Penny's Big Breakaway (From the developers of Sonic Mania)

[Dcubed]

 

Can't say that I expected Evening Star's first game to be a 3D platformer, but I am definitely in for this!

[Jonnas]

I trust the developer's portfolio, so I'm highly intrigued by this. The art direction is certainly promising (cute penguins make any game better)

Actually, you know what this reminds me of? Dynamite Headdy. Not because of anything in particular, just the general vibes.

[Dcubed]

8 hours ago, Jonnas said:

I trust the developer's portfolio, so I'm highly intrigued by this. The art direction is certainly promising (cute penguins make any game better)

Actually, you know what this reminds me of? Dynamite Headdy. Not because of anything in particular, just the general vibes.

Agreed totally.  Feels like the kind of game that Treasure would’ve made if they were still around

[Julius]

Direct goes live

Xbox: "our chance to steal the spotlight"

This is available...today! Shadow drop! 

[Dcubed]

Yes please! Thank you very much!

Looks to be 30FPS on Switch? In which case? PC it is.

[Dcubed]

Game is out now, and... yup, apparantly it is indeed 30FPS on Switch; while it's 60-120FPS on everything else.

Real shame, but that basically makes the Switch version a non-starter unfortunately.  Hopefully it gets an enhanced version when Switch 2 rolls around.

Will be getting this on Friday on PC when I get paid

[WackerJr]

The colours are just so… vibrant!  That’s a shame the Switch version sounds to perform lesser to the others.  I am really interested in this though, with the developer’s reputation. I may hold off until I’ve heard some reviews from some of you fine people as well as the wider press (that plus my huge backlog!).

[darksnowman]

Skimmed through an influencer video of this (doubt it was the Switch version). They seemed positive about it but that'll be their schtick so I'm taking it with a generous pinch of salt. Apparently the movement feels good but how can you to tell when you don't have it in your hands. All I know is there's something about the look of this that makes me sceptical. Especially since they had to bill it in the showcase as "from the makers of..." instead of letting it stand on its own two legs. A short demo would assuage this I'm sure.
 

[Hero-of-Time]

9 minutes ago, darksnowman said:

Skimmed through an influencer video of this (doubt it was the Switch version). They seemed positive about it but that'll be their schtick so I'm taking it with a generous pinch of salt. Apparently the movement feels good but how can you to tell when you don't have it in your hands. All I know is there's something about the look of this that makes me sceptical. Especially since they had to bill it in the showcase as "from the makers of..." instead of letting it stand on its own two legs. A short demo would assuage this I'm sure.
 

I've been reading some impressions from those playing it and it does seem to have issues. Apparently there's no camera control, which I find weird for a 3D platformer, and there are lots of glitches and jank that could have done with being patched out. Seems like it could have done with more time in the oven.

[Josh64]

https://www.n-europe.com/news/pennys-big-breakaway-receives-bugfix-and-60fps-patch/

Big update coming!

[Dcubed]

Hope it does the trick.  I have the feeling that the game has just been optimised around 30FPS on Switch though, and we won't see a big performance uptick...

... would be very happy to be wrong though!

[Josh64]

37 minutes ago, Dcubed said:

Hope it does the trick.  I have the feeling that the game has just been optimised around 30FPS on Switch though, and we won't see a big performance uptick...

... would be very happy to be wrong though!

I was worried that might be the case, I guess it could be more like there's the potential for it to go as high as 60, but its not necessarily going to be a constant 60

[Hero-of-Time]

Here's how the patch changes the performance of the Switch version.

Quote

"Performance mode on switch will get you 60fps most of the game when docked, and a decent amount in handheld too. Some levels like VanillaTown will drop to 40/30fps in places where geometric density is high.

If you want to stay with a 100% locked experience, quality mode will give you 30fps as per the previous version, but now with the bonus of anti-aliasing"

 

[MindFreak]

A demo is out now.

[Jonnas]

Finally tried out the demo: it's pretty fun! Only did Level 1-1 and half of 1-2 (I originally intended to stop at the end of 1-1, so there's some proof of fun)

The controls need some time to adjusted to (as with most 3D platformers, admittedly), but it's definitely aiming for that sort of platforming that's fast and pleasant. Like, it feels like it scratches that "Super Mario 64" itch, but with moves that have nothing to do with SM64.

Penny's grounded moves are a typical dash and a sonic-style spin-dash. Her aerial moves are a double-jump, an air-dash, and a weird swinging motion that serves as a longer-reaching double jump. She also has a regular attack and a spinning yo-yo attack to fend off penguins (and solve certain obstacles).

Level design reminds me of Kirby & the Forgotten Land: very linear, no camera control, some set pieces here and there, but there's always space for occasional exploration and side-objectives. Feels like a fast-paced platformer in 3D, done right.