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unlimitedtrees · 10 months

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'spark the electric jester 3' is The 3d platformer of All Time. and im tired of pretending its not .

first off, two things: one. Please look at this video by Tukepuikko Immediately . it is the most sick video of All Time. Second Off... im putting this in my little #TreesThinks tag cus this is a big post that i want people to See !

So . i have become a heavy shill for spark 3. i have put nearly 60 hours into this game (at the time of me reposting this on tumblr, over 100 hours). it is the most Fun 3d game ive ever played in My Life. there is Nothing Like It. i love it a lot and i want more of it to exist, and i want more people to play it so that more of it can exist.

before i get into me whole thoughts about it, iwill just say that is The Best Controlling 3D Platformer Ever , Has Combat With Actual Depth , The Best Levels Of All Time , And Has A REALLY Silly Story That Is Worth Experiencing Blind. okay. if youre interested click da 'read more' thingy. i DARE YOU !!!

so. if u dont know, spark 3 is created by a guy named lake. he made a bunch of old sonic fangames and then made two entire games almost entirely by himself. im not that big a fan of Most of his earlier games, but they have a lot of aspects of them that no other game does ... but This Game in particular does just the specific kind of things i like that makes me Love It Alot. Also , keep in mind the fact that this game is Mostly made by one(1) guy . it will make sense for some of its Issues which i will get into.

So. first off , the controls. It is The Best Controlling Thing Ever. Of Course, being one of those Sonic Inspired thingys, it has really nice Physics and you can interact with slopes and the terrain really nicely... u can do silly tricks off slopes to reach crazy heights or gain tons of speed. it feels really nice and is something i wish was in every game because its my favorite thing ever. And the base movement (as in, running and jumping) feels Really Good... ur turning while running at high speeds feels Good and just Jumping Around the world feels Nice and Responsive. but that is not the Whole Reason why this game's movement is the best.

its the best because of your Options and Abilities... and that u can actually Recover and do Cool Things with ur abilities. you not only have a double jump, homing attack, and a dash, but u have a 'charged jester dash' and a down dash and a Wall Run which feels Really Well and a wall jump, along with special abilities you can buy in the shop with 'bits', such as an Energy Dash (a powerful dash which spends energy), a 'Jester Swipe' (basically the light speed dash but it Adds to ur speed when u use it), and separate characters with their own movement abilities (such as a character who can float and a character who has Two air dashes). all of these moves (and more) combined can be used for Crazy movement in the levels.. as u can see in the video i posted above. not only can u go Really Fast in this game (which controls Really Good), but you can use it to move around the world and reach crazy heights AND safely recover in case u make a mistake... u have tons of Options and they all feel Really Good and i Love it. moving around the levels in this game feels So Good and i wish more games had Good Movement that lets u Explore the levels nicely.....

Which, Brings me onto the Levels. the levels in this game are Huge. playing them casually and just goin from start to finish will last from 3 to 4 minutes in Most of the main stages... but if u like to spend time exploring levels and messing around doing dumb tricks and stuff, then this game is for you because a ton of the levels in this game are Massive. i have spent from 30 minutes to Over An Hour on some stages just Exploring them and there are Still things i have yet to find... and theyre actually Fun to move around and explore and theres actually cool things to find in the levels (such as exploration medals which help later in the game and also various other collectibles and even Enemies u can find. its great). even in the smaller side stages there is still a lot to find and mess around in. Basically , if you see something in any level, you can Get There and find something there. nearly everything has collision in most of these levels. and there are hardly any kill planes. anyways um yea. these levels are huge and fun to play in and have a ton of stuff in them and are nice and i like them. i want more games with levels that are Fun to explore !!!

anyways. next up i want to talkabout the combat. there are two types of enemies: weak enemies which u can just take out with a homing attack or a shot from ur finger gun (something which u equip in da shop). these weak enemies are pretty alright, u cant just mindlessly homing attack some of them as some of them have moves u have to avoid. but then there are Stronger enemies, such as the ones scattered in the levels or the ones in the boss fights. These enemies have health bars and more attacks than the weak enemies. In this game , uhave a heavy attack and a light attack, along with a ton of combo moves (some of which u can buy in da shop, as well as other playable characters having their own combos). you also have a bunch of extra powers u can equip which are really useful in combat, such as a powerful gun and an explosion move. Strong enemies have attacks which u can parry (along with ones that u cant), and if u perform a perfect parry u can stun the enemy and are given a little bit of energy which is Useful (u can also just. Hold the parry button to just block certain attacks, which makes things a bit easier).

Now , if u were like me in my first playthrough, u can just Ignore all of that and just spam the attack buttons and just play on easy difficulty and clear through the entire game. In Fact, a lot of the 'mandatory' fights in the levels can be Skipped in various ways (just look up the speedruns of this game and youll see what i mean). However, theres actually a Lot of depth to the combat in this game and its actually pretty fun , and when u actually Try in the combat you can actually kill enemies Quicker than just spamming attacks.

first off, the actual Fights in this game arent as brain dead as spark 2 where u can basically just Hold parry and spam the attacks to win... even when u spam attacks in this game u actually have to Dodge certain attacks (as , as i mentioned earlier, some moves cant be parried). Secondly.. this game has a Combo Meter which, when filled up by doing unique combos, adds a Damage Multiplier which can be used to end fights a Lot Quickly. also.. the combos u can actually pull off in this game are pretty Sick. its not as crazy as something like devil may cry... but the game was Inspired by it and u can actually Juggle enemies by launching them in the air with certain moves.. and u cant just keep an enemy juggled in the air forever... u have to actually put Effort into pulling off cool stuff.. and people have done cool stuff... just see the Skill Contest that was done for this game.. people have done some Crazy shit ! one last thing ill mention about da combat (For Now) is that pulling off the perfect parry is really satisfying... thats all Lol.

last of da positive things i will get into is da Presentation and Story . this game is Pretty. it is a Huge step up from spark 2... the characters look Good and the animation looks Good and the levels look Good. the music is Really Good with some cool tracks... though personally it isnt as good as the Literal Perfect Soundtracks that are the Spark 1 and 2 osts along with the Sonic Before and After the Sequel soundtracks......

Oh Wait , one more little thing i should mention... the speed run of this game is Crazy . this game has Insane Tech that is fun to pull off while not being totally easy or game breaking. just watch some of the any% speedruns to see what i mean.... this game is crazy.

Anyways , for the Story ... i will not get into spoilers as i think its best experienced blind. during most of the game, there isnt a whole lot of cutscenes or interesting stuff going on unfortunately .... the only thing going on is the backstory infodumps that happen after a few bosses which. arent that great and go on for Way too long. HOWEVER . at the very last level , the game DUMPS a TON of cutscenes on you and all sorts of INSANE and crazy ass shit happens in it. it is one of the most Passionate endings to a game ive ever seen... it does So Much. you will either Really Really Love it or kind of hate it. and i think its perfect because of that. it is a funny little ride and its worth going through i think.

so. all of those reasons are why i think the game is one of my favorites right now. there is just nothing else like it. However, the game Does have quite a bit of problems that you might not like. after beating the game, its easy to ignore all of them when replaying, but on ur first playthrough u might either Really Really Love this game or Not Like it by the end of it.

First Off, there is a mechanic which doesnt really become a problem until the last two levels. this game has Fall Damage. now. You Might Love It or Really Really Hate It. personally ... i Like it but wish it had more going on. you see... after reaching a certain fall speed and hitting the ground, u take a bit of damage. But Also , if u Fall For Too Long a little timer will appear. when this timer is out, you Die. the reason this is done is so that you cant just fall straight down in the more vertical levels in this game (particularly the last two). you actually have to work around the level in order to reach the bottom of the final levels ... But you can also cancel ur fall speed by using your moves such as the double jump and dash in mid-air. Now, Conceptually, i think its Kind Of Interesting... as all of your moves become a resource which u have to manage in order to get down in the vertical levels. and i think if there was more going on in these vertical levels (such as things in the air you have to avoid), it could lead to some very interesting and complex gameplay. In Fact , the speedruns of this game are very interesting in that speedrunners have to Abuse the falling timer in order to get as far down as you can in the last two levels. it leads to interesting routing, and with how massive these levels are there are Tons of possibilities for routes u can take.

However, the last two levels have some Problems. the second to last one, Deep Descent, is a Huge vertical level where u have to descend down a massive, challenging level. and it is a really fun level to explore and the actual parts where ur Running on normal ground is nice and challenging... but when u enter the parts where u need to Fall.... there isnt a whole lot going on. there are weird loop thingys which slow ur fall speed, but aside from that there is Nothing else going on in the air. no enemies, no obstacles to dodge in the air... nothing. i understand most of the level not being full of things in the air, as this level is Huge and this game being developed by One Guy means there is only So Much you can do... but i wish there were like floating spikeballs or something that u have to avoid when ur falling in this level... cus aside from that there isnt much challenge when ur playing the level casually. the only challenge is to Not Let The Timer Run Out... which i can see why people dont like it. But, when going thru this level and abusing the falling mechanics to Skip most of the level and successfully falling to a place without dying is Pretty Fun to me, i just wish the falling mechanic was Used more. other than that... Deep Descent is pretty fine, however casually it goes on for nearly 11 minutes.. and there are some points where even the main parts of the level dont have a whole lot going on.

And That Leads me to the Final Level...... Utopia Shelter. and ill tell you: You Will Either Really Love It.... Or Really Really REALLY Hate it. First Off , this level has a Lives system. u gain more lives from collecting medals and beating more stages. the point of the lives system is so that you actually have to get good at the game in order to get to the ending. And well ... i am Unsure how to feel about it. i think the Idea of it is kind of alright ... it's supposed to encourage u to get good at the game in order to take on the final ultimate challenge that this level is supposed to be. it's supposed to add Weight to the final level... making every death meaningful and encouraging you to be more careful. But In Practice... not only is it a really cheap way of doing that, but its execution doesnt really Add anything to the game. if youre pretty Good or Decent at the game, youre only going to die a few times at most (i dont even think ive seen the game over screen myself before). but if youre Bad at the game and didnt get enough medals, this stage is going to be very Frustrating and a Huge roadblock. it doesnt help that at the very beginning you have to fight the hardest boss in the entire game.

and then there's the actual level itself. where do i even begin. So, it is The longest level in the game. it is supposed to be a massive journey that will last you almost 30 minutes when playing casually (and not game overing) just to Beat the Level itself. and you have lives on top of it. Now , with the way the game hypes up this level as being The Hardest and Longest challenge in the game, i was really looking forward to this being some sort of Eggmanland from Unleashed type level, where it tests all your skills and does all sorts of Insane bullshit. and well... it Kind of does that? there's defintely some challenge here (especially if you arent, u know, good at the game). but for Me.. there really wasnt a whole lot of interesting challenges here, and i was able to overcome the level pretty easily. i think what hurts this level the most is that it's totally Linear, and then at about like 2/3rds into the level it just becomes a bunch of straight roads you have to run across. Idk.. the level itself for most of it just doesnt feel as Grand as Spark 1 and 2's final levels. at least for me. i just wish the obstacles were more Crazy and Interesting. i dont Hate the level (and in fact its one of my favorite levels to Break and go Out of bounds. LOL), i just wish it did so much more with its concept. without getting into spoilers, about halfway into the level it starts introducing some Interesting visual things which i will not get into. but theyre pretty neat and i wish it expanded upon it more. also its pretty cool how its all just. one level. and there's no loading screens or anything inbetween so if you go out of bounds you can just. Fall to the final area. Lol. this level is defintely one of the most 'You Either Love it or Really Hate It' parts of the game.. but i think its worth going through just to see the ending.

anyways , ithink the only other negative ill getinto in this post is the Fights. as Good as i think the combat is, i feel like the actual enemies you fight are kind of ... basic. there are some Really Good and challenging bosses, but with the rest of the bosses and enemies in the game you'll notice that they dont really put up a fight.. in fact some bosses will just Stand Still and wait for awhile before they even perform another attack.. it makes fighting them very Easy and boring, Especially if you arent actively trying to be Good at the combat. it especially gets worse at the end of the game, where the same enemy types start reappearing (especially in the final level where you have to fight them in certain places... which u can skip but Lol). i get Why theyre the way they are... this game is Generally made to be a lot more easier than the previous spark games so that people new to the series can get adjusted to it more... but even in the hardest difficulties a lot of the enemies dont really change much, and there isnt really a whole lot of noticable differences in the harder difficulties aside from having Less Health. idk. i just wish there were more harder stuff that fully tested your skills in this game.. but it is what it is i suppose.

there's a few other problems i could probably mention (or i just forgot about), but i dont feel like bringing them up , cus despite the problems this game has, i think the positives Greatly outway the negatives. and also it is important to consider this entire game, which is like 4 hours long casually and is pretty ambitious, is made primarily by like. One Guy. i feel like it's important to keep that in mind.. cus it makes this game so much more Impressive, especially with how much of a huge step up it is from Spark 2 (which only came out in like, 2017). i think, even if some people might not like certain parts of the game, everyone Needs to play this game... it is only like, 25 dollars on steam, and can be bought in a bundle with the rest of the series for Less than 40 dollars... And both it and the bundle go on sale often. You can get So much out of all three of the games for like, nearly half of the cost of sonic frontiers. And also Spark 3 has a demo you can try...

So yea. i want to see this game succeed because i want More of it. the game just got DLC awhile ago with new abilities and The Entirety of Spark 2's Levels in Spark 3.... so even if u dont want to get the bundle you are getting Two Games Worth of Content from like. less than 30 dollars. please buy this game and check it out on steam and hopefully some day itll come to consoles and hopefully some day we can see more of this game. there's already one more DLC planned... and also there's now a Spark plush on makeship that already hit its minimum funding goal. please give this game a chance. it is The 3D Video Game of All Time. thats all. hehe

#TreesThinks #stej #spark the electric jester #spark the electric jester 3 #spark 3 #spark tej #indie game #indie games #video games #video game #platformer #3d platformer #3d games #Youtube

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alexandriaisburning · 1 year

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026: Spark the Electric Jester 3

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If Spark 2 has the cocky, brusque swagger of young ambition, Spark 3 moves with the confident, businesslike stride of someone with a plan guiding their every move. It’s a definitive, persuasive bullet point on Lake Fepard’s argument for what the high speed 3D platformer should be. It’s a synthesis of multiple generations of Sonic games--filtered by his experience with both fan games and his original work--with an eye for building and keeping momentum.

Spark’s ideas owe a debt to Sonic, but it’s hard to argue that it hasn’t made them its own. It’s not a perfect, polished object, but a compelling and coherent one following the scattershot aim of the previous two games. And yet Spark 3 is still happy to cast all those refinements aside to introduce a new gimmick or gameplay style on a whim, if it suits the moment. There’s an absolute confidence in spending years refining your movement and mechanics and instead opening on a Daytona USA style racing level--and making it somehow work.

When you get into the first level proper, it’s immediately obvious how satisfying the movement is. Physics are tweaked for more fine control, with an option mode to limit the max speed and add assists for those who want a less technical experience. Familiar Sonic staples like the homing attack, air dash, double jump, wall run and lightspeed dash are all here, with moves like the Down Dash and Jester Dash performing the functions of the stomp and spin dash, but refined so they can chain together without interrupting momentum. Each is separated out to prevent control overlap, and avoid unintentional inputs.

Even elements of modern Boost era Sonic manage to work their way in, without ever taking control or letting you go on autopilot. An unlockable Energy Dash launches you to an absurd speed and distance, allowing you to quickly cross otherwise impossible gaps and hitting max speeds within seconds. But it’s as likely to send you careening to your death if used incorrectly, and comes at the cost of a decent chunk of the new energy meter.

Energy is now more than a combo multiplier--which is separated into its own function--and powers many secondary abilities like the Energy Dash, float, teleport and special attacks. The energy system gives you an immediate reason to engage with exploration and combat, with energy pickups powering new traversal methods and the brief interruptions of combat mixing up the rhythm for a moment only to empower a quick return to high speeds.

These energy mechanics loop back into the new rail grinding systems, which were clearly designed to alleviate the common frustrations of finicky Sonic rail grind sections. Nearby rails can be targeted for a homing attack, instantly transferring you at high speeds without the fear of misjudging a jump and plummeting to your death. Crouching on a downward slope builds massive speed, and later abilities allow you to store and release energy by braking and rail boosting. The boost mechanics give that cathartic, near out of control feeling of the Boost Sonic games, but keep you engaged with the level by asking you to find the best time to deploy them, pushing and pulling the throttle with more precision as you familiarize yourself with the layouts, and leaving peak acceleration for when you’re literally on rails.

The amount of new toys calls for a change in the size of the sandbox. Spark’s first stage proper can take you five minutes or thirty, depending on how much time you want to speed finding alternative paths, collecting medals, or attempting sick jumps. Your only objective might be “get to the goal” but the paths you take can vary wildly.

Stages focused on side objectives like medal collection take aspects of Sonic Adventure’s Treasure Hunt stages, giving you small hubs to explore, but with a philosophy closer to something like a Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. Stages are designed for you to chain moves through them, finding your own routes as you learn the layouts. but I found myself wanting more of these medal collection stages, since the simple objective and soft pressure of timer gave the wide spaces motivation to learn them, but enough breathing room to try and do it in an expressive and stylish way.

You see the same emphasis on style and expression in combat, which takes its attitude from games like Devil May Cry. An expanding move list of combo techniques is now available, only growing larger as you gain alternative Jester Forms and characters to play as--which you can of course switch to mid combo. New launcher attacks expand the fight to the air, enabling juggles and air combos that further emphasize Spark’s mobility.

The parry that plagued Spark 2 is retuned--no longer the universal, impenetrable defense it once was, unable to parry stage hazards or certain unblockable attacks. That single change forces you to engage more with the boss patterns, and stay moving around the arena, with rhythm of push and pull closer to the rest of the game.

Consequently, when you nail a series of parries and break the boss’ stance it feels incredible. A vulnerable boss can be juggled to absurd heights before being brought crashing down with a powerful finisher. Flexing and keeping combos varied fills the combo meter faster, rewarding you with big damage and making it faster to go between combat and platforming in the main stages. The wild swings the combo system introduced in Spark 2 are prevented by the energy meter, which keeps a steady stream of buffs and special moves building, even when you drop your combo.

The new combat systems form a strong baseline through all the forms and characters, which each have little buffs and alterations to the moveset. Float adds a new “Mark” mechanic that boosts the damage of the party just by being there, Reaper Form can steal health, and Fark returns with expanded air movement and aspects of his moveset from the previous two games. Characters do unfortunately have a bit too much overlap to be entirely distinct--they have their own wrinkles and rhythm, but the beats are always the same. It’s easy to imagine another version of the game where these characters are relegated to short playable appearances, acting as hype moments rather than given full movesets. But their appearance in Spark 3 speaks to its philosophy of giving you more options, even if you don’t use all of them, because it’s more fun.

Modern mainstream games are often built to provide spectacle for everyone. Punctuated with set pieces designed to draw attention to themselves, and bring out a big talking point. Spark 3 is made for the obsessive. The ones returning to master each aspect. The people making combo videos and doing speedruns. It doesn’t care if you skip half the stage because it’s intentionally designed to give you the freedom to do that. You can see it in the skill contests Lake puts on to challenge and highlight players in the community, or in the way he handles moves like the Magnet Dash.

Magnet Dash initially began as an exploit in Spark 2 that allowed you to cancel a homing attack with a dash, slingshotting Fark to absurd speeds by extending the period of high acceleration. It was initially unintended, but Lake later formalized it into a hidden mechanic to make it more consistent to pull off. It returns in Spark 3, though it's still hidden and not given a proper tutorial, since it’s the only move that requires strict timing, and Lake wanted to prevent casual players from being alienated by it.

All these nuances make Spark 3 a game that continues to open up as you return to it. Simply moving around and exploring the moveset is a joy, and attempting better runs had me making calculations on when to engage in combat, or how I could use enemies to reposition myself. Reaching high speeds is exhilarating, but just as fun is knowing when to pull back the throttle and slow down to hit a better route through the stage. Spark 3 lends itself to the same mindset as racing sims, where moving fast is enjoyable not because you’re in a fast machine, but because you’re learning its limits and know how to keep that speed through the next turn. Playing a stage well is the spectacle here, and a clean run is easily as impressive as any scripted moment in a larger title.

Not that Spark the Electric Jester 3 doesn’t have its fair share of hype scripted moments. Spark’s finale builds up through an incredible series of stages and boss fights, which become more and more abstract as the world around Spark begins to unravel. It throws in new gameplay styles and unexpected transformations as the big anime plot happens and Spark fights back in pure shonen anime style--complete with vocal songs. It’s a left field escalation that had caught me off guard, which is impressive in a game that already surprised me with stages involving breaking through a prison complex, and being lifted by rioting protestors as I fought cops and firemen. It’s a wild journey on aesthetics alone, and even if it doesn’t always cohere, it had me motivated to see it through purely on the madcap energy and style it radiates.

That combination of inconsistency and almost improvisational design are where Spark 3 begins to show its limits as a single person project. After all, this is a game mostly made by Lake himself, with a few collaborators to provide music and sound, and to assist with additional art and programming. At the same time that’s exactly what allows Spark 3 to achieve its singular vision. Each aspect is touched and refined by the same person, and there’s no conflicting philosophy on what the game should be. Lake has a strong belief for what this style of game should be, and it's hard to play Spark 3 and disagree. It even predicts changes Sonic Frontiers would make to the series, and personally, provides a more compelling vision.

Most importantly, Spark the Electric Jester keeps me excited for where else Lake and other creators will take the genre. Spark 3 gave me basically everything I’ve wanted from a Sonic style platformer for years, while still firmly establishing its own identity. It makes me excited for all the upcoming games that not only take influence from 3D Sonic, but remix its ideas for their own goals.

Spark the Electric Jester 3 is exciting as both a game deep enough to return to for years, and living proof that a game's fans can not only match the highs of the games they imitate, but reach beyond with their own vision.

#spark 3 #spark the electric jester #spark the electric jester 3 #lakefepard #pc #momentum platformer #sonic the hedgehog #sonic #sparksweep

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