Karmaflow: The Rock Opera Videogame

About

"Karmaflow: The Rock Opera Videogame" is a puzzle platformer that combines gameplay with a rock opera soundtrack. The game presents its story through songs, and the Digital Deluxe Edition includes a soundtrack, concept art, and behind-the-scenes footage. By purchasing Act I, players will also receive Act II and the original soundtrack for free upon release.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

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

Karmaflow: The Rock Opera Videogame screenshot

66%

Audience ScoreBased on 149 reviews

music91 positive mentions

stability27 negative mentions

The music is fantastic, featuring well-known rock and metal artists, which enhances the overall experience.
The art style and visuals are beautiful, creating an immersive atmosphere that complements the story.
The game offers an interesting narrative with choices that affect the outcome, making it engaging for players who enjoy story-driven experiences.

The gameplay is plagued by bugs and glitches, including issues with controls, camera angles, and collision detection, which can lead to frustrating experiences.
The platforming mechanics are often clunky and imprecise, making navigation difficult and detracting from the overall enjoyment of the game.
The game lacks clear direction and guidance, leading to confusion about objectives and progression, which can result in players feeling lost.

music
275 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
63%
4%
The music in Karmaflow is widely praised, particularly for its high-quality rock and metal compositions featuring renowned vocalists from the genre, making it a standout aspect of the game. While the soundtrack is considered exceptional and a major selling point, many reviewers note that the integration of music into gameplay is lacking, with songs primarily featured during cutscenes and boss battles rather than throughout the entire experience. Overall, fans of metal and rock music will likely find the soundtrack worth the price of admission, even if the gameplay itself may not meet the same standards.
- “The music is fantastic, especially if you like metal, and is sung by some really famous singers, Tony Kakko being a personal favorite.”
- “Karmaflow delivers on its title - it is genuinely a rock opera video game, complete with an original musical score.”
- “The music is where this game shines; many talented singers and musicians bring to life a story that is as unique as the look of the game.”
- “Just buy the soundtrack or watch it on YouTube because you'll just leave this game frustrated otherwise.”
- “The music integration feels like an afterthought at best.”
- “While the gameplay itself is simple, the artwork, music, and its story are worth checking out alone.”
gameplay
109 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
69%
14%
The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it lacking in polish and depth. While some appreciate the unique mechanics and artistic elements, others criticize the clunky controls, bugs, and overall monotony, leading to a frustrating experience. Despite its potential and interesting concepts, the gameplay often feels disconnected from the music and narrative, leaving players wanting more from the core mechanics.
- “Each area has unique mechanics and challenges that keep the player on their toes, and there's lots of hidden secrets to discover.”
- “The gameplay is challenging but rewarding.”
- “It's very simple gameplay-wise, but there are clever puzzles that can be created with these simple mechanics and unique atmospheres from world to world.”
- “Unfortunately, it turns out that is all the game has; the gameplay and the game itself are boring and feel so empty and soulless.”
- “The gameplay is not good, mostly due to clunky controls and getting caught on geometry in the environment, which does not allow for smooth gameplay.”
- “The gameplay feels like it is lacking something.”
story
108 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
77%
4%
The story of Karmaflow is presented in a unique rock opera format, engaging players with its musical narrative and character-driven plots across five distinct worlds. While the music and performances by renowned rock and metal artists are praised for their quality, the storytelling often suffers from verbosity and a lack of clarity, leading to mixed reviews on its coherence and impact. Overall, the game appeals to fans of musical storytelling, though some players find the narrative execution and gameplay mechanics frustrating.
- “I didn't think I was going to like it, but it drew me in with each world and story.”
- “The music is where this game shines; many talented singers and musicians bring to life a story that is as unique as the look of the game.”
- “The storytelling makes up for its early flaws.”
- “The story is incoherent and doesn't really make sense, and singing random sentences that make up the dialogue doesn't help much.”
- “Unfortunately while it started off pretty strong, past the first storyline it falls flat on its face and can't get up again.”
- “The story is terrible and no effort is put into explaining exactly what is going on.”
graphics
49 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
45%
49%
6%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising the unique art style and beautiful visuals that create an engaging atmosphere, reminiscent of titles like "Journey." However, some players note a lack of polish and occasional graphical hiccups that detract from the overall experience. While the aesthetic is generally well-received, the performance issues and simplistic design leave some players feeling underwhelmed.
- “It's gorgeous in spite of any graphical hiccups because the art design is so beautiful and focused and inventive.”
- “The graphics, though not immediately calling heavy metal imagery to mind, are beautiful and each of the four worlds shines in its own way.”
- “The game looks really good: it is, of course, a little peculiar type of graphics, because not everyone likes such a slightly cartoonish line, but even those should appreciate the fact that this graphics gives a fairy-tale atmosphere, desirable in this type of production.”
- “The graphics are a little bleached too, no matter whether you brighten or dim the setting.”
- “Graphics settings were a strain on my computer, so I had to set them low just to begin.”
- “Graphics are laughably bad and dour.”
stability
27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability has been widely criticized, with many players reporting persistent bugs, glitches, and performance issues that detract from the overall experience. While some users noted improvements following patches, significant problems such as game-breaking glitches, audio desynchronization, and inconsistent mechanics remain prevalent, leading to frustration and a lack of enjoyment. Overall, the game is described as playable but marred by a lack of polish and stability.
- “This game would have been terrifically enjoyable for me if it were not a buggy mess.”
- “But now it is almost 2 years after release and it is still full of bugs and glitches, which still aren't fixed and it drives me crazy, because I am not able even to successfully choose an ending in the first world.”
- “Game breaking glitches, audio desynchronization, video corruption, horrendous performance, and persistent crashes (once shutting my PC down entirely) caused the game to be unplayable for months after release.”
optimization
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
15%
65%
20%
The game's optimization has been a significant issue, with many players reporting severe performance problems, game-breaking glitches, and crashes, particularly at launch. While patches have improved stability and resolved some bugs, the game still requires further optimization to reach a fully enjoyable state. Overall, the technical execution remains far from polished, leaving players hopeful for future improvements.
- “There have been some problems shortly after the release, but most bugs and optimization issues have been ironed out by the patches.”
- “Karmaflow gets an 8/10 from me, and if the bugs and performance issues do get sorted out, this game will become a really good underground gem that many will not play or even know about.”
- “Even though there are still some bugs here and there and some performance issues, I really enjoyed it.”
- “Honestly: this game was an utter shitshow at release, poorly optimized and running terribly.”
- “Game breaking glitches, audio desynchronization, video corruption, horrendous performance, and persistent crashes (once shutting my PC down entirely) caused the game to be unplayable for months after release.”
- “Overall there is no doubt this game is rushed and unoptimized.”
atmosphere
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
40%
20%
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its brilliant combination of captivating music, gorgeous art style, and immersive storytelling, creating a darkly magical and surreal experience. While some players noted that the gameplay could be lacking, the unique visual aesthetics and varied environments effectively enhance the overall ambiance. The orchestral soundtrack, featuring notable musicians, further enriches the atmosphere, making it a standout element of the game.
- “The atmosphere is brilliant, the music is amazing, the art style is absolutely gorgeous and the story and characters are captivating.”
- “Level quality quickly ramps up after the opening level, and the amazing lineup of musicians (this has to be the most ambitious soundtrack I've ever heard in an indie game!) helps cement the darkly magical atmosphere.”
- “The orchestral performances of some of metal's most recognized icons (seriously, look at the cast for this game) was spot-on and combined with the game's unique visual style, created a deep atmosphere that really drew me in.”
- “Sometimes a little bit bugged but it doesn't affect the atmosphere of the environment.”
- “The game looks really good: it is, of course, a little peculiar type of graphics, because not everyone likes such a slightly cartoonish line, but even those should appreciate the fact, what this graphics gives a fairy-tale atmosphere, desirable in this type of production.”
- “It's dark, it's moody, and brings a lot to the atmosphere.”
grinding
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, with long platforming sequences that often feel like obstacles rather than engaging challenges. The level design is criticized for being confusing and poorly executed, leading to a repetitive experience as players explore every inch of the map to progress. Additionally, issues like awkward controls and visibility problems further detract from the enjoyment of the gameplay.
- “The levels are thematically different, which is nice, but in the end they're primarily long and tedious platform sequences that mainly feel like obstacles.”
- “This makes it very easy to get stuck and tediously explore every square inch of the map until you figure out what you need to do to progress to the next stage.”
- “The rest of the time you’re pushed through tedious platforming sections, playing as a character with poor control over their body movement in an environment they’re constantly slipping off of.”
character development
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
17%
33%
Character development in the game is marked by striking and imaginative character design that many players find exceptional, contributing to an engaging visual experience. However, some critiques highlight that the dialogue and script quality do not match the artistic visuals, with certain elements feeling more like placeholders than polished final products. Overall, while the character design is praised, the dialogue and narrative depth may leave some players wanting more.
- “The game is colorful, the character design is interesting, and the world elements all fit together well.”
- “Amazing music, great level design, and arguably the best character design I've ever seen in any video game.”
- “+ 10 points for character design”
- “I'd say only for the poor dialogue sketch and maybe a bit for the character design.”
- “Character design could charitably be called 'abstract', and environments 'minimalist', but really most of the art assets feel more like placeholders than release versions.”
replayability
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
60%
The game's replayability is mixed, with some users noting limited replay value, while others appreciate the impact of decision-making on the game's outcome, which adds some incentive to replay. Comparisons to "Journey" highlight that while the game is short, it offers a unique experience that may encourage multiple playthroughs. Overall, the replayability is seen as dependent on player engagement with the choices presented.
- “A game like Journey for reference, which was obviously an inspiration for this game but a lot more fun to play. It was very short but infinitely replayable due to its pacing.”
- “But fear not, because the decisions you have to make in regards to saving or condemning each world give this game some replay value. I mean, in case you weren't already going to replay it, in which case I ask -- ?!?!?!”
- “Not much replayability.”
- “But fear not, because the decisions you have to make in regards to saving or condemning each world give this game some replay value (I mean, in case you weren't already going to replay it, in which case I ask -- ?!?!?!).”
- “I was not expecting a polished game here; we all know this is an indie developer, but I did expect something more playable.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game elicits a moderate emotional response, prompting players to reflect on their choices at the end of each chapter, despite a lack of deep emotional investment in the characters. The combination of metal and classical music, along with compelling characters and poignant decisions, enhances the overall emotional experience.
- “Though the game hardly commands any hard-hitting emotional investment into its characters, it was just enough to make you think twice before you make a final choice at the end of each chapter.”
- “Metal, classical, awesome characters, and heart-breaking choices mixed together is a really good combination.”
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is perceived as lacking, with some users finding it insufficiently funny to make a notable impact.