Game Review: Krimson

By Manuel

Players: 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, XBox, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC

Krimson is a tough-as-nails rhythm platformer that recently launched on all major platforms. Developed by CryingPsycho, and published by PM Studios, it features a heavy metal soundtrack that accompanies you on a nightmare-fueled trip straight to Hell. Does this odd premise make for a fun game? Is this the metal rhythm game you've been waiting all your life for? Are you better off playing Super Meat Boy while listening to some classic Nine Inch Nails? Well, we're going to take a look at the game today and hopefully answer those very questions!

Describing the gameplay in Krimson can be both very simple and very complicated at the same time, but let's tackle the simple first. Krimson sees you take on the role of a ball of flesh (Or is it meat?) that must navigate their way through very levels of Hell itself. Your bloody meatball can roll, jump, and do just about any imaginable combination of those two actions to reach the end of the current stage. Simply hitting the exit isn't enough though, as you also have to bring a flame to light up the pentagram that makes up each stage's exit. After you make your way through a handful of levels, you'll face a boss. These boss encounters offer a nice respite from the normal gameplay loop, and usually involve you running and dodging your way to victory. You can never actually attack the bosses directly, as you can only jump and move, but often use their attacks against them. Though the bosses can survive several hits, you can't. One hit means death for your flesh lump, but the generous checkpoints in each stage help get you back into the action quickly. All sorts of hazards exist to take you out, but it's usually simple things like spikes (which are often represented by skulls) that'll cut your current run short. Platforming is the name of the game though, so you'll be doing a lot of questionable jumping sections, and also occasionally climbing across/bouncing off of walls to progress. If you're looking for more story than this, you're not going to find it as there is no real narrative to follow. While that pretty much wraps up the simple description, it barely covers what makes Krimson so unique.

Besides being a gory platformer set in Hell, Krimson is also a brutally difficult rhythm platformer. When I say that this is a difficult game, I mean Super Meat Boy or Celeste levels of hard. I died hundreds of times in under an hour, and more than likely you will too. The insane difficulty is kept somewhat in check by the game's reliance on rhythm to help players through certain sections. If you manage to latch onto the beat of the music, you can often move your ball out of harm's way with ease. This is definitely easier said than done, as there are times the game's slippery controls will cause you to mess up your rhythm. Controls are always the hardest thing to describe in writing, but Krimson has controls that somehow feel too smooth. While the game can be very generous when it comes to recovering from a badly timed jump, it can also just as easily cause that badly timed jump. Thankfully keeping track of the rhythm can be fairly easy. If you're playing in Handheld Mode (as in on the Switch), or on any console that has an available earphone hook-up, you're going to want to play with headphones on. I played exclusively on a docked Nintendo Switch, and the game used my Pro Controller's vibration so much that I feared it would somehow damage it. Taking a page from the music, Krimson must've assumed that the vibration of the beat had to be drilled into player's hands. Oh, and like was mentioned at the top of the review, Krimson goes hard and heavy with a soundtrack that features a lot of industrial and metal music. While much of the game's pre-lease materials mentioned that the game was a "Death Metal Rhythm Platformer", I'd like to point out that the genre of metal we get in the game is far more electronic than anything resembling standard death metal. I'm not really here to argue genres though, but I will admit that I went into the game blind, and was surprised to not hear death metal at all in-game.

There's no easy way to put this, but there is nothing at all forgiving about Krimson. It's hard to the point of frustration, and the music and visuals do nothing to keep players around. I'm actually a fan of heavier music genres, and I love the idea of a game set in literal Hell, but I quickly realized that this simply isn't the game for me. Let's put aside the fact that I've never been very good at brutally hard platformers for a minute, and let me explain my many issues with the game. If there is anyone out there who can defend the way the game looks, I'd love to hear what they have to say, as I could not stand looking at it for very long. Everything about the game is ugly, and the on-screen flashes when you die are just annoying. Not just annoying, but I'm sure they make the game completely unplayable for those with photosensitivity issues. I don't have that particular affliction, but they were the bane of my existence nonetheless. Having the screen go crazy each time you die is not my idea of fun when you die every few seconds. I didn't get too far in the game, but after looking up the game's trailer, I saw what I was missing in later levels and I think that I'm glad I'll most likely never see them in the IRL. Assaults on the eyes aside, there's also the ear-splitting music to contend with. While I appreciate all genres, much of the music in Krimson feels like noise. It's grindy, crunchy, and sounds like it was recorded in the worst home studio ever. This is the kind of music that non-metal fans THINK metal sounds like, and I mean that in the worst way possible. It got to the point where I had to lower the volume to whisper quite levels, sit really far from my TV so the flashing stopped giving me a headache, and I even had to switch controllers so the incessantly heavy vibration would finally stop. While I finally found the game a bit more playable, I couldn't believe what I had to do to get it to that point. There are no options to change for any of the things I mentioned, and this made it so that I was only able to play the game for a few hours in total, in intervals no longer than 10-15 minutes a piece. After giving it more than enough chances to change my mind, I simply had to give up.

I'm the first to admit that not everyone will like every game. That's normal, we all have to be that tenth dentist sometimes in life, but I just can't see anyone really enjoying a game like Krimson. I don't want to be mean and bash an indie release, but this is honestly one of the worst games I've played in a long while. It's made all the worse by the fact that I wanted to enjoy it, and was even excited about it when I saw its pre-release press materials. I chose to not watch any trailers, or even go through screenshots much, so I could go into it completely fresh. I obviously came to regret that, but that's what makes all this hurt the most. Speaking of things that hurt, I'm not exaggerating when I say that this game gave me headaches at worst, and just made me feel drained and tired at best. I don't think I've ever played a gain that left me in literal pain after I was done, but Krimson did just that. I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt that there is someone who will enjoy this game, but I can for sure say that said person is not me. I honestly don't see why anyone would play this game when there are so many other great ones out there. Games that feature metal soundtracks already exist, there are great rhythm platformers that rarely get mentioned, and there are plenty of platformers that are fun to play while also being brutally hard. While I'm fairly certain that Krimson is the only game that attempts to mix all three things together, I'm not sure that's a good thing. I guess what I'm saying is that I don't think I'll ever play Krimson again, and I don't think I can recommend anyone else bother with it at all. Save yourself the headaches and grab Super Meat Boy instead.
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Check Out Krimson on Nintendo Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/krimson-switch/

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Story: N/A
Gameplay: C-
Graphics: C-
Music/Sound: C
Value: B

Overall: C-

Pros:
+ A unique take on the rhythm platformer genre.
+ The idea of literally going to Hell, complete with skulls, flames, and pentagrams, is admittedly pretty cool.
+ Though it can definitely put off some players, the industrial/metal music can entice fans of the genre(s).
+ Generous checkpoints throughout mean that the brutal gameplay difficulty is lessened a little.
+ The boss fights are a nice addition, and give players a much-needed break from the standard gameplay.

Cons:
- The visuals are a hot mess that I can't look at for very long.
- Besides being a very (intentionally?) ugly game, the flashing on-screen graphics make this unplayable for those with photosensitivity issues.
- The brutal difficulty is going to put off many right off the bat, but the rather loose controls make some sections more frustrating than they needed to be.
- The heavy use of controller vibration, especially on a Pro Controller, forced me to find a controller that had no vibration function at all so I could keep playing.
- I honestly couldn't play this for more than 10-15 minutes at a time due to it being literally painful to continue after a while.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

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