use some slight quality of life features, such as in-room reset options for destroyable blocks. Oh, and if you get to them "too late", some of them are trivialized by the later upgrades.

The background story is told through various collectible scrolls found throug exploration, and they can get somewhat redundant towards the end due to how things are written. But it's serviceable enough and does provide a bit of a twist.

Not bad for its price. Some of the physics are janky (such as if you're on a moving horizontal platform, your character sprite "drifts" instead of fully riding the platform.. if you don't physically compensate, you will fall off), but the game is reasonably fun, the music is nice. The game is not overly combat-intensive save for the final boss. If you're looking for something new to pass the time that's strongly puzzle-based, give this one a shot.

Pros:
Smooth platforming mechanics
Linux support

Cons:
Short game (about 2 hours)
Too easy. Very little challenge other than the final boss.
Mediocre graphics

I don't regret the 2 hours I spent beating this game. However, if you have a long list of videogames you have been meaning to play, Alchemist's Castle is not as likely to be worth your time compared to many others. I can't recommend this game when there are much better metroidvanias out there. If you have played every other metroidvania you can get your hands on and are craving more, then maybe this one will be worth your time. For $1, it's hard to go wrong. Overall, I'd rate this game 6/10.

I would have liked to have seen more areas, more upgrades (especially combat upgrades), more enemies (especially bosses), etc... The platforming felt nice, but the combat felt too basic and limited.

One bug I encountered is that I could not throw bombs using my Xbox 360 controller, which forced me to have to use my keyboard. It's possible that this bug is only in the Linux version of the game.

Great Metroidvania in a small package. The game is clever, sometimes frustrating, but a solid and complete game at a very good price. Takes about an hour to beat, and very satisfying to play in that time. I've played short games that feel like the first chapter of a longer game, and end when it's getting good. This isn't one of them. In the space of an hour, you have backtracking, hidden upgrades, optional paths, secret story documents, everything you want and expect in a Metroidvania game.

Game has a couple issues/quirks. One, it has some "hard game" elements. There's no healing except for at save points, which are usually close at hand. There are a few times if you're exploring without all the upgrades that you might travel a long way to get to a puzzle you can't solve yet or a jump you can't clear, and it's a long way back if you want to give it a second attempt. I guess that's on me a bit, but it's annoying all the same to trek so far just to confirm that you can't make that jump with your current set of upgrades.

Your attack has an arc to it that takes some getting used to, and there are several enemies that are almost impossible to hit with it. Also, the bombs you throw can hurt you, and if you turn partway through your throw animation, you'll throw the bomb in the new direction. I killed myself that way a couple times by accidentally throwing a bomb against the wall right next to me and blowing myself up. These quirks take some getting used to, and I was still struggling with them right up to the final boss fight. I wouldn't recommend the game to anyone who wants a perfectly polished or smooth game, there's a number of issues there that still feel awkward right up until the end.

Still, I would recommend this game to nearly everyone interested in the genre. I'm still blown away at how such a short game delivers such a complete experience. And it's hard to argue with that price.

There are

I'm a big fan of Metroidvanias, but this one is just mediocre.

The good: It has some mildly interesting puzzles, the movement speed is fast and then gets faster, the controls are sharp, you can choose between two map modes (and no map), and it's cheap

The meh: the graphics, music and atmosphere are not bad, but not good either. The upgrades are also very basic (just jump, double jump, running, and throwing bombs at an arc). The story had some potential, but it's told through boring text, and could use a twist at the end.

The bad: the combat is very wonky (the bombs are hard to aim, enemies are often shorter than where you can hit, and the explosions hurts you a lot), the game is short, the hit detection feels off, and there are several instant death pits (checkpoints are never very far away in terms of time due to the small map and fast movement, but it's still annoying going through several rooms just to get to where you were. It would be better to just put you at the room's entrance instead, with some damage taken).

Overall it's ok for the price, I would give it a neutral rating if a could, but I feel the balance is a bit tilted towards the bad.

A sweet little metroidvania, with classic movement upgrades and gaining access to new areas all over the map after picking each next one. Also has weapon and health upgrades which simplify further exploration. Controls work without much problem, and the early introduced concept of fall-jump is a pretty interesting mechanic that allows for a bit more inventive level design.

The 43 scrolls scattered all over the map describe the story from perspective of both the Alchemist and Apprentice, and the obligatory boss fight at the end provides conclusion to that story. It starts off from saying that Apprentice was betrayed by Alchemist, but later on it becomes apparent that Apprentice was not exactly in the right.

In the end, this game takes just a couple of hours… but it's a couple of hours well spent.

This is a really nice platformer, which you can explore freely and with fun puzzles as well. It also has great music, visuals and gameplay, all for a very cheap price. Definitely worth trying out!

A fun, little metroidvania game with lots of reading. Played in Dynamic mode using a keyboard.

Good points

- The game is quick. I beat it in around 2 hours, then went for 100% completion in not much more than that.

- The map is easy to follow and made traversing its various pathways fun.

- The story and its many parts engaged me.

- The puzzles and gameplay were fun with a moderate to hard difficulty.

Bad points

- The graphics were on the low end and there wasn't much variety in the monsters. But for how small the game is, that's not that big a deal.

- There were random typos in the journals. Like the graphics, it's not that big a deal; they don't make reading the journals hard or drag down the story any.

- I came across a few bugs during the game and it halfway crashed me to the desktop midway through, but I was able to get back into the game to continue.

- The controls really need a rehaul. I tried using a controller originally and got screwed when it came to the bomb, where none of the buttons threw said bomb. Getting to the menu to remap the controller ended up sort of freezing the game and leaving me stranded with no way to alter the buttons and no way to back out of the menu. Another issue was the game says 'press bomb symbol to throw bomb' instead of 'Press A' or 'Press ctrl', for every feature. And a third, when I switched to keyboard, was the keyboard layout is also lame. Space is jump, arrows (or a and d) were move, ctrl is bomb, shift is run, enter is 'ok/next'. Sounds good on paper, but using hands makes this difficult. I had to keep switching between bombs and running with my pinky finger, or a combo of my ring and pinky, and that's difficult to do when you're surrounded by ghosts and bats. This would have been easier if the controls on the left hand were on the asdf/space pallet for everything but moving.



Over all, if you liked playing games like Metroid and Momodora, you'd probably have a nice afternoon of free time playing Alchemist's Castle. Just so long as you remap the controls ahead of time (if you can).

I gave this game a positive review because outside of the controls and bugs I enjoyed playing it, and the rooms were intuitive. I was also able to beat the game. However if I could have given the game a 'meh' or middle-ground rating, I would.

This game is a short little metroidvania, although it only has a single boss, I still consider this game to be quite enjoyable. The difficulty is nice and smooth and since its not too large this game can easily be 100% in a single sitting. In fact my time above is from a single sitting which to me is a nice time for a game like this, it doesn't feel like it overstayed its welcome. And likewise say Guacamelee in which to complete that game requires some sections that are stupidly difficult.

Simple but effective metroidvania game, short and sweet with an amazingly low price tag, there's a few puzzles with a neat storyline and gameplay that feels like a lot of care and attention has been applied. You get roughly 2 hours of play from this little gem and the difficulty level is moderate which makes it a pleasant experience. Money well spent!

Small but well made Metroidvania. Very satisfying exploring and getting those upgrades after you've spotted so many places to use them.

I also enjoyed several puzzle rooms, that require a bit of thought and planning to solve.

Requires patience as you are free to explore the map on your own, and sometimes savepoints are spaced out a bit far.

For the price of roughly 3 Freddo bars, this is a fun little Metroidvania with a good story, rewarding backtracking, and gameplay leaning more on platforming and box puzzles than combat, which can be good or bad based on your own preference.
Considering the studio is still in its early days, I'm hoping for more in the future!

Thinking man's platformer--- brilliant puzzles and traps, requiring sharp reflexes at times but generally providing a quick restart & reattempt if you miss. Much less frustrating/discouraging than a pure-twitch platformer like Super Meat Boy or Cuphead, but much more "platforming" than something like Limbo or Inside. The metroidvania-style backtracking with tantalizing areas you can't quite reach until unlocking the next ability is really well done. Probably the best adventure platformer this side of Outland or Shovel Knight. I'd be happy with my purchase at $10; at just $0.99 it's truly a steal.

Alchemist's Castle is a 2-D side-scrolling Metroidvania-style game with a lot of heart and atmosphere. It's light on combat complexity (you have one type of attack - thrown vials that explode on contact), heavy on exploration, and priced extremely fairly. The game is relatively short, moreso if you're well-versed in these types of mechanics, but even then odds are good that you'll find yourself pleased at being left wanting more at the end. The jumping mechanics feel very fluid and satisfying to me. I realize that I've been playing games for so long that sometimes I'm invested in really nitpicky features, but I have to formally declare that I LOVE the ability to utilize your jump and double-jump while falling. It feels fantastic every time I do it, and it allows for more interesting challenges within the layouts of the different rooms. It's just one of those little gameplay quirks that you see more often in the crazy score/time-rush platformers and not so often in the Metroidvania sub-genre, so I need to show it some love here.

The graphics are atmospheric, there are some light puzzle-solving elements involving getting from Point A to Point B within some of the rooms, and there are some optional/extra power-ups to be discovered.

On top of all this, the devs are active on the game's discussion board and quick to address bugs. The game has already had updates to address some gamepad issues and add achievements, and as of 11/29/2017 it is still actively being improved.

If you have a gamepad and $0.99, what are you waiting for? You could be exploring that castle right now.

This game is surprisingly well made considering the low sales price. It’s a fun little metroidvania with platforming and puzzle elements, but lacking in combat. The controls are responsive and precise, I especially like the grace period when jumping off a ledge and the natural movement speed. You don’t experience cheap deaths because of bad controls, it’s your fault if you die. The graphics are pretty good and the soundtrack is nice. The level design has some good points and some flaws. Although every room is unique in its design and I enjoyed the variety, there aren’t that many different platforming and puzzle challenges, which I attribute to the low amount of abilities. What I really like about the level design is the connection between all the rooms and that a lot of the rooms have a fast route for backtracking. Backtracking doesn’t feel tedious. In addition, the level design is really well-thought-out. Although you can explore areas you can’t advance in yet, getting permastuck isn’t possible as far as I can tell. I can’t say anything about the story because I didn’t read the notes you find throughout the game, which I probably should have but realised too late. The platforming, combat and puzzle elements aren’t particularly challenging, depending on your skill.

This game was fun but short. I hope the developers will expand on this game, it has way more potential. They have a solid foundation to make a really great game. Expand the world, introduce new abilities for more platforming and puzzle elements, improve the combat system, include some boss fights and raise the sales price because it will be worth it. Although the current game is short, it’s definitely worth a purchase for this low price.

Fun and simple open world platformer. Nice progression, lots of backtracking and exploring the levels to complete the journal for an alternate ending. Couple hours of fun for a buck!

Alchemist's Castle is an exploratory platformer that tries to channel Metroidvania titles, and at least for its price does a decent job doing so.

The artwork is quite decent, which is why I picked it up. Upon playing it, I found several flaws (as documented below), but the developers are open to criticism and have made changes based on the issues I encountered with the game.
While there's still a few flaws within the game, such as the nondescript rooms mentioned below, I think that if you like exploration platformers, it's worth picking up for its price of a buck.

-----------------

Original review here for archival purposes:
Alchemist's Castle is an exploratory platformer that tries to channel Metroidvania titles but kind of fails doing so.
While I understand that this is a very low budget title, I would not recommend playing it, as there are some fatal flaws that make the game fairly uninteresting.

Given its price, the art is surprisingly decent (and was the main reason I picked this up), but beyond that it kind of falls apart.
I'll start with the map: It's pretty hard to decipher, doesn't have a "you are here" marker - at least as far as I could tell.
Moving along, the font used makes reading the plot scrolls unbearable, at least to me.
There is no indicator that you took damage. Occasionally I think I took fall damage but I'm not sure if that is true or if I grazed an enemy/trap. There is no way to tell.
The progression and level design are... lackluster. These two tie together because whenever I got a powerup, I still didn't know where to go, since the rooms all are so nondescript, and the maze-like construction of the world makes it very hard to remember which path to take for areas where you may have been stuck in before - the map of course doesn't help.

For now, I would recommend you to skip this game, though if some of the issues are cleared up, it definitely has potential as a low budget title.

I've only played about an hour so far but that is enough to know that it is a good game, especially for the price.

It is mostly an exploration game, with block pushing puzzles, tricky jumps and some light (so far) combat against enemies that are more obstacles than threats. You have to explore to find the power-ups that let you reach places you couldn't before. There will be a lot of back-tracking within the maze of inter-connected screens.

Note: When starting a game, selecting "Dynamic" map will only show screens you have visited, and highlight the one you are on. Selecting "Static" will show you the whole map and where all the power-ups are, but not show you the screen you are on. This makes it very difficult to navigate with the map, so I'd recommend "Dynamic".

You pick up scrolls along the way that piece together the story, which I am admittedly not paying much attention to yet, partly because the font is hard to read. It does keep all the text of the scrolls in a journal so you can read it any time.

It uses checkpoints, and they seem to be spaced fairly well.

The controls, graphics and sound are surprisingly good, compared to your average lower-priced platformer.