Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP (PC) (2012)

Overview: A mysterious point and click adventure that involves sword and sworcery.

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Game Mechanics: Some of the following only applies at certain points in the game. Move around by double-clicking the left mouse button. Right click to use your sword (or shield). Click on the sword (or shield) to use it. Hold left click to enter sworcery mode.

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The player (left) meets a girl (right)

20190228 Snapshot:
Steam Achievements:
20130709 0421 We Got the Megatome
20130709 0451 The Ballad of the Space Babies
20130709 0451 The Mushroom Kingdom

Steam Game Time: 76 minutes

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20190301:
Loading up the game, I noticed that I had completed 27% of the game. In any case, I tried to play more, but I was lost trying to figure out what I had to do. Eventually I started watching a walkthrough on YouTube in order to determine the progress I had already made. I continued to play as I watched. Unfortunately, after 32 minutes of aimlessly walking around trying to gather my bearings, I grew sleepy and went to bed (23:10).

Setup: For whatever reason I couldn't see the mouse cursor in fullscreen mode. Perhaps because I had tabbed out. Regardless, I suppose I kind of liked playing in 1920 x 1080 instead of fullscreen (2560 x 1440).

Awaken a slumbering Sylvan Sprite.

Steam Game Time: 108 minutes (total game time) / 32 minutes (session game time)

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20190302:
Today I reviewed my old screenshots to find that I had in fact gone through parts of the game which I had not recognized while watching the walkthrough (https://youtu.be/bSPqwTQbVHQ). Past the walkthrough, I had screenshots showing that I saved two Sylvan Sprites (sheep and nestbox/songbirds). I also observed that the Sylvan Sprites were located where there were bubbles. Luckily, in the screenshots I noticed that both locations had something in common (a yellow glow with bubbles coming out). Yesterday, while aimlessly walking around, I had seen two other places with this feature.

Gameplay Log:
Sylvan Sprite 4 of 5: Rub rainbows until they stays bright
Sylvan Sprite 5 of 5: Rub trees in the right order. Hint: four at top right followed by four at bottom left.
Beat the boss. Completed Session II. 41%.

A successful dodge during the Session II Boss Battle.

Boss battle in detail:
If the player is defeated, the player will spawn with one life.*
Prior to the boss's first attack, three health can be healed by holding the shield immediately after starting the boss fight.
In the first phase part one, the boss fires a slow attack which is deflected by the sword.
In the first phase part two, the boss fires a faster attack. Note: there is no time to heal between part one and part two.
During the second phase, it is necessary to dodge the attack by pressing the shield when it flashes. Note: it is possible to heal one health between the first and second phase.
During the third phase, the boss will first fire a shot which needs to be dodged with the shield. It will then fire the triangles which are to be destroyed with the sword.
Finally... the boss fires a final attack which is to be dodged.

A deathless spectre spawns!

Start Session III
13 minutes idle to put baby to sleep
The next New Moon is March 6th and the next Full Moon is March 20th
Beat the Grizzled Boor. Let him live.
Found the time paradox place so don't need to fast forward time. Not that I was going to anyways.
45% Completed

Steam Game Time: 3.8 hours (total game time) / 2.0 hours (session game time) / 0.3 hours (idle time)

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Thoughts:
Pros:
+ Good soundtrack
+ Atmospheric
+ Beautiful pixel graphics
+ Quirky dialog

The Grizzled Boor

Neutral:
~ Twitter game feature (possibly useful, for me it's not and the icon which appears in the HUD detracts ever so slightly from my experience)

Cons:
- Slow-paced; arguably boring
- Lack of motivation to play
- Too much repetition and walking (which is slow)
- Apparently the iOS version (touch controls) is a step up from this PC port (mouse control).

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Summary:
This game is a prime example of an artsy game. In fact, it might have focused too much on art and not enough on the gameplay.

The Archetype (right) summarizes what we've just done (at the end of Session I).

Note, however, that I eventually learned this version was a port of the original iOS game. This may in large be the reason why gameplay suffers. For example, in battles, it may be fun to use touch controls to tap the shield and sword items. This, however, feels mildly awkward with a mouse. As another example, the game splits itself into three sessions, a feature which seems more appropriate for casual players (on a tablet) but less appropriate for more seasoned players (on a PC).

Overall, I find the game lacks an appeal and would not recommend it to a fan of classic point and click adventures. It may, however, be a fun and casual experience for players who mainly play games on their tablets.

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Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP (PC) (2012)*
*Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP (iOS) (2011)

Relevant Links:
Sword and Sworcery Website
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP (Wikipedia.org)
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP (Steam Store Page)