B.U.D has problems. First, he's falling. It's a steep fall too that see's him fly by the floating rocks and clouds as he hurtles towards the ground. The second is that it's going to be a long and hazardous climb if he wants to get back up into the stratosphere. Lastly, he's drunk. Blind drunk.
Well, you could swear so anyway as that's how it feels as you guide the staggering fellow around the land. Tasked with aiding B.U.D back up into the air, you control the toppling and floaty fellow as you climb hand by hand up the main plant growth that lies at the other end of the starting island.
I've seen one or two sites use titles like Mario 64 as reference points when talking about this game and I feel that referring to those games mis-sells Grow Home massively as it's an altogether much more simple proposition that's orientated on its grabbing to climb mechanic rather than any form of traditional platforming. On the main plant route that you climb there are smaller buds sticking out of the side. Your job is to climb to them, press X on the head of them and ride them to nearby floating island with a glowing green base to them. The energy in the green rock bases feeds the plant which grows a little more each time allowing you to reach higher and higher. Each bud you ride out also grows more buds off it's stems so you can link several together to eventually reach further out islands.
You do this to reach four islands, this causes the main stalk to grow enough to reach a larger floating island in the air. Once you climb to it you're tasked with reaching another 6 small islands, then 8 etc. You main tools to this this are your hands which are controlled by pressing down L and R when in contact with a surface. The whole character control is floaty ragdoll physics based so you'll mostly have no trouble climbing but it does mean that there's little else to the gameplay.
As it stands I seem to be a third of the way into the game after 1hr 20m. It's cheap price reflects the short length. If you wish to extend the adventure, there are around 20 respawn points to activate and 100 crystals to find. For every 10 crystals you find you unlock a new ability. So far I have 2 I think. The second was a jet pack that effectively gives you a small and not really required double jump. Depressingly, the first gives you slightly more control of the camera.
This is where Grow Homes chief issue to far seems to lie. Whilst it's a very simple looking game, it's very solid and clean with lovely colours. The camera however isn't too friendly. Initially it's locked into a close view as well, which when climbing awkward surfaces tends to clip inside objects or give unhelpful angles where you're not always able to readjust it. This improves after the first unlock which gives you the option to click R3 and zoom out further. It's nothing that would stop you from playing the game but it's somewhat unelegant and marrs the opening of the game a little.
Based on the first sections, if the game had been more expensive I think it would have run into trouble in terms of recommending it given how slight it is. At the price it is at though it seems reasonable for a short and simple title that offers a brief bright break from the usual.
Well, you could swear so anyway as that's how it feels as you guide the staggering fellow around the land. Tasked with aiding B.U.D back up into the air, you control the toppling and floaty fellow as you climb hand by hand up the main plant growth that lies at the other end of the starting island.
I've seen one or two sites use titles like Mario 64 as reference points when talking about this game and I feel that referring to those games mis-sells Grow Home massively as it's an altogether much more simple proposition that's orientated on its grabbing to climb mechanic rather than any form of traditional platforming. On the main plant route that you climb there are smaller buds sticking out of the side. Your job is to climb to them, press X on the head of them and ride them to nearby floating island with a glowing green base to them. The energy in the green rock bases feeds the plant which grows a little more each time allowing you to reach higher and higher. Each bud you ride out also grows more buds off it's stems so you can link several together to eventually reach further out islands.
You do this to reach four islands, this causes the main stalk to grow enough to reach a larger floating island in the air. Once you climb to it you're tasked with reaching another 6 small islands, then 8 etc. You main tools to this this are your hands which are controlled by pressing down L and R when in contact with a surface. The whole character control is floaty ragdoll physics based so you'll mostly have no trouble climbing but it does mean that there's little else to the gameplay.
As it stands I seem to be a third of the way into the game after 1hr 20m. It's cheap price reflects the short length. If you wish to extend the adventure, there are around 20 respawn points to activate and 100 crystals to find. For every 10 crystals you find you unlock a new ability. So far I have 2 I think. The second was a jet pack that effectively gives you a small and not really required double jump. Depressingly, the first gives you slightly more control of the camera.
This is where Grow Homes chief issue to far seems to lie. Whilst it's a very simple looking game, it's very solid and clean with lovely colours. The camera however isn't too friendly. Initially it's locked into a close view as well, which when climbing awkward surfaces tends to clip inside objects or give unhelpful angles where you're not always able to readjust it. This improves after the first unlock which gives you the option to click R3 and zoom out further. It's nothing that would stop you from playing the game but it's somewhat unelegant and marrs the opening of the game a little.
Based on the first sections, if the game had been more expensive I think it would have run into trouble in terms of recommending it given how slight it is. At the price it is at though it seems reasonable for a short and simple title that offers a brief bright break from the usual.
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