Day 124: Lichtspeer (PC)

Finding out if das simple indie is up my strasse with today's randomly selected title from my 524 game backlog - I'm playing one every day while furloughed from work...

Lichtspeer for the PC
Previous days' entries can be read HERE.

There are people in the world, deeply unpleasant people, who not only have a very high opinion of themselves, but feel it is their place to inform you of that opinion.

“I’m wild, me!” - “I’m the joker of the group” - “Everyone says I’m a bit crazy *Fakelaughs*” - there’s a short word for this kind of person, but I’ll leave that to your imagination. (Hint: It rhymes with cunt.)

At its worst, early on when it’s giving you time to think, this is the personality of Lichtspeer.

“I’m so wacky with my funny German-ish words” - “Ha-ha the currency is called LSD” - “Look at the deliberately bad animation, LOL” - “Aren’t these creatures maaad!”

As you would expect, this made me want to hate this game, but then I played for 2 hours non-stop and had to be threatened with divorce before I finally managed to pry myself away from “Just one more go!”

Lichtspeer, as you would expect from a product available on mobile phones as well as most consoles and PC, is a very simple game.

The main mechanic is a little bit ‘Angry Birds’ as your avatar is stationary on the left of the screen throwing spears to right. The spears even have a very similar, and very satisfying, arc that changes depending on the power.

This should be the paragraph where I’m talking about the creativity of the enemies, but that ‘I’m so wacky’ vibe is at it’s most prevalent here so I’m loath to give them the attention they crave... But that wouldn’t really be fair. 

The enemies approach from the far end of the screen and earliest examples include zombies and cycloptic giants. Later on there armoured penguins in airships, mecha turtles, and walruses that slide down ski-jumps. The best thing about these creatures isn’t the wannabe-bonkers visual design, but the fact that each has its own attack pattern, approach speed, and weakness. 

With all enemies, head shots are highly rewarded, chaining them together even more so, but the method of how to achieve this varies depending on the specific attack pattern. Some will hide behind a large shield, others run towards you much quicker than others, and airborne foes will have a distinct flight style to anticipate. Lichtspeer is a game that understands patterns, and, ultimately, this is what makes it so compelling to play.

A product of the post-Souls era, this is one of those games that is all too keen to tell you how difficult it is and how much you will die. And it’s true. It’s a difficult game and you die a lot. But, thanks to that core understanding of gaming patterns, frustration is a surprisingly rare occurrence. The levels are short, and each will always feature the same enemies in the same patterns. This means that, even in death, a lesson is usually learnt. Even as the number, speed, and variety of enemies reaches screen-filling proportions later in the game, there are enough visual and audio cues to give you a chance to overcome them. 

There are still ‘fuck-you’ moments in the game, such as level five when all of a sudden you have enemies approaching from both directions, or being one-hit-killed by a boss when you’re a sliver of it health away from winning, but thanks to the patterns, and a strong sense of fairness, the game as whole never feels cheap or annoying.

To help with the challenge there are upgrades that can be purchased between levels. These consist of modifications to your weapon, the additional shields, or a second attack. Each of these can be used at any point in the game (except boss battles) but have substantial cool-down periods to manage.

As I’ve mentioned bosses a couple of times I should say that they’re one of my favourite parts of the game. Although none have been all that challenging (so far), there is some real creativity at work in their attack patterns - especially considering the player character cannot move.

Lichtspeer’s simplicity will likely be a deal-breaker for many. If the gameplay challenge doesn't hit the spot for you then there’s nothing else here to win you round. The art style is unique and consistent but won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, and the music, despite being a brilliant fit for the style of the game is not something you’ll be humming in the shower.

But if, like me, you get past the all-too-knowing snark, and embrace the learn-die-learn-win loop then there's four or five hours of real fun to be had here.

Lichtspeer - A simple idea executed with a real understanding of how not to piss off your player.