Helvault

You wanna know how to tell if a game may be oversimplified?  If it only uses one button.

But seriously, folks.  If that doesn't capture how simplistic Helvault is, nothing will.  The only thing you have the power to do is jump.  This makes the game easy to play, if nothing else.

The visual style is one step further than that whole "retro-NES" style I talked about in my Haven review and goes for something of a "retro-Atari 2600" look.  The animations are limited and the whole thing is very plain.  Nothing to behold but nothing to scorn.

The game itself, despite having literally the most simple control scheme possible, can actually get pretty intense.  It goes for an arcade feel, which shows through its difficulty.  Yeah, this game is a token taker, alright.  See, the way you power up is by collecting more teammates, so when those teammates die, you get substantially weaker.  You enemies, which kill you just by touching you, do not.  Thus, it becomes nigh impossible to survive once a few of your guys get taken out. This isn't a bad thing, mind.  I appreciate how unforgiving the game is, and since the game takes no time at all to get moving, it makes for a fun and intense experience.  Who knew timing jumps could be so fun?

The other thing that can make this game super chaotic is that your teammates can spread out.  See, they form a line behind you as you collect them, and they all jump simultaneously when you press the jump button.  This means that if you have a large team, you're likely going to end up with three separate rows of platforms all being covered by your guys.  Keeping track of your characters under these conditions can be quite exhilarating.

Yeah, that's all I got.  Simple concept, fun game.  Until next time, stay prehistoric.

Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=26008