Cally's Caves 3
- January 4, 2016
- VDO Games
- 48h median play time
Get on SteamIn Cally's Caves 3, players control Cally as she embarks on a mission to rescue her parents from a group of evil scientists. This metroidvania-style platformer features a variety of weapons and abilities to unlock, and numerous enemies and bosses to defeat across multiple levels. With challenging gameplay and a humorous tone, Cally's Caves 3 offers an entertaining experience for fans of action-packed platformers.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- Engaging platforming with a variety of weapons that level up and evolve, providing a satisfying progression system.
- Cute graphics and a fun soundtrack that enhance the overall experience.
- Offers a good amount of content with multiple game modes, including New Game+ and survival challenges.
- Clunky controls and a frustrating weapon selection system that only allows cycling through weapons in one direction.
- The game can feel repetitive and lacks depth in enemy AI and level design, leading to a lack of challenge.
- Bugs and glitches, such as freezing during music transitions and issues with hitboxes, detract from the gameplay experience.
- music118 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 64 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with many praising its enjoyable and catchy soundtrack that enhances the gameplay experience. However, several players noted that the soundtrack can be repetitive, often looping the same tracks throughout, which detracts from the overall atmosphere. While some found the music to be a highlight, others felt it lacked variety and did not always align well with the game's action.
“This soundtrack is grimly beautiful, but it's likewise so out of place in a game about plowing through baddies, winning big fights, sticking it to bosses and bringing parents home.”
“The music will have your head bobbing rhythmically for hours on end.”
“There are loads of secrets to find, and best of all, the music is fantastic.”
“The game's soundtrack is bland and completely forgettable and does nothing to add to the atmosphere of any of the levels, as all of the levels have the same set of tracks that play continually on a loop.”
“The soundtrack is exceedingly repetitive and even with just 3 hours in, I really don't want to hear anymore of it right now.”
“Music doesn't follow the gameplay very well (title screen music just keeps playing when you press start and is the background music for that area of the game).”
- story118 mentions
- 8 % positive mentions
- 83 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The story in the game is generally considered simplistic and predictable, often serving merely as a backdrop for gameplay rather than a compelling narrative. While some players appreciate moments of humor and world-building, many find the plot shallow and unengaging, with a familiar trope of rescuing kidnapped parents. Overall, the narrative lacks depth and is often overshadowed by the gameplay mechanics and variety of weapons available.
“The story and dialogue, while predominantly simple and cliché, also have moments of depth, world-building, intrigue, and some self-aware humor.”
“Dialogue is very sweet and the story is surprisingly sweet.”
“Although the story isn't anything new (your parents get captured and you gotta save 'em), I think the devs did that on purpose as a kind of satire.”
“- The story sucks and apparently assumes you're well-familiar with the first two games (which aren't on Steam, or PC at all).”
“The gameplay is smooth but not exceptional, and the story is better left ignored.”
“Talking about endings, this game is weirdly weak with story, only having random encounters with Lloyd, an awesome green fedora, white suit-wearing musician who acts as a good tutorial buddy, hint giver, and basic storyteller. Honestly, I'm glad the writer of the story basically gave enough hints as to what happened for me to get the gist of the main antagonist, and honestly, it had the ability to be something quite special and interesting if they put more effort in; instead, it seems more like why?”
- gameplay90 mentions
- 31 % positive mentions
- 64 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "Cally's Caves 3" is characterized by a mix of enjoyable mechanics, such as weapon leveling and smooth controls, but is often criticized for its repetitiveness and grindy nature. While the game offers a nostalgic platforming experience reminiscent of classic titles, many players find the overall gameplay to be simplistic and marred by bugs and underwhelming boss battles. Despite these drawbacks, some players appreciate the depth of content and the fun derived from its mechanics, making it a decent, if not exceptional, action platformer.
“Cally's Caves 3 is a side-scroller action game with double jump and weapon mechanics. The developers seem to care much more for the players than the trends, offering more content than your standard online mode. This is an outstanding game with no loading screens, free extra content, and awesome gameplay.”
“It's got an amazing weapon system that introduces a new mechanic of evolving your weapons, one that I've never seen before.”
“Great level design and great progression mechanics make this relatively simple-looking game tons of fun.”
“Unfortunately, the awful controls hurt the game massively, and what makes it worse is that the gameplay can get quite boring after a while.”
“It has annoying little bugs and glitches, the boss battles were underwhelming, and the gameplay becomes quite repetitive after a while.”
“Cally's Caves 3 is an interesting platformer, but one bogged down with extremely low difficulty and dubious grinding mechanics.”
- graphics52 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 56 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game evoke a nostalgic feel reminiscent of classic DOS-era platformers, featuring cute and appealing pixel art that some players find charming. However, opinions are mixed, with some reviewers criticizing the visuals as lazy or technically lacking, while others appreciate the aesthetic choices and smooth performance. Overall, the graphics are seen as a highlight for many, contributing to the game's fun despite some gameplay repetitiveness.
“The graphics and gameplay remind me so much of the good old days of Apogee and id Software platforming games.”
“The graphics are slightly more advanced than period appropriate, but the music is spot on and pretty decent overall.”
“Sweet pixel graphics.”
“The graphics, enemies, music, and level design looked lazy, and I was afraid that meant it was going to be another third-rate platformer that got way too much attention.”
“The ultimate proof that you can have lousy graphics (even by retro standards), no real plot, and no more backstory that can fit in a pin.”
“This game isn't terrible, but it's clear most of the work went into its graphics and that the game design had a kitchen sink approach where aspects of the creator's favorite games were just added in without thought.”
- grinding50 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game is a significant point of contention among players, with many noting the excessive time required to level up weapons and acquire upgrades. While some find the grinding enjoyable and manageable, others describe it as tedious and overly reliant on repetitive tasks, detracting from the overall gameplay experience. Overall, players seem divided on whether the grinding enhances or hinders their enjoyment of the game.
“Just bloody ridiculous amounts of grinding required to fully level up almost any weapon.”
“The gameplay, unfortunately, is unsatisfying and grindy.”
“And while that's still fun to explore all the different upgrades your guns get, as the game goes on you get more and more guns, and it almost feels like school homework to level up all of them, eventually making your experience less about the challenges before you and more about grinding all day.”
- stability18 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's stability is marred by numerous bugs and glitches, particularly during boss battles and menu navigation, leading to frustrating gameplay experiences. Players have reported issues such as falling through the environment, unresponsive achievements, and game freezes caused by the soundtrack. Overall, while the game has potential, its stability problems significantly detract from the overall experience.
“It has annoying little bugs/glitches, the boss battles were underwhelming and the gameplay becomes quite repetitive after a while.”
“This isn't a bad game, but I suffered through many glitches including falling through the floor of a lava pool.”
“Which made this incredibly reliable glitch where, if you use consumables during a boss battle, the display glitches out and makes the level unplayable, an absolute nightmare.”
- humor6 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is characterized by a mix of self-aware dialogue and quirky boss designs, such as the amusing character of Carl, which adds a layer of charm despite the overall simplicity and cliché nature of the story. While the bosses may lack originality, their comedic elements and the creative use of weapons during encounters contribute to a lighthearted and entertaining experience.
“The story and dialogue, while predominantly simple and cliché, also have moments of depth, world-building, intrigue, and some self-aware humor.”
“I was expecting to fight a funny middle-aged-looking eagle with a balding head.”
“Wait, okay, Carl was a funny boss... you'll understand when you see it.”
- replayability6 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's replayability is viewed as strong due to the abundance of guns to discover and level up, as well as the presence of decent bosses. However, some players feel that the ease of defeating enemies and the lack of significant challenge, even in New Game+ mode, may limit long-term engagement. Despite these concerns, many still find the replay value to be quite good, especially considering the game's low price point.
“But the many enemies are pretty easy to thwart, there are some decent bosses to decimate, there are an absolute ton of guns to discover and level up, and the replay value is crazy good.”
“Things aren't ridiculously difficult even on New Game + mode (harder for sure though!), it might be small for a game, but it has excellent replay value.”
“Luckily, getting it on sale for $2.99 doesn't make me too bummed out with the game, but I don't think the replay value is that high for a game like this.”
- atmosphere4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is criticized for its lack of engaging music and repetitive soundtracks, which fail to enhance the experience of the levels. Players find the transitions, such as weapon upgrades cutting to black, disruptive and detrimental to immersion. Overall, the atmosphere is described as bland and forgettable, lacking the depth needed to draw players into the game world.
“The game's soundtrack is bland and completely forgettable and does nothing to add to the atmosphere of any of the levels, as all of the levels have the same set of tracks that play continually on a loop.”
“The worst, as previously mentioned, is when you upgrade a weapon and the game suddenly cuts to black (while you're fighting). The new area intros would be cool but, again, the game doesn't have localized music so there's not enough atmosphere.”
- monetization2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game appears to be designed with mobile microtransactions in mind, as it retains the same pricing structure on PC despite the absence of actual microtransactions. This has led to some criticism regarding the perceived value and fairness of the pricing.
“The game seems to have been designed with mobile microtransactions in mind; even though it's on PC, the prices remain the same.”
“The game appears to be tailored for mobile microtransactions, and while it's available on PC, the pricing structure is identical.”
- emotional2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is impacted by the frustrating mechanic where players can take damage from enemies even when they appear to be at a safe distance, creating a sense of unfairness and tension during encounters. This mechanic can lead to feelings of helplessness and annoyance, detracting from the overall emotional experience.
