Overview: You've gone back in time to warn yourself about... no time to explain.
20170514:
I once launched the game before, but I didn't get to play it at the time. Today, however, I played the game for what seemed like forever (but it was a little under 25 minutes).
I actually would have continued playing except for a minor run-in with the game menu. I was defeated twice by the shark boss and wanted to take a short break. I thought I could go to the level select and go directly to the boss fight. Instead, I learned that I would have had to replay the first few parts of the level which precedes the boss fight (the level consists of seven parts, where the seventh part is the boss fight against the shark). Not in the mood to replay those parts, I stopped playing.
Setup: Keyboard and mouse.
Game Mechanics: There weren't any instructions at the beginning of the game, but I knew what to do from watching some trailers. Most of the time, the character has a laser which is used to propel himself into the air as if he's wearing a jetpack. Some of the time he has a shotgun which fires a strong blast and launches him, without intervention, in a parabolic arc.
Steam Game Time: 25 minutes (total game time)
[20170514 Assumed Entry Date][20190902 Edit]
20190902:
As part of my goal to break even on my Humble Bundle purchases, I revisited this game today.
Setup: Xbox controller.
Gameplay Log:
Finished Level 5 (31 minutes). Took a break to check on my son
Followed guide to get two hats in Level 1, hat in 2-1 and 2-4. Got some hats on my own as well (3-4 and two on 5-10). This results in all hats collected from levels one through five.
Finished shmup level (lost a life, so no Dinorun achievement), Level 6 (got all the hats), and Level 7 (got all the hats)
Steam Game Time: 2.5 hours (total game time) / 2.0 hours (session game time)
Thoughts:
Pros:
+ Has that fun, difficult platformer feeling
+ Generally numerous/friendly checkpoints (see minor con)
Neutral:
~ Has about as much of a story as a Super Mario game.
Minor Con:
- There seemed to be one place in the game (at the end of Level 6) where I had to use my keyboard to bring in a second player. Fine, not the worst. But then when Level 7 started, I didn't know how to have the second player quit.
Cons:
- "Level Select" lacks a warning similar to "Are you sure? Current progress will be lost."
- Menu system isn't clear. For example, a couple times I exit the game when I thought I would just exit the level. The menu should replace "Level select" with "Exit to Level Select" and "Exit" with "Exit Game" or "Exit to OS."
[20190902 Edit]
Summary:
From a pure gameplay perspective, No Time To Explain is awesome.
[20190902]
No Time To Explain Remastered (PC) (2015)
Relevant Links:
No Time To Explain (Wikipedia.org)
No Time To Explain Remastered (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
No Time To Explain Remastered (Steam Store Page)
20170514:
I once launched the game before, but I didn't get to play it at the time. Today, however, I played the game for what seemed like forever (but it was a little under 25 minutes).
 |
| I can make it!!! (I probably didn't) |
I actually would have continued playing except for a minor run-in with the game menu. I was defeated twice by the shark boss and wanted to take a short break. I thought I could go to the level select and go directly to the boss fight. Instead, I learned that I would have had to replay the first few parts of the level which precedes the boss fight (the level consists of seven parts, where the seventh part is the boss fight against the shark). Not in the mood to replay those parts, I stopped playing.
Setup: Keyboard and mouse.
 |
| First Boss. Easy. |
Game Mechanics: There weren't any instructions at the beginning of the game, but I knew what to do from watching some trailers. Most of the time, the character has a laser which is used to propel himself into the air as if he's wearing a jetpack. Some of the time he has a shotgun which fires a strong blast and launches him, without intervention, in a parabolic arc.
Steam Game Time: 25 minutes (total game time)
[20170514 Assumed Entry Date][20190902 Edit]
 |
| Shoot'em Up Level |
20190902:
As part of my goal to break even on my Humble Bundle purchases, I revisited this game today.
Setup: Xbox controller.
Gameplay Log:
Finished Level 5 (31 minutes). Took a break to check on my son
Followed guide to get two hats in Level 1, hat in 2-1 and 2-4. Got some hats on my own as well (3-4 and two on 5-10). This results in all hats collected from levels one through five.
Finished shmup level (lost a life, so no Dinorun achievement), Level 6 (got all the hats), and Level 7 (got all the hats)
 |
| Second Boss |
Steam Game Time: 2.5 hours (total game time) / 2.0 hours (session game time)
Thoughts:
Pros:
+ Has that fun, difficult platformer feeling
+ Generally numerous/friendly checkpoints (see minor con)
Neutral:
~ Has about as much of a story as a Super Mario game.
 |
| Taking screenshots like a pro. |
Minor Con:
- There seemed to be one place in the game (at the end of Level 6) where I had to use my keyboard to bring in a second player. Fine, not the worst. But then when Level 7 started, I didn't know how to have the second player quit.
Cons:
- "Level Select" lacks a warning similar to "Are you sure? Current progress will be lost."
- Menu system isn't clear. For example, a couple times I exit the game when I thought I would just exit the level. The menu should replace "Level select" with "Exit to Level Select" and "Exit" with "Exit Game" or "Exit to OS."
[20190902 Edit]
Summary:
From a pure gameplay perspective, No Time To Explain is awesome.
[20190902]
No Time To Explain Remastered (PC) (2015)
Relevant Links:
No Time To Explain (Wikipedia.org)
No Time To Explain Remastered (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
No Time To Explain Remastered (Steam Store Page)
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