Effie

I really enjoyed playing Effie. It was a cute and happy game, and as I have mentioned, it offered a surprisingly deep experience. However, it was very short. Sure, I didn’t explore every additional area, but I was done with the main story in a few hours and spent an hour or so exploring. Say five hours all told and you are done with it. I think the game warrants more, I think it is good as it is, but I wanted it to be longer. It doesn’t need to be a 15-20-hour game, but maybe one more chapter or at least something more substantial in chapter five before the final encounter would have certainly helped.

Effie has a lot going on, but without any real direction. It evokes vague senses of nostalgia from games with clear visions, but fails to do much with the inspirations it draws from. The open world’s visuals are somewhat of a treat synergized well with the impressive shield-surfing gameplay. Mechanically unfocused, the game is ultimately hindered by an overly ambitious approach to the design. Effie might be worth looking for those who are okay with a simple, shallow platforming experience.

Effie is a decent traditional third person platformer, but could have been so much more. Perhaps we’ve been spoiled in recent years, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that Effie could have been elevated if it had tied the interesting backstory to the game mechanics or development in some way. As it stands, the narrative is totally removed from the game itself and this makes it feel old-fashioned in the wrong sort of way. Not a disaster but a missed opportunity.

If you're a fan of 3D platformers then you'll absolutely love Effie. It's one of the most satisfying games that I've played this year so far.

Effie is a game that starts out terrible but slowly gets better until it eventually becomes no worse than ‘middling’. There are hints of good ideas and an endearing reverence for PS2-era action platformers. I have no doubt that with greater resources Inverge Studios could put out something legitimately great, but Effie’s concessions are too high a barrier to enjoyment.