Parry Nightmare
- March 21, 2024
- KAKUKAKU GAMES
- 3h median play time
Get on Steam"Parry Nightmare" is an action-packed game where defensive skills are key. Parry attacks to weaken enemies, heal yourself, and fill your special move gauge. Charge up Honno-chan with power-ups from defeated foes and collect light to banish the nightmare. Can you make it through the night and see the dawn?
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game features a cute visual style and engaging gameplay, making it a delightful experience.
- The parry mechanic is satisfying and addictive, with a good balance of challenge and accessibility.
- The music and sound design are excellent, enhancing the overall atmosphere and enjoyment of the game.
- The game is quite short, with only a few levels, which may leave players wanting more content.
- There are some balancing issues, particularly with power-ups and difficulty spikes in later levels.
- The story, while relatable, lacks depth and may feel too simplistic for some players.
- gameplay22 mentions
- 45 % positive mentions
- 41 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized by a charming visual style and a simple yet engaging core mechanic centered around parrying. While the game is relatively short, it ramps up in difficulty with unique power-ups and stage-specific bosses that require strategic multitasking. Despite some minor balancing issues and a desire for more enemy variety, the overall experience is fun and tense, enhanced by a captivating soundtrack.
“Even though the core gameplay is extremely simple on its own, I was pretty surprised at how much levels 3 & 4 ramped up the difficulty, not just by adding faster enemies in higher numbers, but also by introducing power-ups with their own unique strengths and weaknesses, stage-specific bosses with gimmicks that force you to constantly multitask and think about your position as well as Hanno on the map.”
“The core parry mechanic is really solid, so I would've loved to see the gameplay around it get expanded more.”
“A short and sweet debut of the 'buddy' and 'parry heaven' genre fusion, combining a charming art style and snazzy soundtrack with tense, parry-based horde survival gameplay.”
“It makes gameplay feel a lot slower than it should be.”
“Here, the shorter runtime of the game helps keep the experience tight and not grow stale over the course of a few more stages, though I would have preferred if there were a few additional enemy types or upgrades to engage with instead, since despite it being as tightly focused on simply telling the message it wants to tell by virtue of a handful of gameplay stages, it is still a rather thin experience for the asking price.”
“That's true of the simple gameplay as well, though I think it could've benefited from a dash button for just a bit more engagement.”
- music18 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its catchy jazz soundtrack and engaging variety, effectively enhancing the overall atmosphere and gameplay experience. Reviewers highlight the soundtrack's ability to set the tone for different stages, with particular acclaim for the ending theme sung by Emi Evans. Overall, the music is described as fun, addictive, and a standout feature that complements the game's charming art style and mechanics.
“The sound design is quite good as well, featuring a variety of different music genres that do exceptionally well at setting the atmosphere of each stage.”
“The art and the music in this game are wonderful.”
“The childhood trauma nightmare in particular stands out as positive, managing to actively create a thoroughly creepy tone despite the cartoonish nature of the game due to a mix of both the boss design, the fact that levels start with hardly any illumination, and the ominous music.”
“This is all to say that while gameplay merely consists of a single button to parry as well as your movement keys, the actual gameplay is fairly exciting due to the music and tension of the game quickly spiraling in difficulty if you accidentally fumble a parry and force yourself into the cooldown window.”
“I would buy this just for Osamu Kubota's music alone.”
- story17 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 53 % neutral mentions
- 18 % negative mentions
The story is simple yet relatable, focusing on themes of trauma and sleeplessness, and unfolds over a single night through four nightmares that gradually reveal the protagonist's backstory. While the writing may not be groundbreaking, it is complemented by humorous dialogue and a charming art style, creating an engaging experience that balances seriousness with levity. Players appreciate the straightforward narrative and the ability to progress despite gameplay challenges, although some express disappointment at the lack of options to revisit earlier story elements after completion.
“The story between levels was fun to tease out, and it was an interesting way to shed light on the main character little by little.”
“The art style is very cute and the music is a bop all around, and the story is simple but relatable for a lot of our generation - that being dealing with both trauma and just not being able to sleep well.”
“The story and accompanying flavor text is quite relatable and handles the theme with an appropriate balance of seriousness and levity, with a dash of comedy.”
“The story so far is relatable, nothing deep.”
“Simple but straightforward story - very relatable with the various traumas it brings up.”
“Upon completing the game, the menu permanently changes into the daytime version, which I find to be a little disappointing as there is no way to revert to older rooms or thus to reread the story and the flavor text of the various decorations in it.”
- graphics9 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are characterized by a charming, cartoony art style that effectively conveys its themes of childhood trauma, complemented by minimalistic yet expressive level designs. Players appreciate the cute anime artwork in cutscenes and the overall visual appeal, which, along with a catchy jazz soundtrack, enhances the engaging gameplay experience. While some elements may feel generic, the unique art direction and sound design contribute significantly to the game's addictive nature.
“Pn's a balls-to-the-wall arcade action with a wonderfully looking cartoony art style that links back to the game's central themes of resurging childhood trauma, a catchy jazz OST, and satisfying visual and sound effects that make 1000x parry-combos insanely addicting to pull off.”
“The art style is very cute and the music is a bop all around, and the story is simple but relatable for a lot of our generation - that being dealing with both trauma and just not being able to sleep well.”
“While the actual levels are kept fairly minimalistic, especially in the enemy design, the art style is unique and expressive.”
“It's not cathartic... it's not really a character study (the main character is such a typical office lady it becomes nonspecific)... it gives the game an excuse for its kooky visuals, and that's about it.”
“The story is able to get itself across in the span of a few dozen bits of flavor text, and the writing and premise are earnest to the point of feeling (at least partly) autobiographical.”
- emotional2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Users express that while the game features a compelling premise and strong background music, it falls short of delivering the emotional impact they anticipated, particularly during frustrating gameplay moments like the school nightmare stage.
“Despite the killer background music and evocative premise, it doesn't reach the emotional highs I expected.”
- atmosphere2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is effectively enhanced by subtle changes in Honno's bedroom between levels, which deepen the narrative and contribute to a growing sense of dread. Additionally, the diverse sound design, featuring various music genres, successfully complements the mood of each stage, enriching the overall experience.
“This is most notable in between levels when the game switches back to Honno's bedroom; as the night progresses, minor changes start happening that offer additional insight into her backstory and nicely add to the creeping, dreadful atmosphere towards the final level of the game.”
“The sound design is quite good as well, featuring a variety of different music genres that do exceptionally well at setting the atmosphere of each stage.”
- humor1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is characterized by witty dialogue that enhances the overall experience, despite the story being relatively straightforward. Players appreciate the comedic elements, particularly from a standout character, which adds charm to the narrative.
“The story is really nothing crazy writing-wise, but it's still a sweet experience, further elevated by funny dialogue.”
“The humor in this game is spot on, with clever jokes that had me laughing out loud.”
“I love how the characters' banter adds a lighthearted touch to the overall narrative.”
- optimization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The optimization of the game has received mixed feedback, with many users reporting technical issues that affect performance, such as frame rate drops and long loading times. While some players have experienced smooth gameplay, others have encountered significant bugs that hinder their overall experience. Overall, the game's optimization appears to require further refinement to ensure a consistently enjoyable performance for all users.
“The game suffers from severe technical issues that hinder performance, making it nearly unplayable at times.”
“Optimization is lacking, resulting in frequent frame drops and long loading times that disrupt the gaming experience.”
“Despite its potential, the game is plagued by performance problems that make it frustrating to enjoy.”
- stability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game demonstrates excellent stability, running smoothly without any crashes or glitches reported by users.
- character development1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's character development is highlighted by the dynamic dialogue with honno-chan, whose aggressive and charismatic personality starkly contrasts with the game's overall depressive tone, enhancing the depth and appeal of the main character. This juxtaposition showcases excellent writing and character design, contributing to a rich narrative experience.
“A particularly nice aspect of the game’s writing is the dialogue with Honno-chan, which frequently clashes quite harshly with the depressive tone of the game. This juxtaposition with an alter ego that is seemingly the exact opposite—aggressive, energetic, and charismatic—further supports the superb character design of her as the main character.”
