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Nefarious

Nefarious had me steal some princesses, but it didn’t steal my heart.
Nefarious Game Cover
80%Game Brain Score
gameplay, story
stability, replayability
85% User Score Based on 362 reviews
Critic Score 69%Based on 4 reviews

Platforms

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Nefarious Game Cover

About

Nefarious is a single player arcade platformer game with comedy and science fiction themes. It was developed by StarBlade and was released on January 23, 2017. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and positive reviews from players.

"Nefarious" is a comedy platformer game where you play as the villain, on a mission to kidnap princesses from five kingdoms. The game features stunning 2D animation, reverse boss fights, and various customization options for your character. With its intriguing storyline, mystery, and humor, Nefarious offers an engaging and unique gaming experience.

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Nefarious screenshot
Nefarious screenshot
Nefarious screenshot
Nefarious screenshot
Nefarious screenshot
Nefarious screenshot
Nefarious screenshot
Nefarious screenshot
Nefarious screenshot
Nefarious screenshot
Nefarious screenshot
+6
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85%
Audience ScoreBased on 362 reviews
gameplay73 positive mentions
stability12 negative mentions
  • The game features a charming story with witty dialogue and memorable characters, making it engaging and entertaining.
  • The concept of playing as the villain and the unique reverse boss battles provide a refreshing twist on traditional platforming gameplay.
  • The art style is colorful and appealing, with well-drawn character portraits that enhance the overall experience.
  • The controls can feel clunky and imprecise, leading to frustrating moments during platforming sections and boss fights.
  • The game suffers from a lack of sound effects and proper audio looping, which detracts from the overall immersion.
  • Some levels have poor enemy placement and design, resulting in unfair difficulty spikes that can disrupt the flow of gameplay.
  • gameplay
    208 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it easy to pick up but lacking polish and depth. While some appreciate the unique mechanics and humor, others criticize the clunky controls, frustrating level design, and underutilized features, leading to an overall perception that the gameplay is the weakest aspect of an otherwise engaging experience. Despite its flaws, the game offers a variety of mechanics and challenges that can be enjoyable for players willing to overlook its shortcomings.

    • “The gameplay is solid, but the game's main strength is definitely the writing.”
    • “With tight controls, solid level design, and interesting mechanics such as the reverse boss fights, Nefarious is truly a breath of fresh air for the platforming genre.”
    • “The gameplay is amazing, and reminds me a lot of the Mega Man series, if Mega Man could punch and fire grenades that can be used to get air.”
    • “Both the gameplay and the story are lackluster; the only consolation is that it's so short.”
    • “The gameplay is not as polished as other platformers, but is workable, and the level of challenge was higher than I expected, but for the most part still felt fair.”
    • “The gameplay is slow, boring, and just bad.”
  • story
    179 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's story is generally well-received, characterized by its humor, engaging characters, and clever writing that subverts traditional hero-villain tropes. While some players find the narrative simple or lacking depth, many appreciate its charm and the unique perspective of playing as a villain. Overall, the story is highlighted as the standout feature, making the game enjoyable despite some gameplay shortcomings.

    • “The story is somewhat deep, while still being true to the over-the-top crazy nature of the game, and the characters have beautifully-developed personalities that lead to hilarious and heartwarming dialogue interactions.”
    • “The story blew me away; it really made me enjoy myself as the villain, taking me through the other side of the classic story of a captured princess, but with a fun spin!”
    • “The story is well made and is along one of the actually good storylines I've seen for games.”
    • “Both the gameplay and the story are lackluster; the only consolation is that it's so short.”
    • “Just be warned as the repetitive unchanging music mixed with a featureless art style, frustrating gameplay, and somewhat disappointing outcome of the story can make for a boring experience that might as well have been time spent on something else.”
    • “The story isn't that deep (which is expected for the genre but still with some surprising twists), but some of the characters are well written; sadly, most of them are mediocre or haven't enough interaction to have any real personality.”
  • music
    175 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game has received a mixed reception, with many praising its catchy and thematic qualities, particularly highlighting the work of composer Matthew Taranto. While some tracks are described as energizing and fitting for the gameplay, others suffer from issues like poor looping and repetitiveness, which detracts from the overall experience. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a strong aspect of the game, contributing positively to its charm and atmosphere, despite some criticisms regarding sound design and variety.

    • “The music was amazing, fitting to every situation and every area and really hyping me up to play the game.”
    • “I can't stress how good the music is.”
    • “The soundtrack is very energizing, tragic and fun at times.”
    • “The music, while it reuses the main theme a lot, is fun and jazzy, but the rest of the music ranges from bland to annoying.”
    • “The music can potentially get annoying hearing it on repeat, and some change in music would be nice sometimes.”
    • “The music was cute but personally, it kind of laid on top of the level instead of immersing the player into the world they designed.”
  • humor
    83 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is widely praised for its clever writing, engaging dialogue, and ability to subvert classic video game tropes, often leading to laugh-out-loud moments. Players appreciate the charming characters and their interactions, which contribute to a light-hearted and enjoyable experience, despite some gameplay flaws. Overall, the humor is a standout feature that enhances the game's appeal, making it a delightful choice for fans of witty and funny narratives.

    • “The story is somewhat deep, while still being true to the over-the-top crazy nature of the game, and the characters have beautifully-developed personalities that lead to hilarious and heartwarming dialogue interactions.”
    • “The humor and riffing on the classic hero vs villain mentality makes even the truly evil crow a joy to watch as he wreaks havoc, princess in tow.”
    • “This game is hilarious, clever, and a lot of fun.”
  • graphics
    69 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising the charming art style and character designs, particularly in the portraits, while others note issues such as unpolished visuals and graphical glitches. Some players appreciate the unique and colorful aesthetics that enhance the overall experience, despite some repetitive elements and a few technical shortcomings. Overall, while the graphics may not be perfect, they are often complemented by strong music and engaging storytelling, making the game enjoyable.

    • “Music, visuals, and writing are all top-notch; oddly enough, the gameplay is the weakest part of the package in my opinion, but that's not due to it being bad so much as it is everything else being incredible.”
    • “Fortunately, they did have enough time to invest in both visuals and music, which are as beautiful as they are thematic.”
    • “Not only does it look beautiful with its obviously hand-drawn graphics, but the music puts on the finishing touches to make the whole game feel like a well-orchestrated experience.”
    • “The visuals are sort of unpolished though, it feels like an early beta.”
    • “The graphics during gameplay are kinda sorta really awful, but the story, character portraits, and gameplay make up for this fun little gem's ugly exterior.”
    • “Graphically speaking, it's not very great.”
  • stability
    12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's stability is generally criticized for being buggy and unfinished, with users reporting various glitches that can lead to frustrating gameplay experiences, such as falling to death due to unresponsive mechanics and awkward animations. While some players find these issues do not significantly detract from the overall enjoyment, the consensus is that the game feels rushed and lacks polish, particularly in its combat mechanics and level design.

    • “Being generally sort of buggy and stiff.”
    • “Gameplay and programming felt rushed and buggy.”
    • “Buggy and poorly implemented combat mechanics, utterly empty sound design, and blocky art prevent a genuinely good idea from being a good game.”
  • character development
    10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Overall, the character development in the game is highly praised, with reviewers noting deep and engaging growth for the protagonist and key characters. The character designs are also highlighted as a significant strength, drawing inspiration from popular styles while maintaining a unique and appealing aesthetic.

    • “Excellent character design and development.”
    • “The character development is deep, the protagonist is funny, the story is very solid.”
    • “- uninspired character designs”
    • “It really is the biggest strength this game has, alongside its character design maybe.”
  • replayability
    10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Overall, the game's replayability is mixed; while some players find it offers good replay value due to multiple endings and nostalgic elements, others feel it lacks significant incentives beyond collectibles. The game's short length of around four hours contributes to varied opinions, with some enjoying the replay experience and others finding it limited.

    • “The game is kinda short, but it does have good replayability.”
    • “Overall, it's been a very enjoyable game, which I find has a pretty high replay value.”
    • “For example, frustrating difficulty and non-replayability.”
    • “Not much replay value outside of finding the crowns (which do nothing as far as I know).”
    • “Yeah, it's a bit short, being around four hours long, but it has a lot of replay value!”
  • emotional
    9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game effectively balances its over-the-top nature with a deep story and well-developed characters, resulting in both hilarious and heartwarming interactions. Players report experiencing an emotional roller coaster, particularly during the impactful endings that evoke feelings of satisfaction and inspiration. The combination of engaging dialogue, artistic visuals, and fitting music enhances the overall emotional experience, making it a memorable journey.

    • “The story is somewhat deep, while still being true to the over-the-top crazy nature of the game, and the characters have beautifully-developed personalities that lead to hilarious and heartwarming dialogue interactions.”
    • “Finally, when you reach the endings, the game hits you with very emotionally satisfying scenarios, which will leave you with a smile (nefarious or otherwise) as the screen returns to the main menu.”
    • “This game took me for an emotional roller coaster, and the ending was an extremely excellent finale to the game.”
  • atmosphere
    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's atmosphere is highly praised, with an excellent and catchy soundtrack that enhances the overall experience, particularly in standout segments like the underwater scene. However, some tracks are considered bland and generic, which slightly detracts from the overall ambiance.

    • “The atmosphere of the whole game and the music really made it one of the best games I've played this year.”
    • “Excellent soundtrack, wonderfully catchy and atmospheric.”
    • “There are a few tracks that really stand out and create such a nice atmosphere, like the one in the underwater segment.”
  • grinding
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game somewhat tedious due to the cumbersome level select process, which requires repeated navigation through initial levels. However, the instant respawn feature mitigates frustration, making the overall experience less tedious despite the potential for numerous deaths.

    • “Navigating the level select is rather tedious because it always starts you at the first two levels, then you have to navigate to the second and third screen every time you want to progress in the game.”
    • “The game isn't hard, and you'll die once or twice or over 50 times in my case, but since you instantly respawn, I think it's fine. It makes it a lot less tedious than it could have been, that's for sure.”
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69%Critics’ scoreBased on 4 critic reviews
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12h Median play time
10h Average play time
5-12h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 3 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

Nefarious is a arcade platformer game with comedy and science fiction themes.

Nefarious is available on Nintendo Switch, PC, Mac OS, PlayStation 4 and others.

On average players spend around 10 hours playing Nefarious.

Nefarious was released on January 23, 2017.

Nefarious was developed by StarBlade.

Nefarious has received mostly positive reviews from players and mostly positive reviews from critics. Most players liked this game for its gameplay but disliked it for its stability.

Nefarious is a single player game.

Similar games include Pumpkin Jack, Owlboy, They Always Run, Iconoclasts, Ghost 1.0 and others.