(I'm aware this is stupidly long, dumb, and laughable. Notes at the bottom. Make fun of me in the comments!)

"Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy" (2017) is infamous, so infamous, in fact, that it spawned the entire genre of "Foddian" games, the namesake of which pays direct homage to the catalyst. Made wildly popular through YouTubers, streamers, and speedrunners, this game is known for invoking intense rage in its players while simultaneously being a joy to watch for viewers.

The player is tasked with scaling a mountain using very unconventional mouse controls, making this game unlike any other released. Almost no skills from other games transfer here, forcing every player to start from scratch on a brand new skill set. Hard enough, right? Well, that may already make it difficult; this challenge is compounded by the fact that the game has no reloadable save points. If you fall, you are going to have to do it all over again from where you land, possibly bringing you to the very beginning. If you are prone to rage-induced outbursts, you may be inclined to skip this game, although in my opinion that is a shame. I recommend taking steps to ensure you don't break anything in your surroundings, then proceeding, because this game is simply a must-play. While this game is famous for its unique gameplay and difficulty, in my opinion, one of the best and most underrated aspects is the narration and soundtrack that play while you scale the mountain. Bennett speaks directly to the player, and, without any spoilers (whatever that means lol), the script is beautifully written. As the icing on the cake to the auditory experience, certain very fitting songs will play upon the player falling. While that may amplify some players' rage, I found it to be a fun lighthearted bit that made me smile even when I was discouraged. Please listen to the narration and accompanying soundtrack during your first completion.

This game is a massive outlier due to the fact that the easiest achievement, simply completing the game once, has a 9.3% success rate. Statistically, most people who buy this game never see it through to the end. My first victory, if I remember correctly, took me around 3 hours (my biggest regret from this game is not recording my times). However, I have seen first completions take up to 21 hours. An estimate of how long it takes to beat this game is essentially impossible to give; it truly is unique to every individual. While climbing the mountain is the only given objective of the game, Getting Over It features three achievements required for 100% completion status: one victory, two victories, and an astounding and frankly bizarre 50 victories. However, if there was a game to be fitting of an achievement so ridiculous, it would have to be this one. It is quite frankly poetic, as pretentious and silly as that may sound. The ultimate challenge features an achievement rate of just 2.7%, making it a fairly rare accomplishment. I have completed this challenge. With me describing the magnitude and difficulty of the game and the final achievement in such a way, you may think I'm "glazing" myself, and I am; this took me almost 50 hours. I'm going to brag lol. Obviously, grinding wins for the 100% can become tedious and boring after a while. I recommend turning on a YouTube video or some kind of show/movie on a second screen while grinding (provided you can afford to not give the game your full attention). Doing this made the game very fun and excellent for keeping me busy while I consumed media. After 50 wins, you obviously will become more skilled at the game. I lowered my average time from an hour or so on my second completion to consistently finishing it in under 15 minutes as I completed the last 10 required runs. My personal best was 8 minutes and something seconds, if I remember correctly. It was a while ago, sorry lol. The skill progression was also quite satisfying to see. The game shows you your completion time at the end of each run, so it is easy to visualize your improvement. After a while the satisfaction comes from not simply the task of completing the game, but lowering your time as much as possible. If you are able to persevere and see the required 50 wins to its end, you are intended to receive a "golden pot" as a cosmetic reward. However, please note there exists a common glitch where it simply doesn't award you with the promised trophy (this happened to me). Do not worry because, if you are like me, you are really here for the 100% completion. The game rewards you with the final achievement regardless of the status of the golden pot. And if you really want the golden pot, cheat it in after 50 wins; I won't tell :). I have never been more satisfied and fulfilled by completing any other single achievement than this lone one. It will forever live in my achievement showcase. I finished the 100% completion over the course of two years, having brief phases where I would get a few wins, then take a break for days, weeks, or even months. This prevented me from burning out, and I enjoyed the game until the end because of my pacing. The sense of euphoria I had when I saw the achievement pop was, quite frankly, amazing. Two years and almost two full days of my life were finally recognized in that one moment. The journey was finished. Hands down, this was one of my most memorable gaming experiences of all time. This game will test you; it will force you to restart over and over again; it will make you mad. In my opinion, though, that is the allure of this game, and what makes it so special. The difficulty truly makes completing it for the first time feel like an accomplishment, with the final achievement and the journey to get there being even more rewarding.

The game is priced at $8.99 CAD ($6.51 USD) when not on sale; however, at the time of review, it is only $2.69 CAD ($1.95 USD). At the usual price, the game is an amazing value, but at the discounted price you would be a fool not to buy it. How much gameplay you get out of this game will depend on if you want to get the 100% completion, which will take somewhere in the double digits of hours. However, even for one completion, I believe this game is worth every penny. If you truly want to get as much as you can out of this game, you can join the massive speedrunning community; the skill ceiling is unbelievable. The world record is just under 1 minute and is genuinely an amazing watch, I highly recommend taking a look.

In 2017 "Getting Over It" and its developer Bennett Foddy changed indie gaming forever. Made by one man, it turned into one of the biggest "Let's Play" games of all time. Multiple gameplay videos received tens of millions of views, and the game saw a peak of almost 100k concurrent viewers on Twitch. And amazingly, despite all the big-budget games made by monolithic studios that exist, this game deserves all of the praise and popularity it has received, and honestly, maybe even more. It is simply amazing and without flaw. This game is a masterpiece and, as corny as it may sound, is in a very strange way, beautiful.

- TrashedValentine

Author's notes: I am aware that many will find this review very stupid but I was bored and this is one of my all-time favorites. But also note that I was tweaking on addy when I wrote this, and my other family members were loudly fighting downstairs. So I was distracting myself lol.

• A piece of gaming history
  
• Unique, a game unlike any other
  
• Amazing price (even more so when on sale)
  
• Extremely challenging (a pro for me, could be a con for you)
  
• One of the most fulfilling games to complete
  
• Can run on almost any system

• None.