Armikrog review

Review Armikrog | Do you know Pingu? An animated children’s TV series that uses a graphical clay technique. Armikrog uses the same idea, making it a very original and good-looking Xbox One game.  But as you know neat looking graphics doesn’t mean a fun game, let’s find out in this review if Armikrog is worth buying!

THE GOOD

• It was my first time playing a game with a claymation visual technique and I have to say that it was delightful, bringing back child memories. As you can see on the screenshots Armikrog is a beautiful game with great color selection. Some scenes are really impressive and I highly respect the effort they did making them.
• Switching between the two characters will become a habit early on. The cute dog can see puzzle clues or get to places that the other character, Tommynaut can’t reach. Mixing things up so the game stays a little less repetitive.

Mixed Feelings

• While most puzzles are satisfying, not all of them are well designed. Having no clue what to do or forcing the player to backtrack is something that will frequently happen. Bringing some unnecessary frustration for the player.
• After a great openings cut scene (seriously, it was epic!) the storytelling becomes rather disappointing, it does pick up again in the ending. You could say that it opens strong and finishes good but the middle part was lackluster.

THE BAD

• Great character design is completely ruined with the lack of personality. The characters just blatantly stare at you and don’t provide enough feedback to make them “come to life”. For example the back story for the villain is completely non-existent, he just suddenly pops up. In general, more character development would have been welcome.
• To my regret I came across quite a few bugs that forced me to restart a checkpoint. Random shutdowns that forced me back to the Xbox Dashboard happened a few times too. I wouldn’t mention it if it was only once, every game can crash sometimes but it can never become a habit.

Armikrog Score: 67% | Developer Pencil Test put so many time making a unique and beautiful game that other parts are a little neglected. Armikrog is a game that gamers can and will love, you just have to live with the few shortcomings.