Calcu-Late
- July 4, 2015
- Blazing Fanfish
Get on Steam
Get on itch.io StoreIn "Calcu-Late," players control James, a representative for the goddess of mathematics in a godly Olympics tournament. James made a wish to pass his math finals, and the tournament will grant him that wish if he wins. The game features puzzle-solving and Versus-AI games, testing players' math skills in a fun and challenging way.
Windows
Reviews
- The game offers a unique concept of combining math puzzles with a light-hearted story, which some players found enjoyable.
- The pixel graphics are nicely colored, providing a sense of immersion, and the music fits the game's theme.
- Some puzzles are well-designed and require critical thinking, making them enjoyable for players who appreciate logic challenges.
- The game is very short, with only a few puzzles that lack depth and originality, leading to a feeling of dissatisfaction upon completion.
- There are numerous spelling and grammatical errors throughout the game, which detracts from the overall experience.
- Many players found the gameplay frustrating due to poor controls, lack of challenge in most puzzles, and an unsatisfactory storyline.
- story18 mentions
- 28 % positive mentions
- 56 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
The game's story is criticized for being underdeveloped, with many reviewers noting its lack of depth and character progression, often describing it as bland or corny. While some find the simple anime-style narrative enjoyable in a lighthearted way, others are frustrated by poor writing and numerous typos that detract from the experience. Overall, the story fails to satisfy, leaving players wanting more substance and coherence.
“Moral of the story: you never know what life has in store for you, and if I had given up when all odds were against me, I wouldn't be where I am today.”
“The simple anime style story/setting is enjoyable enough, as were a few of the challenges, so I recommend this.”
“Even though it seems that the puzzle fails to deliver, I find the short story in this game interesting and fun, with the puzzles accompanying the plot being well designed enough.”
“It's full of typos, the final boss is unbeatable even on easy, and the storyline casually starts with suicide with no content warning.”
“Considering its length, there is no room for either decent story progression or character development.”
“There are too few puzzles, they aren't original (I've seen them all somewhere), the story is bland, and the poor English really kills the experience, especially when there's a fair amount of story dialogue involved.”
- music6 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally considered to be average, featuring a mix of original compositions and stock RPG Maker tracks. While some players found it relaxing and fitting for the game, others criticized it for being simplistic and lacking in quality. Overall, it serves its purpose but does not stand out as exceptional.
“The music has some original pieces alongside the stock RPG Maker music, and I think it's good.”
“The music has some original pieces alongside the stock RPG Maker music, and I think it's good.”
“Bad music”
“I relaxed for 5 minutes listening to this music, long enough to realize that I would be okay.”
- graphics4 mentions
- 75 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The graphics have received mixed reviews, with some users criticizing them as simplistic and amateurish, while others appreciate the nicely colored pixel art that contributes to a sense of immersion. Overall, the display quality is not considered among the best in the genre.
“Nicely colored pixel graphics - the sense of immersion is there.”
“The graphics are stunning and truly bring the game world to life.”
“The vibrant art style and attention to detail make every scene visually captivating.”
“Display qualities couldn't be considered among the best either, with simplistic soundtrack and amateur artwork.”
“The graphics are quite poor.”
“The game could use some better graphics.”
- gameplay4 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The gameplay is criticized for its poor execution and controls, detracting from an interesting puzzle RPG concept set in a dream. While the game mechanics and story have potential, they are marred by dullness and a corny narrative that may not age well. However, some players find enjoyment in the math and logic elements of the gameplay.
“The game mechanics are really interesting, the story is good, though it's going to be corny as hell in a couple of years (well, it kind of is already, but even worse in the future), but the math and logic are really fun!”
“A good concept (being a puzzle RPG set in a dream) at first, but just poorly executed with poor controls and dull gameplay.”
“Bad gameplay.”
- humor1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is criticized for being low-quality, likened to a poorly executed high school narrative and subpar anime jokes, which detracts from the overall experience.
- character development1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Reviewers note that the game's limited length significantly hampers both story progression and character development, leaving characters underdeveloped and lacking depth.
“Considering its length, there is no room for either decent story progression or character development.”
“The characters feel one-dimensional and lack any meaningful growth throughout the game.”
“I was disappointed by how predictable the character arcs were; they didn't evolve in any interesting way.”
- monetization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization aspect of the game is criticized for its artificial dialogue and synthetic social interactions, which detract from the overall experience, alongside a narrative plagued by typos.
