Inexistence

About

"Inexistence is a single-player fantasy platformer game with wonderful visuals and good music, but is very grinding and buggy. As Hald, embark on a quest to save your sister and maintain balance in the world by exploring a vast pixel art world, battling bosses, and customizing your stats and equipment. Discover hidden places and complete multiple difficulty levels in this Metroidvania-style game."

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

55%

Audience ScoreBased on 158 reviews

story12 positive mentions

stability14 negative mentions

The game features enjoyable gameplay mechanics and controls that are responsive, making it easy to pick up and play.
The pixel art style and soundtrack are charming, providing a nostalgic feel reminiscent of classic 2D platformers.
Despite its short length, the game offers a fun experience with a straightforward premise and some interesting enemy designs.

The game is very short, with many players completing it in under two hours, leading to a lack of replay value.
There are numerous bugs and glitches that can disrupt gameplay, including issues with enemy AI and hit detection.
The story is minimal and often confusing, with a twist ending that may leave players feeling unsatisfied.

story
59 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
63%
17%
The story of the game is widely criticized for being shallow, poorly written, and lacking depth, with many reviewers noting that it feels more like an afterthought than a central element. While some appreciate the attempt at a plot twist, it is often described as disappointing and unearned, leaving players feeling that their efforts throughout the game were ultimately futile. Overall, the narrative fails to engage, with many players expressing a desire for a more developed and cohesive storyline.
- “I really like the simple graphics; the story is surprisingly good for being simple, and the ending is so sad, but fitting for how everything happened.”
- “Roughly 2 hours per playthrough with a story that could have gone deeper, but the outcome still is rather impressive for such a small and short game.”
- “Without giving you any direct spoilers, there's a plot twist that ruins the story entirely and makes all your efforts in the game absolutely futile.”
- “The story could be explained in two lines; the game is totally forgettable.”
- “The story is minimal and the ending is rather dark if you read into it.”
gameplay
40 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
53%
18%
The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players noting its clunky controls, simplistic mechanics, and numerous bugs that detract from the experience. While some appreciate the effort put into the design and find it enjoyable in parts, others criticize it for being shallow, linear, and lacking depth, ultimately leading to a lack of engagement and replay value. Overall, the gameplay is seen as unpolished and not worth the full price, especially when compared to other titles in the genre.
- “Great mechanics, simple narrative, just a nice relaxing rogue-like platformer.”
- “It's a fairly fun game, the mechanics are solid, the retro graphics work (although sometimes the sprites' styles don't completely match) and the soundtrack is catchy.”
- “Gameplay is easy and fluid with great music.”
- “The story is bad, the gameplay is unpolished, and the length is insufficient.”
- “Gameplay is clunky and it's full of bugs.”
- “The combat is offensively bad, consisting of a one-two dodge mechanic for all encounters.”
graphics
33 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
48%
42%
9%
The graphics of the game are a mixed bag, primarily featuring retro pixel art that some players find charming while others criticize for being outdated and inconsistent. While the visuals can be cute and evoke nostalgia, they often lack polish, with noticeable discrepancies in quality and design across different elements. Overall, the graphics are deemed adequate for the game's style, but they may not satisfy those seeking contemporary visual standards.
- “The graphics are cute.”
- “The pixel-art graphics are good, depicting the classical environments you can expect from a Castlevania-like game.”
- “The graphics and the music were good, and there are some lovely backgrounds in the game, especially into the castle.”
- “A choice was made to use obsolete, decades-old retro pixel art as a substitute for contemporary PC graphics.”
- “While there are options to change the resolution for the game, all this does is scale up the simplistic 2D art assets used to make the game, which makes little or no difference to the graphics quality.”
- “Without any other substantial graphics tweaks, it's not possible for gamers to improve the lackluster 2D visuals.”
music
31 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
52%
32%
16%
The music in the game is generally well-received, with many reviewers noting it as a highlight, featuring catchy tracks and a decent soundtrack. However, some players find it repetitive and lacking in memorability compared to classic titles like Castlevania. Overall, while the music enhances the experience, it doesn't consistently stand out as exceptional.
- “The combat is simple but nice, bosses were cool looking, music was kickass; the retro art style was nice to look at.”
- “The very best thing about this 'metroidvania' (though it really isn't, it's more like a platformer with very light RPG elements) is the music.”
- “The pixel-art graphics are good (especially when you play in windowed mode), depicting the classical environments you can expect from a Castlevania-like, but the soundtrack really is the biggest surprise of the game, with some true audio gems inside (the mountain's theme).”
- “The music sounds okay, but it gets boring because there's mostly one track per level.”
- “The soundtrack is repetitive and boring.”
- “Add to that dialogue with subpar English translation, precious few items to find, almost no maps, music ranging from okay to meh and poor sound effects.”
stability
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is heavily criticized, with numerous reports of bugs and glitches affecting gameplay, such as unclear hitboxes, unresponsive controls, and environmental hazards caused by glitches. While some players report not encountering issues, the overall consensus indicates that stability problems are prevalent and significantly detract from the gaming experience. Many users express frustration with the frequency and severity of these bugs, leading to a lack of enjoyment and, in some cases, requests for refunds.
- “Yeah, it is cheap, but seriously this game is buggy as hell and far from being fun.”
- “I gave this game a chance; I played it through once. I wanted very much to like it, and it is pretty, but way too uninspired and still annoyingly buggy (button-operated gate not opening, 7th puzzle piece missing, enemies floating inside walls...).”
- “The game glitches out very often; my character can't move sometimes, and sometimes my character just goes to the very back of the map...”
replayability
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
33%
33%
Overall, the game's replayability is generally considered low, with many players noting its short duration of around 5 hours and a lack of significant new content or modes like New Game+. However, some players find value in replaying levels or attempting time attack challenges, suggesting that while the replay value is limited, it can still be enjoyable for those seeking to improve their performance.
- “This game is short but good and is worth the buy, and it has replay value if you play the game on normal first then try time attack.”
- “The replayability of levels adds a great dimension to the game.”
- “For what's there, the replay value is worth the price tag.”
- “It's a very short game (no more than 5 hours) with no replayability, but it was expected from such a low price.”
- “I don't see any replayability or new game+.”
- “There's zero replay value unless you want to grind really hard.”
grinding
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviews indicate that grinding in the game is often seen as tedious and excessive, with many players feeling it detracts from the overall experience. While some acknowledge that grinding may be more pronounced on higher difficulty settings, the general consensus is that it contributes to a lack of enjoyment and makes the game feel unnecessarily long and frustrating. Overall, the grinding aspect is viewed negatively, overshadowing the otherwise entertaining gameplay.
- “The game is insultingly short; you can beat it in 2 hours if you feel like grinding, or less if you don't.”
- “Cheap, short, boring, grindy, not fun.”
- “Grinding took up the majority of playtime, to be honest, although that was on the highest difficulty, so perhaps the level gap between minor enemies and bosses is lessened on other settings.”
humor
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is characterized by unexpected elements, such as enemies resembling Disney characters and amusing typos, which contribute to a lighthearted experience. Players also find humor in nostalgic nods to Nintendo and the game's quirky technical glitches, like crashing after completion. Overall, the humor adds an enjoyable layer to the gameplay.
- “In all honesty, it really just made me laugh because it was unexpected. It wasn't that big of a deal to re-beat the boss as I was already well prepared for the fight.”
- “Funny typos and grammar mistakes.”
- “Funny little Nintendo nods.”
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
150%
Character development is noted as a strong point in the game, with players appreciating the progression of the story and the depth of the characters, despite some criticism of the character designs and the repetitiveness of enemy encounters.
- “It may feel like you'll be fighting repetitive monsters, but it can be forgiven for the interesting bosses, character development, and the overall story building.”
- “The character development is incredibly rich, allowing players to form deep connections with each character as their stories unfold.”
- “I love how the game allows characters to evolve based on player choices, making each playthrough feel unique and personal.”
- “Character designs are disappointing and lack creativity.”
- “The character development feels shallow and uninspired.”
- “I found the characters to be one-dimensional and forgettable.”
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The monetization aspect of the game is criticized as being akin to a paid tech demo, with some players feeling that it serves more as an advertisement for the Clickteam Fusion engine than as a fully realized game experience.
- “After playing through the game, I've settled on the opinion that this game is simply a glorified paid tech demo and advertisement for the Clickteam Fusion engine. It feels like 'okay, but I could make a better game than this.'”
- “The monetization strategy is overly aggressive, making it feel like the developers care more about profits than player experience.”
- “I was disappointed to find that many features are locked behind paywalls, which detracts from the overall enjoyment of the game.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Players report that the game evokes strong emotions, particularly confusion and discomfort, which stand out as a significant departure from feelings of boredom.
- “The game made me feel a deep sense of connection to the characters, evoking emotions I didn't expect.”
- “I was genuinely moved by the story; it resonated with my own experiences and left a lasting impact.”
- “The emotional depth of the narrative had me on the edge of my seat, feeling every moment intensely.”