Game Review: VIVIDLOPE

By Al

Players: 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC

Today's review is going to be an interesting one, as putting it into any particular genre is a bit difficult. Part arcade game, part puzzle platformer, and all sorts of wacky in-between, VIVIDLOPE is a game that stands in a league of its own. Developed and published by Jaklub, it recently dropped onto the Nintendo Switch following a Steam release last year. The new Switch release has all sorts of new content over the Steam version, and it's the one that we're going to be looking at today. There's no need for further intros, let's dive right in!

While a simple arcade-style puzzle game at heart, VIVIDLOPE does have something of a story to it. You play as one of three characters, Cerise, Ecru, or Miss Noir, and attempt to escape a world of rotating, color-changing platforms. Each of the game's worlds opens with an animated cutscene, and each are wackier than the last in the best way possible. These cutscenes seem to have no bearing at all as to the actual gameplay, but that's fine since the randomness adds to the game's charm. Rather than a simple menu system, there's a hub world you can traverse between the game's stages where you can talk to NPCs and purchase items. Even though the story itself is practically non-existent, I found each of the cutscenes to be so strangely intriguing that I couldn't wait to see what they'd throw at me next. They might not come together to make up a coherent narrative, but I will say that they were always entertaining. Though I guess it should be noted that there aren't three bespoke sets of cutscenes as the character select screen may imply. I was somewhat disappointed to learn that Cerise and Ecru share cutscenes, with Miss Noir being the only character who has all her own. That's really a small complaint though, and I honestly think I've spent far too long discussing story in this type of game.

VIVIDLOPE has a rather simple concept for its core gameplay mechanic: Each square in the game is a certain color, and it's your job to step on them so that their color changes to something else. There are some "free" squares that surround the field of play, but those aren't worth discussing at the moment. Admittedly the block color-changing mechanic may be a bit reminiscent of Q-Bert when put to paper, but it's a far more complicated task than it seems at first. Getting squares flipped over is one thing, but you have to also do it with style and grace, with enemies chasing you down the entire time. Flipping squares one after another starts up a combo, and it's sort of a secondary goal to string together the biggest one possible. In order to get the best rating for a level, you have to not combo the entire stage, but also do so without taking a single hit. Hits from enemies or traps will cost you a life, and three lost lives usually means you have to start the level over. You technically don't have to change the color of every square in a level, as there is a minimum that you'll work towards that then triggers a bonus section. Said bonus sections are actually the same level, but you're limited in how you finish your combo. If you do well enough, you get the coveted S+ or V+ ranks depending on difficulty, and move on to the next stage where you'll do it all again. Getting the best score possible isn't necessary to complete the game, but it's a fun goal to work towards.

I think I did an okay job describing how the gameplay works on a basic level, so perhaps we should go over some more advanced things next. Besides simply stepping over a square to change its color, you can also jump. Jumping also helps you avoid enemies, and sometimes jumping is needed to get from one part of a level to another. Speaking of which, most levels are laid out in big geometric patterns that twist, turn, and roll back onto themselves. You can rotate the camera to help you get a better view, and you always want to be careful so as not to walk off the edge of a stage to your doom. Enemies spawn in as you land on certain squares, and they'll usually chase you non-stop once they've got you in their sights. Most of the time you'll simply be running from enemies, but you can also take them out with certain power-ups. Power-ups also spawn in once you hit a pre-determined spots in a level, and they usually do things like perform an attack and/or change big areas of squares to the appropriate color in one fell swoop. There are also special abilities attached to each of the characters, but these have to be charged over the course of a level, and I usually forgot they were even there. Power-ups can also be purchased the in-game shop I mentioned earlier, but your hard earned money is probably better spent on the different hats the store also has for sale. Besides power-ups, there are other objects lying around stages such paint rollers that change the color in a straight line, and buckets that change color of square in an immediate area. These all come together to give the player several ways to clear any challenge, and the game does a good job slowly introducing them over the first dozen or so stages. Nothing ever feels overwhelming, and you have enough tools at your disposal so you know that it's not the game's fault if you can't clear a particular obstacle.

Though the gameplay mechanics can be grasped fairly easily, I don't want to make it sound like VIVIDLOPE is an easy game. Simply maintaining a combo while several enemies are closing in on you fast is hard enough to manage, but later stages mix things up in more exciting ways. Simply stepping or jumping on a square to change its color would probably get stale quickly if that was all there was to it, so it makes sense that this mechanic in particular would see the most variants. Later levels change how a square becomes the desired color, and you'll always want to pay close attention to the goal at the start. Some squares may need more than one step on them to change, some will change back if you step on them again, and others still will change if you leave them alone for too long. It makes for a neat system, but I have to say that it's not very friendly to those who are colorblind. I had a lot of issues telling some colors apart, and I longed for a high contrast color mode. Though VIVIDLOPE does have a lot of graphics options, that didn't seem to be one of them. Anyway, that aside, the game ends up offering a tough but fair challenge. I found that for the most part I could power through and clear most any stage, only suffering a low rating for my troubles. Getting those S+ ranks weren't out of the question though, as I found that I became a much better player over time, and could get those ranks when revisiting past stages. By this I mean to say that there's quite the challenge to be had here, but it does do its best to cater to players of all skill levels.

Visually-speaking, VIVIDLOPE has a retro-ness to it that's a bit hard to describe. When mentioning retro aesthetics, most people immediately think of pixel-based graphics and 8/16-bit aesthetics, but there's more it than that. VIVIDLOPE really has none of those aspects to it, but it does strongly resemble the type of game one would see on the PS1 or its contemporaries. It has that colorful late '90s vibe to it that I find hard to describe, but I love nonetheless. The game looks amazing, runs smoothly, and I really can't think of anything truly negative to say in this regard. I guess I can bring up the high contrast color thing again, but I'll let that slide for now. On the flip side, I don't even have a complaint of that variety when it comes to the game's sound. VIVIDLOPE has an amazing soundtrack, and there isn't a bad track in the bunch. "Fun" is the key word as far as the game's music goes, and it really helps get you through the tougher sections. The sound effects that go along with the action shine bright too. There's even voice acting of a sort in the gibberish the characters speak, and I'm finding it hard to think of any negative I can make. I guess we can wrap it up there, but I have to say that VIVIDLOPE really hit it out of the park presentation-wise.

Clearing VIVIDLOPE in its entirety is a hard thing to judge, as much of it is dependent on player skill and ability. It can easily take one about ten hours to clear the core campaigns, but I'm sure others will fly through the game in half that time, and others still will need double it. I fell somewhere in the middle as far as my playthrough went, and the only thing really left for me is getting all the S+ ranks. Actually, there's an entire separate game mode I've neglected to talk about up to this point. Besides the core game, there's also an endless mode which throws random level after random level at you as you attempt to get the highest score possible. That kind of thing really isn't my cup of tea, but I'm sure there are some people out there who live for it. Sadly there doesn't seem to be any leaderboards attached to it, so your high score will only even be local. Considering the game currently has a very respectable $9.99 price tag, I think there's more than enough content here to satisfy most players. It's not an excessive amount of content, but VIVIDLOPE really gives you a lot of bang for your buck.

Challenging though it may be, I have to give VIVIDLOPE the fullest of recommendations. Not only is a must-buy for puzzle and arcade fans, but its gameplay and charm make it perfect for casual gamers too. It takes the "simple to learn, tough to master" philosophy and applies it in a near perfect manner. I struggled here and there during my time with the game, but it never lost its fun factor. I'm sure it'll do the same for you. Grab it now and thank me later. See you in the next one!

Check Out VIVIDLOPE on Nintendo Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/vividlope-switch/

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Story: A (Surprisingly has one?)
Gameplay: A-
Graphics: A
Music/Sound: A+
Value: A+

Overall: A

Pros:
+ A fun arcade-style game that has puzzle platforming elements.
+ Three different characters not only have slightly different playstyles, but also different aesthetics.
+ The core game can be quite challenging, but it's always fun despite whatever nonsense is thrown at you.
+ Has a visual aesthetic that reminds me of a PS1 title, and I mean that in all the best ways.
+ Features a fun, upbeat soundtrack that adds to the overall experience.
+ Lots of content, and a very reasonable price tag, make picking this one up all the easier.

Cons:
- Can be very difficult at times, with the S+ ranks of most levels being out of reach to all but the most skilled players.
- I wish Cerise and Ecru were a bit more of their own character in both gameplay style and cutscenes.
- A high contrast color mode would've made this game practically perfect in my opinion.
- Could've greatly benefitted from leaderboards.

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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Let's go!

#VIVIDLOPE