Recent reviews by Mannequin

I'm going to start with the obvious: this game is not the Neverhood, and if you go into it wearing your rose-coloured glasses and expecting it to be exactly the same you will be disappointed.

Now that's over with, I can say that I very much enjoyed Armikrog.

Controls/gameplay:
It's a standard point-and-click, pretty self explanatory. The mechanic of switching between Tommynaut and Beak-Beak is really neat, as was being able to feed Beak-Beak the seeds to make him fly. It would have been interesting to see some other types of seeds, perhaps one that makes him swim, and I feel the mechanic was a little bit under utilised. For me the game is still buggy. Tommynaut would get stuck on things or randomly stop moving, and sound effects and voice lines would sometimes not play. These bugs aren't exactly game breaking, but they are a bit annoying.

Puzzles:
The puzzles were pretty standard and not too difficult or too easy. There were some early puzzles (push puzzles) where I found it was way too easy to render the puzzle unsolvable and have to reload a save. However, this was an isolated incident. I would have liked to see a bit more variety in the puzzles though.

Story:
The story was interesting enough, though I feel it was a bit rushed. It would have been beneficial to have the story be more fleshed out. I didn't really have any feelings towards Mother, Father, or P. I know I've said you shouldn't expect this game to be like Neverhood, but who could forget the discs you collected to watch Willie Trombone explain the story in charming 2D claymation. I really think the story is where this game most suffers. We don't get to see the personalities of any characters aside from Tommynaut and Beak-Beak. The events surrounding Numnaut and Vognaut should have been given more attention. As a villain Vognaut feels very cheap, his motivation is paper thin at best.

Visuals:
The visuals are where Armikrog really shines. I went into this game hoping for stunning visuals, as I absolutely love rough claymation, and I was not disappointed. The incorperation of other materials, such as fur and paper, only add to the charm.

Overall:
To me it feel as though the game was rushed. Maybe it's because they didn't have the support of another studio (remember, Neverhood was released under DreamWorks), maybe they were just feeling the pressure of having to please the kickstarter crowd. I honestly don't know. But, I do think the game would have benefitted from a few more months development time.
Despite its flaws I still list Armikrog as one of my recommended games, with a few conditions. If you haven't played Neverhood, play Armikrog first. If you have played Neverhood and are using that as a base for your expectations, don't play Armikrog.

Some people would claim that this game is relaxing. I would claim that those people are liars.

10/10 would develop a stress related heart condition again.