Grapple Force Rena

Grapple Force Rena
N/A
Metacritic
93
Steam
66.632
xDR
Our rating is calculated based on the reviews and popularity of the game.
Price
$14.99
Release date
4 December 2018
Developers
Publishers
Steam reviews score
Total
93 (116 votes)

Swing, climb, grab, and throw in this action platformer where you can grapple anywhere! Using Rena's magic bracelets, hook onto any surface to swing wherever you like, or grab your foes to send them hurtling into each other!

Show detailed description

Grapple Force Rena system requirements

Minimum:

  • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
  • OS: Windows XP Service Pack 3 or newer
  • Processor: 1 GHz
  • Memory: 512 MB RAM
  • Storage: 180 MB available space
Updated
App type
Steam APP ID
794550
Platforms
Windows PC
Linux
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Fel Temp Reparatio
Fel Temp Reparatio

I feel like the first world is a lot of fun, the second sucks, and it's a crapshoot whether any given level after that is any fun. There were times when I was just sighing as I had to work with yet another thing that is more annoying than fun to interact with. Also, there's very little enemy variety, and it there's a lot of cut scenes without much to say. This isn't terrible, but it's middling at best. If Steam let me enter a "meh" rather than a thumbs up or down, I think I would have picked that, but if a friend was saying they were considering playing this, I'd point them elsewhere, so thumbs down it is.

decks
decks

You can feel the author's full love in just 6 hours, with various characters, personality development, quirky but adorable dialogues, and even a bit of lore. Initially perceived as a sweet game, it later becomes more serious.

The gameplay highlights the grapple, initially thought to be similar to Bio Commando, but later found it to be more like Klonoa, where you grab enemies and throw them. There are 6 worlds, each with 5 levels, and each level takes 2 to 10 minutes. The third world, the casino, i love it, and the bosses are also interesting.

Overall a chill game, the music is also chill. I really like the music in the Forest, but the final boss suddenly becomes very difficult. LOL

James
James

Oh. no. Oh. no, from what I said, this game really sucks

Review:

Too get the important topic out of the way, this game functions, sounds alright with those crunchy sounds leaving a satisfying sound to you and the game looks.... okay but once again, effort was put into this game and I can respect that, it's just okay but their's nothing really worth talking about and the music is pretty forgettable besides the only one being the menu music.

So, what's wrong with this game you ask?

Now, I hardly ever talk about games with physics since you can deal with them by yourself and get used to them due to adapting to the game's physics and level design, for example: If you think I can't get used to the physics in this game, you would sort of think I'm bad at Getting over it with Bennett Foddy, Pogostuck, Jump king and other games like those but at least I can understand how those games work, in Grapple Force Rena you're always are going to touch a wall, mess up a swing jump, and miss a ceiling for you to grab with your bracelet. Level design is just linear with not a lot going on, other levels have you look around the place to find your exit like with finding hugh in one of the statues. The story I could say some would find emotional sometimes but hardly any of that really matters, their's no real engaging and interesting story to keep you entertained and last but not least, why do I have many hours in the game? I left the main menu music on while I was sleeping, honestly the best part of the entire game experience (but I have youtube so yeah).

I know I've been very harsh on this game but their's nothing really worth talking about here it's just really uninspired and boring.

Rating: 2/10 At least I can forgive this game for the menu music and effort for the art style but everything else is garbage, if you want a near-perfect game, get freedom planet, it's wayyyyyyyyyyyyy better than this garbage.

justing56
justing56

You can tell this game draws inspiration from the genesis-era (what, with the music and graphics), but it has such a sense of humor. It was a light-hearted fun little romp with interesting combat and map traversal. And then, I got to....the part. There is a part of that game (that I won't spoil) that flips your expectations and takes the game in a completely different direction - the game establishes a formula, you get use to it, then it breaks away from it so hard you get whiplash.

Also the final boss battle theme is a BOP.

Newt Saramander
Newt Saramander

Grapple Force Rena hits all the gamer pleasure centers of my brain! The SEGA Genesis style FM synth music! The retro graphics! A simple story that grows as you play! A combo of fun and exciting challenges in gameplay and a cute anime style. (I recommend you try the demo first - that's how I decided to buy the game. The full game has improvements that are not in the demo.)

Story: A tomboy named Rena finds her village invaded by hollow-looking baddies, and it's up to her to stop them! But the bad guys don’t end there. They are coming from somewhere, and she vows to stop them beyond her home village too, but it's not gonna be easy…

Story I give: 8/10. I was curious to see how Rena was going to save the day.

Characters: Hero/cutie-pie Rena is the main protagonist, and she'll meet supporting characters and fellow heroes along the way. Being a hero won't always be easy, so she's gonna need all the help she can get. She found special bracelets that give her a grapple ability to fight and travel with.

I love the writing in this game; the dialogue is fun, funny, and often simple typical "hero vs bad guy" dialogue stuff when she meets the antagonists in the game. I laughed out loud at plenty of funny lines and it's not often that a video game makes me do that.

Characters I give 9/10. I enjoyed how Rena can interact with some of the bystander characters in the stages. I'd say Rena is an awesome and fun main character. I always look forward to watching dialogue scenes because I thoroughly enjoyed the writing in this game. My favorite supporting characters from this game are Captain Jette and Magus Pine.

Gameplay: Rena uses the Grapple Bracelets to climb or swing to the next area, grab enemies, grab items to carry, and more. No swords or guns for Rena, which is a nice change of gameplay style for me.

I love that the scenes play again at the beginning and/or ends of stages, and that I have a choice to skip them. But I enjoy watching them, so I am likely to let them play before starting the mission especially if it's been a while.

Gameplay I give 8.5/10. It's a nice break for me from hack-n-slash and twin-stick shooters.

Navigation/UI: The main menu is after the title screen, but once you select "Start Game," you can choose which stage or World you want to start. You can decide whether to advance to the next stage or revisit an older one to improve your score. When you pause the game, you have a choice to Resume, Restart the mission, or go back to the main menu.

In the Main Menu you can adjust settings like the dialogue noise (tick, beep or none), the screen size, or when the dialogue shakes when there are words or phrases with high emotions like anger or disgust. You can adjust the volume of the sound FX and the music separately.

Navigation I give 8/10.

Music/Soundtrack: OMG, I love the SEGA Genesis-era music in Grapple Force Rena! It makes me feel nostalgic from when I used to play the Sonic games including Sonic 3D Blast as a kid. After I tried the demo for Grapple Force Rena I wanted to learn more about frequency modulation synths myself! I especially fell in love with the Main Menu music - it's so catchy to my ears! There are several musicians who made music for this game, and it's pretty much all FM synth music which I love. (Even the "Start Game" button has a SEGA Genesis-shaped controller icon next to it!) And I think it's so cool that you can listen to the tracks from the Extras - Music menu. But you have to collect the tracks separately from within the game. Some have 1, others have 2 or 3 tracks that you collect by finding "audio cassette" items with notes coming from them. At this time I found about 19/30 music tracks. Having this feature makes up for not being able to buy the soundtrack separately on Steam, but in a way it is rewarding to unlock them, and I don't think any of them should be impossible to unlock. A few may be harder to find than others. It adds to the game's replayability.

The music I give 11/10!! Because I love SEGA Genesis style music. ;)

Overall Score out of 10: 9.5/10!!! No… maybe a 10/10! I always have fun playing, even if sometimes I get frustrated with a certain stage if it's hard to improve a score. If you grew up during the SEGA Genesis video game era, or love retro video game graphics and its music in general, I think you'll enjoy this game too.

Want a Sequel?: Yes Yes!!! That would be great. But it seems there is no announcement of a sequel at the moment. :(

[u]TL;DR:[u] I grew up playing Sonic on SEGA Genesis, so the music and graphics made me fall in love with this game with all the nostalgia it throws at me. The gameplay is a good mix of fun, challenge, and comedy. Try the demo - you might want more Grapple Force Rena afterwards! And if you like it, pick up this gem, because if you loved the SEGA Genesis video game era, then you are in for a treat.

B.K.
B.K.

Very fun game designed around the grappling mechanics, it's a bit short and not very ambitious, but the grappling gameplay is so polished and satisfying that makes up for it.

KngBlkNinja
KngBlkNinja

The minute this game came out I snagged it up. Its been fun so far, tho Ive yet to get good enough to earn a rank over B as of yet. Still, I like what Im seeing after beating the first five stages, and I am eager to finish the game. Will update this review at that time

Cesar Cavatelli
Cesar Cavatelli

This game goes so much further than you would think from the trailers. Its fun and full of surprises.

Punchy
Punchy

It's a very concise and well-executed game that gets a lot of variety out of its central mechanic in an elegant fashion. High degree of replayability, good boss fights with a strong Treasure influence.

grab a copy, grab a controller, grab a keyboard! Grab things and hurl them across the room!

Daisy Upy
Daisy Upy

I had a great time with this delightful video's game. I loved the demo, so I bought it as soon as it came out - I'm glad to say it keeps being fun and interesting the whole way through!
Note that there's not a whole lot of replay value after the five hours or so it took me to beat it - just swinging through the levels again for better scores (as far as I know that is, there might be secrets). Despite that, i love Game. Glad Purchase

Sel
Sel

Really enjoyable game! the hookshot/grappling mechanic is really fun to use, the stage are varied, there are many clever use of your ability, especially during boss fights, the mood is colorful and lively, it sounds well, it looks well, it play well. I had a blast playing it until the very end. Highly recommended! ^^

Legdig
Legdig

The best unofficial sequel to Black Knight 2000 in the business.

Mthis
Mthis

Really good indie game! Puts alot into the Grapple mechanic and makes alot of variations out of it!

Good Spriteart, a good sense of humor (in my opinion). Definately a classic style indie platformer worth note in my opinion!

Ann (Retl/Dazl)
Ann (Retl/Dazl)

"TO GRAPPLE DOESN'T JUST MEAN TO SWING, BUT TO STRUGGLE!
FACE DANGER WITH A HERO'S COURAGE AND PRIDE!"

A pretty cool action-adventure platformer with a lot of Sega Genesis / Mega Drive flair. Brings to mind a little bit of Treasure games like Mischief Makers and a little bit of Ristar. I was able to beat this game in 4 hours 3 minutes 48 seconds (roughly), all of which was livestreamed on Twitch. This was done at a hurried pace, only taking time to do a couple of side quests and always holding the button to make text display faster.

It's got quite a bit of quirky charm in its characters and setting and gets quite a bit of milage out of exploring different ways the grapple can work. ( It doesn't always pull things to you). It's fun and cheery and colorful without ever getting too grim or dark. And even in places when things are at their worst, the game may throw a lampshade on it just to let you know "Don't worry, everyone survived! ...Somehow."

Most sound effects are sythesized effects that sound right at home on a 90s console, and the few that use voices (Example: "Target!") are compressed beyond the point of recognition, just as one would expect. Lovely!

The developer is actively responding to and working on feedback of the game, which is promising as it suggests this game will only get more refined in time.

A particular feature that I love is support for many control styles. It's playable with Keyboard Only, Keyboard and Mouse, Gamepad and Mouse, and Gamepad alone. Gamepad setup allows for a twinstick setup using one stick for aiming the grapple and another for movement with shoulder buttons for jumping and grabbing, or alternatively, aiming and moving with dpad/stick and using facebuttons for jumping and grappling, just like Ristar! I love these options!

There are some flaws.
Gameplay Flaws: There are some cases where it won't be clear how to progress past a locked door or where a hidden switch is. The devs have already mentioned on Github that they intend to add more quality of life features in the future.
I also encountered a bug where I was able to skip level 1-5. While not entirely detrimental to me (I had played that level in the demo) or likely to be encountered in casual play, people who do skip it by mistake might be confused by the apparent gap in game progress. (Speedrunners will probably enjoy the easy timesave.)
Narrative Flaws: The story is there to facilitate the gameplay and cause to adventure, and while it occasionally poses some questions that provoke real critical thought about what the characters are doing, if you need a carefully constructed deeply-connected plot to enjoy the lore of a game, Grapple Force Rena's story will be infuriating due to some characters being discarded without clarification of their purpose, an ending with tonal clash against the rest of the game, and heavy use of Defeat Means Friendship. The characters are fun to get to know and interact with, but if you want to know more about the truth of this world, it's going to have to wait for supplementary material or a new game.

Also frustrating but not the developer's fault: The game doesn't capture very well with OBS. I was able to capture gameplay using a cropped Display Capture to capture everything on my screen with the game in fullscreen mode, and I was able to use Display mode cropped to capture the game when it's windowed, but any other combination of settings would just capture a black screen as often as it would get actual gameplay.

All in all, it's a cool game with a little bit of jank, but I absolutely intend to play through it again in the future. Recommended, especially if you're into Genesis-style action-platformers with simple combat and silly characters.

Plus, there is a boss in the game that dances to the boss battle music! You can dance with him! Or you can DESTROY HIM AND END HIS REVELRY. That alone was worth the price of entry, but if you're still on the fence, consider picking the game up on sale. It's a good time and not too difficult to learn. If difficulty is a concern, it offers assist options similar to Celeste's to adjust the game to the player's playstyle.

I absolutely recommend this game to fans of the genre!

Fancy Mel
Fancy Mel

A great, pick-up and play game that doesn't overstay it's welcome, but still leaves you wanting a bit more. Pick this up if you have any love in your heart for games like Mischief Makers, Umihara Kawase, and Black Knight 2000.

Yeah, you read that right.

swampselkie
swampselkie

A charming, whimsical game that evokes something of the aesthetic and gamefeel of Treasure's output on the Genesis. Extremely fun to play, with some great boss battles and inventive applications of its central mechanic.

Yael
Yael

I really didn't see the plot twist coming XD

Redblaze27
Redblaze27

Fun little game with a good soundtrack and humor.

The difficulty of this game is fairly easy and is mostly a smooth ride from beginning to end.

My only real complaint is the ending leaves much to be desired.

drunkendan
drunkendan

This game scratched that Mischief Makers itch I've had for a while. While you can't shake enemies, you can Spider Man Rena through levels. The mechanics are simple but give the player a lot of little mechanics for getting around the stages and obstacle, such as wall jumping, teathering yourself to a wall to walk up or down it, letting go of a grapple mid swing to get more distance and so on. Your only way of attacking is grabbing foes or items from the level and hucking them at your enemies but it doesn't need more than that.

The story is simple and cute with a lot of funny moments and a colorful cast of characters (Pine probably being my favorite). As I kinda hinted at this game takes inspiration from Mischief Makers but thankfully isn't as hard in my opinion. You don't have to do odd obsucre tasks to see this games ending (though you are graded at the end of each stage and it is fun to replay them for higher grades or achievements)

This is probably the best platformer I have played this year, I highly recommend it.

RocketPotatoL62
RocketPotatoL62

I went into this game knowing nothing other than the fact that it had eggplants and grapples. As it turns out, this game was more than that.

Pros :

-The entire game is built around one core mechanic, making everything feel intuitive and deliberate

-The stage gimmicks are far from overused and are well implemented into their respective levels

-The enemies strike a nice middle ground between being pathetic and actually being a threat

-The bosses are well designed and are especially fun to fight after figuring out their patterns

-Although the game is short, it's highly replayable and only becomes more fluid as the player becomes more experienced with the grapple.

-The game has no instant death attacks and/or fatal bottomless pits

-The story isn't the deepest, but it does make an effort to branch off from the typical platformer plot.

-The writing is lighthearted and cute

-The animations are lively, especially for the enemies that are "hollow"

-The character portraits are surprisingly expressive

-The OST has a nice variety to it and has a few great gems inside

-The score system is nicely balanced. It doesn't require one to be perfect, but it and the achievements provide a welcome challenge that adds a lot of replay value to the game.

-The levels being brief allows for the score hunting to be done in short bursts

Cons :

-The game isn't guaranteed to feel so fluid right away, it does take some practice to get into the real meat of the game

-Some bosses have a mild RNG aspect to them

I'd reccomend this to anyone looking for a short and sweet platformer or a decent achievement hunt

TinTin Fan
TinTin Fan

This game is pretty solid. I have nothing against the dozens of 8-Bit NES/Gameboy tributes out there, but it's nice to see the 16-Bit era get some attention too!

The control takes a while to get used to, but once you get the hang of it, it feels SO SATISFYING to just throw Enemies into the walls and into each other! I especially like how the Bosses require you to think of creative ways to use your Grapple abilities and the levels are just FULL of things it can interact with!

Admittedly, there were moments of frustration... I was not a fan of how some levels were designed, and the game can be pretty unforgiving when it comes to lost progress upon dying. Still, since the levels are pretty short, you'll eventually be able to press through them.

Oh, and this game's dialogue is GREAT by the way! So many potshots taken at classic video game story tropes! I really love it!

Here's hoping this can be considered a "Cult Classic" at some point in the future.

393Groover
393Groover

It's a Treasure-inspired game in which you use a grappling hook.

TheCoddFish
TheCoddFish

Lovely, lovely fun! Been quite the enjoyable experience!

The fairies are frustrating, though. They should really have a limited range...

Digitall33t
Digitall33t

This game was a total letdown. I expected more from Galaxy Trail, but this was TERRIBLE! I don't understand why people support this load of hot garbage! Grapple Force Rena is not a good game.
And here are my reasons why below.

-Well anyways, first of all, there is a LOT of really cringe-worthy Sonic Colors level dialogue, and really not-so-good inside jokes, such as the One-Of-A-Kind Eggplant Statue that turns out to not really be one-of-a-kind, Rena thinking this Pirate Penguin named Percyl would say "Shiver Me Timbers" when he does not. Honestly I could not stand this dialogue.

-There are many parts with practically unfair difficulty that does not feel like a very good game, and please don't just say "Git Gud."

-The game is not very action packed. The combat is very boring and not really exhilarating at all. Even the game it takes from, Mischief Makers, had better battles involving grappling and throwing.

-A TON OF PARTS make no sense at all, and I'm not talking about realism or anything, I'm talking about basic rules of a series and internal consistency. In so many ways that makes it one of the worst games I've ever had the misfortune to play. And here's some of the many ways how.

-Like at one part, Lueh reveals that he created the Bound Artifacts, but it's never mentioned why, even though he is a bad guy. I mean exactly what would he have to gain for creating these strange powerful objects and just leaving them out for just anyone to pick up and claim for themselves? Especially since he's apparently been doing it for a long while since Rena had her's since she was a child. What was Lueh's intentions for doing this at all? This is kind of a big problem.

-Also a huge part in the game that is never explained. One of the worst parts.
Just when we are about to fight the Fairy Prince Arc, he is knocked aside by Lueh without a problem. And then when we would either get to fight Lueh, or at least see what he's trying to accomplish, what I can only describe as a Diabolos Ex Machina occurs.
Literally out of the blue, the red and black Missingno-like Glitch stuff appears out of nowhere, even surprising Lueh as for it is not his doing at all, and then Lueh is then consumed by it. Then the stage has you having to escape the forest before the Glitch stuff obliterates it completely.

This is one of the biggest asspulls in the game. There is literally no explanation of what the Glitch Stuff was, what caused it, why, or anything, even though it happens twice in the game. It just..... happened. No reason or explanation or anything. Even at the climax of the game where the Glitch Stuff happens again we are given no explanation or anything. The Glitch Stuff is one of the biggest reasons why this game sucks so bad, it was a huge Asspull!
As quoted by TheMysteriousMrEnter once, "YOU CAN'T JUST HAVE THIS STUFF JUST HAPPEN OUT OF THE BLUE BECAUSE.... PLOT. "

And on top of that, it both kept us from seeing what Lueh's whole evil plot was (which is kinda important that the viewers know), and ruined not one, but two really awesome Boss Battles from occurring. Seriously, it's almost like Mettaton Neo or something, We totally should've had a big awesome Boss Battle against Fairy Prince Arc and/or Lueh! But no, we don't get that and it pisses me off!

-Another part, we find out the Hollow Creatures were created by this researcher guy named Artificer Joules who has a Bound Artifact called The Forge which creates them. He is also working for the Archmage. But the problem with that big reveal it just raises even further questions.

By that I mean if Joules created the Hollow Creatures, then how come they were also working for Hurgh, as well as Cesar (another bad guy you encounter in the game)? The Archmage is understandable since Joules works for her, but Hurgh and Cesar not only have no relation to Joules, but Joules clearly hates them both and even took them both captive to study their own Bound Artifacts they own? And nobody else could've used the Forge to create more Hollow Creatures since as established in the game, the Bound Artifacts only work for whichever person first triggered them (which in the Forge's case, is Joules). It makes no sense for them to also take orders from Hurgh and Cesar then.

On top of that, does that mean Joules actually ordered the Hollow Creatures to attack the Glass Caves and the forest in the earlier stages, or what? And if so, for what reason?

-The final stages also have so much stuff that makes no sense too.
Like in the final stages, the Fairies are shown now siding with this Human Kingdom and helping the Archmage. But this makes no sense because previously in the Forest Stages, it was established that the Fairies hate humans. Also Prince Arc at this part assists you to get his revenge on the Archmage, but this makes it even worse since why would the Fairies attack their own Prince like that?!

And these characters like the Percyl and the Black Knight suddenly appear in them too, but in a place they have no reason to be in at all.

I swear the plot holes in Grapple Force Rena turn into Plot Canyons. It's such a terrible game for these reasons. Yet people still like this garbage? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU ALL, ARE YOU THAT BLIND?!

In a way, Grapple Force Rena seems to show the folly of a lot of indie devs. As long as they emulate what old-school stuff they like gameplay wise, nothing else matters to these people. These Indie Devs can produce a totally lame games and will know it sells because it's Indie and nostalgic, and if you say otherwise, "GIT GUD."

Ugh, well that's enough. Hopefully Galaxy Trail won't disappoint when they release Freedom Planet 2. I bet that one will be worth my time and money. But not Grapple Force Rena.

Eddie
Eddie

The game is fun and a bit on the easy side. The game gets a bit janky at parts. But you play through the entire game because of the cast of characters and the writing. It is amazing. I'm normally the type of guy to skip through all the cutscenes and just play the game(I know, that's not the way to play blah blah blah) But I didn't skip a single cutscene in this game.

The game is clearly a labor of love that I'm am very happy I randomly stumbled across it. I would suggest this to anyone who enjoys a chill single player game.

And yes, the grappling is hella fun.

ZippyZero
ZippyZero

I bought this game about a week after it came out and have been playing it ever sense then, with the cute graphics and the grappling mechanics, it's been a very fun game to play.

Zer0 W0lf
Zer0 W0lf

I made a video review of Grapple Force Rena a while back. Check it out to see my thoughts on this game. https://youtu.be/tDnhiGSy6wE

Evagorn
Evagorn

What a charming little game. This is an action platformer done right. Nice aesthetic, pleasant story, and solid mechanics. It's just a joy to play. If you're a fan of this type of game, please give this one a try.

MellowJacket
MellowJacket

This is an exceptionally charming game that harkens back to Mega Drive/Genesis platformers. Notable for doing an excellent job with solid mechanics, good humour and generally making me smile like a goof the entire way through.

The grapple mechanic being your main way of travel and attack is used in a lot of clever ways over the course of the campaign, and it's always throwing something different at you. With quite a few post game goals to aim for through boss rush, time attack and secrets to find.

Also this game has a few accessibility options in place of normal difficulty selection. Letting a player slow the game down or give themselves regenerating or even infinite health if they're having difficulty with it. While I don't get use out of those features myself, seeing them there is something I appreciate quite a lot!

Game was fun! If you're into platformers take a look, this is a good one!

faeryambi
faeryambi

It's a good game with a lot of charm! I really enjoy the soundtrack and it adds so much to the mood of the game. If you're looking for something that's cute and colorful and pretty intense then I think you'll enjoy this video game!

MindfulOcean
MindfulOcean

Grapple Force Rena has a lot of heart and style, and I’m a big fan of the developer, but I can’t recommend buying this. The game stars Rena, a character who dreams of becoming a hero after receiving a mysterious item that only she can use. Rena’s singular ability to is to grapple: she can swing across the ceiling, scale walls, and drag and throw objects. You meet other characters who have items that give them abilities like shooting beams, flying, and opening portals. You only ever play as Rena (though other characters do assist from time to time).

Because of the lack of a direct attack, combat is awkward. You need to either throw enemies into each other (instant kill) or against walls (usually twice) to kill them. Boss battles play out predictably: either the boss or the environment will offer up something for you to grab and fling at the boss. Since Rena is all about grappling, several stages give you things like puzzles or item gathering as goals to mix things up.

My main problem with the game is that navigating levels starts to get painful after the first world. It’s not fluid and it’s not fun. I started getting flashbacks of the secret hunting I did with the grappling item in Axiom Verge, and that’s not a compliment. The levels where you have to collect things are the worst because you have to check every corner of the level and lug stuff around, all while dealing with the unwieldy combat.

Try the demo and decide for yourself, but keep in mind that the enemies and level complexity increase significantly over the course of the game.

KloxEdge
KloxEdge

I definitely recommend this game for any fans of 2D platformers wanting something different
while on the surface it might look like your everyday 2D platformer, the grappling mechanics make this game much different than most other platformers out there

while the game does have it's flaws, the good far outweighs the bad, so it's a definite recommend from me!

Bladebrent
Bladebrent

A fun platformer with basic mechanics that are utilized creatively over the course of a few worlds. I had alot of fun with this game, and alot of the NPC's are very memorable despite some only appearing in one or two areas, and being implemented from the kickstarter.
It only took me about 6 hours to beat, and with me replaying some stages for kicks, you could probably cut that down to 5, but there were very few, if any, levels that weren't fun to some degree. Maybe just the airship level near the end of the game, cause I didnt know where to go/what to do at first, but if being "Mildly inconvenienced the first time going through the level" is the worst the game had to offer, then we're in a really good spot. Theres no level in this game that made me groan in agony at the thought of needing to play it again just to get a good score on it. Not even levels where you're being followed by an ally, or need to escort a Penguin in a pirate hat across the stage, cause they never felt like a hinderance but always managed to be helpful within the level.
The characters were fun, and many of the sections are just characters being goofy and sort of "Saturday morning Cartoon" for lack of a better word, especially with how they introduce the boss of each area with their own stand-out personalities while they all try to inconvenience you on your way through each world. It did make me look forward to fighting all of them. Even the NPC's were memorable despite alot of them being OC's from the kickstarter backers. Cesar, one of the bosses, was also a Backer NPC, and he might be one of my favorite characters. I say "might" cause theres alot of the NPC's manage to be entertaining and fight for that spot, like Percyl, or Prince Arc
I think the game's weakest part might be its story however. Its good for the most part, with each area being memorable and having some fun interactions as you go through, like Pine stopping you from progressing forward cause she thinks Rena's just some punk kid, or the eccentric Puzzle keeper Fairy (with her cute Assistant) who needs your help putting everything together, but the overarching story for the game takes a weird turn at the end of the fourth world. Without giving too much away, its kind of like they had the plot for the first game in a series, but then they cut that short, and very abrubtly before it gets its proper climax, so they can have the next two worlds just be a story line that would've worked for another game of equal length. The way the story ends also leaves alot of loose plot threads that just weren't ever resolved or explained, and it might've been better to cut some of them in exchange for fleshing out the ones we had already established. Thats not to say the ENTIRE story mode fell apart of chapter 4, as it still kept its charm, and moments that had my eyes light up when I realized "oh, THIS is what this level's gonna be? Awesome!" but the chapter 4 "turn" and the climax overall I think coulda been better
This is also a really minor point, but after beating the game, you unlock a "Colour edit" which lets you change Rena's colours around on her outfit. Its neat, but it seems a bit weird thats something you get for going through the entire game. It feels more like an easter egg thing. I wont complain, as it is a neat feature, but its just weird that its your reward for after completing EVERYTHING already. I guess its for when you're replaying levels to get all the A/S ranks or getting all the music tapes.

Overall, this game was alot of fun, and I desparately want a sequel so buy it. Maybe a sequel exploring Arlet, or Lueh's world would be interesting. My complaints are minor and between this, and Freedom Planet, I enjoyed this alot more. Freedom planet had some annoying sections/boss fights, while this game didnt have anything of the sort. It was just a good time the whole way through.

djumbreon
djumbreon

A short distractions for people who need a game to play between big releases.
If you've ever played Ristar or Dynamite headdy, you know what this is.

Grapple Force Rena is a cute game that doesn't bite off too much all at once. Rather than trying to be exclusively a call back to non-sonic-but-still-sega-platformers, levels are given a variety of objectives consisting or make it from point A to point B like any other platformer, to find all the golden nuggets, beat all the enemies in a room, fight a boss, or solve a little puzzle. All the while giving you a story that knows its not going to be seen as critical thinking and instead give you a lot of cut and dry humor to make you smile.

The grapple feature, in most instances you'll use to throw around enemies or climb walls. If you can hit the angles just right you can find yourself sliding through areas. However, at least in my playthrough, there were countless moments where I was about to hit that point, but couldn't since there's tons of spots where you need to grab rotating objects and I could never seem to tell when it would count as me grabbing the bottom or top of these since it was the tiniest changes in aiming, to which case you sluggishly jiggle where you are.
Aiming the grapple is its own deal, on controllers, the left stick/D-pad is both your movement and aiming, meanwhile X&Y are you jump and grapple buttons. the right stick could be used to help aim, but unless your standing still, which is almost never, you have to essentially neglect your only two buttons just aim.
It would've been much smoother if at certain points it was easier to maintain your momentum and adjust some hit boxes on rotating platforms to compensate.

How long will it take you to beat? about 3 hours. there's 6 worlds with 5 levels each as advertised. Aside from some gripes over controls in some platforming sections, even at its worst in the late game, punishment for failing is as minor as starting a level over from the start. There's a boss rush & time attack modes as well, as some hidden cassette tape collectibles hidden in the stages, however besides bragging rights there isn't much to throw at you.

You can also customize the player character Rena's color palette upon beating the game as a final note.

7/10
A game with minimal flaws that knows how long it needs to be around without overstaying its welcome.

Galgus
Galgus

I loved the game because of it's core mechanic, that everything is built around: the grapple.

How much you enjoy platforming with and chucking enemies into each other with it will make or break it for you, but for me it's a game where it's fun just to move around.

The better you get, the smoother you'll be able to move, and there's always room for improvement.

The boss fights are cleverly designed around the grapple and are definitely a high point of the game to me.

My only complaint is that it's a little short, but it's definitely long enough for the price.

If the premise at all interests you, do yourself a favor and try the demo - I think you'll be hooked.

Metal Neon
Metal Neon

Rena was a pleasant surprise to me, that defied my expectations in both narrative and gameplay. Really fun grappling mechanics (specially with mouse and keyboard), fun and varied levels, and fun bosses. My only complaints about the game is that it's a little bit on the easy side, and it's relatively short as it took me about 3 and a half hours to complete. It's a really fun game, not one of the best, but still a fun as hell game, get it on sale for sure.

zettatoad
zettatoad

Grapple Force Rena

is pretty dang good. moving through stages with the grapple beam is really fun once you get the hang of it and the level ranking system helps encourage mastery of the controls. combat isn't particularly complicated (you pick things up and throw them at other things), but that gives more room for the movement to shine and bosses still use the grappling mechanic in a number of different and interesting ways. the fun gameplay is wrapped up with some pretty great graphics, music, and writing. i don't have any real complaints to speak of. it's a good game. go buy it if you like nice movement-based platforming.

(note: i used a keyboard and mouse to play this game. i did not try playing it with a controller but the full level of grapple and throw control the mouse gave me felt like it's probably more natural than the controller, and using the WASD keys to move never interfered with my ability to control rena (though i'm pretty used to arrow key controls). i'd recommend using those controls, personally.)

Spring Cream Beans
Spring Cream Beans

The short of it: There are far, far worse ways to spend 14 bucks. Grab it up.

The Long of it: Freedom Planet was my introduction to GalaxyTrail, where they basically made a Sonic-like title with a lot of 16-bit elements and created a game that was clearly inspired by the boy in blue, but stood very well on its own and remains one of the best games on Steam in my book.

So then I saw this title and grabbed it on sale. Before I go on, apparently there was some Kickstarter drama that has a lot of negative press against this game, I don't know about it, all I know about it is as a casual player who just picked it up after watching Woolie play twenty minutes of it. So I'm three hours in now and it's definitely good. It has this quirky sense of dialogue, palette, MUSIC, and even the animation itself that's so self referential and having so much fun just being itself, as a player it's hard not to just smile. Another reviewer described this as "Video game comfort food" and I absolutely agree.

While Freedom Planet was very heavily inspired by Sonic the Hedgehog and the darker Saturday Morning Cartoon it ran on, I can't say this for certain, but I feel this title was very inspired by Mischief Makers and Shantae, almost every character is there to be a great foil for gags. You won't cry or get emotionally invested in this title, but it's my go-to 'I have fifteen minutes to kill and I wanna smile a bit.' It's made to jump in, do a few levels, try and beat your own times, then come back to later.

Gameplay is smooth, you run, you jump, you swing and throw. It's all very, very simple, accessible, and in the first five minutes you will get exactly how you're supposed to play this. Boss fights really shine, and just navigating the levels alone is a fun thrill, with a ton of replayability in a sometime very harsh grading system, much like Freedom Planet, this game is begging you to use that time trial mode and to get good at it. The only issue I have, and it's really not a horrific one, is that a few of the levels veer more tedious than fun.

Is it worth 15 bucks compared to what else you can get for 15 dollars here? That depends on your tastes, but on a sale especially, give this game a go. It's not as meaty as Freedom Planet, but it's a simple good time. I can't imagine anyone buying this game and regretting it, it may not change your life, but you'll think back to it and go "Yeah, that was a fun little game.", and sometimes that's all a game needs to be.

Ruinae Retroque Rursus
Ruinae Retroqu…

Grapple Force Rena is a lovely platforming game. :D It's just my style. Quirky, humorous, and 0% dark, it's lovely. :D

The game revolves around using a 'grapple' to swing around, grab things, throw things at other things, and generally 'do stuff.' Despite this, the game never feels stale due to some EXCELLENT level design. You've learnt how to swing? Now have a crazy pinball level. Now grab bots out of carts and hoon around. Now grab things from the ceiling to yank them down to do stuff with. Now toss this AI character around who can't jump to get him back to his ship safely! Even in levels the game has interesting things:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1792326873

The controls are very good. It's designed for keyboard and mouse, but playable with a controller or just keyboard. While at times it felt a little clunky, I felt that this was more the fault of myself not playing properly than the game - although things that could definitely be improved are grappling onto thin ledges (generally a bit strange, and you have to aim at the right 10-pixel area to be able to hop up), and the swinging things seen in a couple of the stages (very hard to tell where you'll end up). The other stuff is great though. :D

One thing sets Grapple Force Rena apart from a lot of other games, and that is every attack has delays to it.
For your attacks as the first character - well you don't, you have to pick up something, which you can throw to attack.
As the second character, your magic attacks require charge time, and even your sword slash has a wind up time.
This isn't infuriating at all - it's very nice and well-animated, but it's just a little different from standard fare of 'click to attack.'
This also includes the enemies and bosses. The basic enemy - and in fact all enemies - has a little wind-up before they'll actually damage you (no contact damage in this game, even against bosses). Particular mention must go to the final boss, who 'previews' her attacks.

The game is very friendly - there's no lives, you just end up at the previous checkpoint. Should you be struggling there's a "Regenerate health" and "Unlimited health" mode, both of which I'm kinda surprised to exist. :P Despite this, it's still not easy and provides a fun challenge - the accent on fun, not challenge.

The dialogue is amazing. XD The characters are well-written and funny. There's no voice acting, which is fine - the text is colourful, with wavy bits for emphasis, so it's not lacking in meaning.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1792329201
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1783511295

The music's very good. Not quite 'fantastic,' (that's Freedom Planet :D) but definitely better than 'good.' One thing it does well is have a lot of music - character themes, character boss themes, multiple stage themes, and so on. You can find cassettes throughout the levels, which you can then put into the in-game Music Player. There doesn't seem to be a way to translate this into files you can put into VLC or something, though.

The bosses, an integral part of any platformer, are very well-made. They're in fitting with the difficulty of the rest of the game (which admittedly makes them a little easy - although there is no healing during boss fights). They're great fun to watch, fit in the plot well, and you get an immense feeling of satisfaction when you work out how to dodge their attacks and damage them :D

Oh, and the game's progatonist is female (I think?), and the second playable character is too, as well as the final boss and a couple of other charactersT. he game is lovely, in that it doesn't force this on you - some games can be obnoxiously feminine, which is just a pain. Nice to see a variety of genders in-game. (The Big Bad, who is actually not the final boss, is of course male. That trope still remains :P)

My one complaint would be that the game is rather short. There are six stages, each with five levels, and a boss rush mode. These levels are nearly all well-made, and they're very fun - but is quite short, and the levels can be quite linear.

I felt the design of the last few stages dropped off a little - the terrain was less colourful and varied, often you could just mindlessly swing your way through past everything. In particular the obligatory "This level is a summary of all the previous levels" felt very boring, consisting of mostly just swinging through shorter versions of the puzzles you'd seen before. Despite that, the other levels were great fun, and the final boss made up for any shortcomings in this level.

The game also throws in a second playable character for a couple of stages, which is a) confusing as heck because it plays TOTALLY differently and b) an absolute blast to play. It's a shame she's only playable in two levels. :( Sequel pls? :P
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1792327506

It's definitely a short platformer, and doesn't have the longevity that my favorite platformer, Freedom Planet, has - but then again, that game got flak for its levels being too long. :P And I suppose adding more levels for Rena might drag on a bit - but then again, the levels save the last were great fun. It's taken me 5hrs to beat it, which is a far cry off the 60 for Freedom Planet.
I'll definitely be replaying it though!

I've always thought a lot games are a bit cheap, buying hundreds of hours of work for a few dollars, and this game is what I'd consider a 'normal' price for a game, and as such for its content it is a little expensive relative to other games. However at 50% off (as it is on the sale right now, and presumably later sales) it's fantastic and I'd highly reccomend it.

Also.... the plot touched me on a very personal note at the end - in such a oddly specific manner that other games like Celeste can't match. Just a little strange, and certainly unexpected.

Oh, and one last thing: Achievements and screenshots aside (no trading cards), you may as well get the itch.io variant, which is DRM-free. But having stuff on Steam is nice too.

Very lastly, there's a demo out on the Store page, so give it a whirl!

PineapplePizza
PineapplePizza

Good platforming with very fun grapple hook-esque mechanics.
Graphics and sound/music are very reminiscent of 16-bit or later Sega platformers and quite well polished.

The story is fairly simple but fun and there are some amusing jokes from various side characters along the way.
My favorite missions are probably the elevator fights (reminiscent of the elevator fight from Shadow Dancer) and the mission where you have to carry/throw a sword wielding penguin (?) all the way up to his ship.

Kamidarko
Kamidarko

Another solid game I found through GalaxyTrail. Nice concept and fun characters. The controls can get insane at some points but over all a solid purchase.

Toralyzer
Toralyzer

I LOOOOOVE Grapple Force Rena! It’s just plain FUN!
The grappling mechanics are so flowy and satisfying, and the levels make really good sandboxes to play with them in. For me, the difficulty was very gentle and relaxing and let me feel very skilled and cool, but definitely had enough challenge not to be boring. I loved finding each new environment and playing with the new mechanics it introduced and the new ways it used old ones.
The characters are so fun and cute! I love distinct they all feel, visually and vocally. There are so many funny lines that are full of character, and so many designs that I want to draw. I would die for Rena!!!!! (I know, she wouldn’t let me.) I love how she’s confident and powerful but also a vulnerable kid. I love how she so unabashedly fills the hero protagonist tropes, and yet is way more real and lovable than just cliches. I like the story in the same way - it proudly plays into the exaggerated and sometimes silly tropes, is playfully self-aware without being crass, subverts expectations without mocking its roots, and deals with some more complicated themes and cynical points of view while confidently staying lighthearted in itself.

P.5000
P.5000

Just finished the game, and I have to say I dig it! The grappling mechanic works great regardless of what control method you used (I did the first two worlds on an Xbox 360 controller and then switched to keyboard and mouse for the rest-- I recommend the latter) and while it takes some getting used to, the level of control you have over it is so great as to be almost intimidating. It's the kind of system that you can just keep getting better at, until you look back at yourself and be aghast at your old playstyle.

Levels are concise, tight. Each one is based around a single objective, which has the side effect of making the game rather short, about 3-4 hours, but it also means that the game remains focused. Combined with the ranking system, if you're a scorer, this might be a game where you'll want to retry stages over and over to try and get an A rank or the coveted S rank. Never got any of those myself...

The dialogue and characters are a delight. Every interaction oozes charm, and I laughed out loud at least a dozen times throughout. World 4 made me squeal, literally. Good good stuff.

My only "complaint" is that the story kinda lost me after world 4. There were definitely good points after that, but world 5 starts on a really weird note, and even by the end of the game there were a multitude of unanswered questions that puzzled me. All I can say is I hope there's a sequel in the works!

Banshee Neet
Banshee Neet

The perfect game for any 2D platformer fan. An incredibly charming aesthetic and sense of humor, immediately lovable characters, great soundtrack, and essentially does everything possible with the central mechanic of grappling while never overstaying its welcome. Grappling feels and works great. A lot of the longevity the game has is in attempting get higher scores and rankings in each level, which at first seems easy but eventually demands total mastery of the games controls and movement. Very glad I picked this up and will be trying to tell everyone I know to play it.

Merim
Merim

This game is unique, because through the gameplay you rely on a grappling hook, which is used for both traveling through obstacles and use for combat. You play as Rena who wishes to save the world after her hometown was under attack. The plot has some few twists, and some nice humor. Its a fair challenge, but this game isnt very difficult overall. The plot is pretty good.

Racerman2001
Racerman2001

Cute visuals, addictive gameplay, and Sammy.

jchaosmaster
jchaosmaster

If you enjoy Umihara Kawase Shun games then this is a great addition to the game play. The grappling mechanics in this game apply a little better then the Umihara games. The graphics are on the good side for the pixale graphic style. The story seems good at where i am at the game so far. The levels are also well made for the play as well as having a slight hang time unlike in Kaswase so you can truly spider swing around the map.

The full price is honestly far and on discount it's a great impulse buy if you looking for a good game.

AVSManfred
AVSManfred

Very fun game, focused on simple gameplay idea, implementing it in many imaginative and smart ways, allowign for casual play for newcomers but also with a lot of potential for skilled players for speedrunning, pixelart artstyle is adorable and really well made, story for about 2/3 of games fels like satire of the typical stories for such game but after certain point it gets quite serious, still keeping humor but making for the final portion of story feeling way more impactful, and giving it feel of truly epic advventure

Charlie_Gonzalez_2007
Charlie_Gonzal…

It's pretty gud. I don't have much else to say, I'm jsut writing this for the steam awards thing.

Portella
Portella

Great adventure game with lots of inspiration from Mischief Makers.

Good controls and nice grappling mechanics.

Basically all you need to do in this game is grab and throw your enemies against each other, but that's not a bad thing, since there are lots of different enemies and challenges to do.

Definitely one of the good points of this game are the boss battles. They are very good! Challenging but not unfair.

A must buy if you are a old school platform fan!

Mal.
Mal.

Fun and cute. Charming game play with a story to match. Only down side is it can be buggy. Forcing a restart. Not as bad as Bethesda though!

Pixelmod
Pixelmod

Do you have spare change to spend? Cool. Spend it wisely.
And by that I mean "buy this game on sale at most".

I had a bit of hope for this game, but honestly it just fails in a few places that rub me the wrong way.

The story is filled with plot holes that don't get a proper explanation ever. Or maybe they do if you get a perfect score on all levels or something. I dunno. Didn't bother trying.
We get a first vilain who mentions that the Holy McGuffins of this game are from his world. Then his world is never mentioned again.
We get a second threat in the form of some kind of world corruption. It's never explained, and kind of just dismissed and brought back with no rhyme or reason. It's even hinted at again after the final boss, but no, nothing.
Speaking of final boss, even defeating her felt underwhelming. The boss is still in power, I'm not even sure she changed her mind all that much after the fight, and I'm just... sent back home I guess.

The controls aren't... bad I guess? I played this game with a controller. Not sure it was the best way to play but the game offers that option, I took it, and now I wish I had tried keyboard controls or something. Anything else.
One issue is that aiming with an analog stick was hard. Sometimes you need to aim for a specific spot, or grapple with a good angle to get a good swing, and I found that difficult. There is an aim assist but for instance it won't help you when you're trying to hold onto a small object that isn't an enemy. There are a few times when you will need to "Tarzan" your way between some points in midair, and lemme tell you, aiming for these with an analog stick while moving was not pleasant.
There is also another thing that infuriated me: Once you're done failing on the faster routes, you'll likely seek walls to climb to. And climbing in this game is really annoying. The only way to scale a wall is to grapple it, then shorten your line all the way and keep pushing "jump" or "up" for a solid half second while you're against the wall and THEN Rena will jump. Now rinse and repeat until you're at the top, hoping no enemy hits you before that happens. I don't understand why the jump button also makes you shorten your line instead off hopping off of it. The only way to go up from grappling something is to swing and release your line. It makes sense, but it means that when you're going slower, your main ability is essentially useless for locomotion, especially if the level wants you to go upwards.

Honestly, if this is the first game you discover from GalaxyTrail, don't buy it. Go for Freedom Planet. Because this game made me feel just like its protag at the end. Greatly underwhelmed, and hoping there was more to this adventure than what I just experienced.

BlackWolfAnime88
BlackWolfAnime88

nice short gamethat i finish at 4hrs but theranking system give it replay value, the grappler mechanics its neat especially when it demand it in platformers sections the only nipick i can seee:

******spoilers alert********

when you get to the half point of the games said game surprise you expectation with the suposed main antagonist being throw away and throwing another one and with an epilogue that isnt that satisfactory and leaving with the question if the problem was resolved(but that kind of the point and the moral to Rena/player? of what being a hero and that you cant solve everthing and just do what you can )

scaine
scaine

This is an absolute gem of a game. Slick, responsive controls, coupled with innovative gameplay, (mostly) enjoyable boss battles and creative enemies and environments. I played and finished the game in one sitting, around 6 hours in total and wholeheartedly recommend it.

I particularly enjoyed the surprise of playing an entire series of levels as one of the supporting cast - and yet that character and her abilities were fully formed, made for a entirely different gameplay experience and yet was still incredibly fun!

Similarly the interactions you have as Rena with the supporting cast is just icing on the cake. Grappling Jette, for example, let's you ride around the level using the jet wings, and grappling Percyl turn him into a one-hit wonder when squaring off against some of the bigger foes.

Yes, there are a couple of minor quibbles, such as the final boss's second stage being a little frustrating, but nothing otherwise worth mentioning when the overall quality is this high. Buy it!

Chuckles
Chuckles

Got to admit, this was a rather pleasant game to play. it's a rather simple game in regards to story and gameplay but a pleasant experience all the way.

In this game you play as Rena; a young girl with a pair of bracelets which only she can use to grapple, swing and grab enemies to throw as an attack. She goes off to save her village from Commander Hurgh and this strange robot army he has command over only to find out that these robots are coming from somewhere else and that there are more like her that can have magical items that only they can wield. Not all as what it seems.

Gameplay is simple to pick up and understand. It's a platformer that uses your mouse to aim and fire a grappling beam which can grapple to objects, enemies, walls and other parts of the enviroment to navigate the levels. The game also doesn't feel like it gets too overly difficult and just goes at a rather nice pace, so you'll won't get too cross at what the game throws at you.

Story is also simple but does it's job well. It's not a very complicated plot so if you're expecting some really really engaging and impressive story telling, you might wanna look somewhere else. Not to say the story isn't interesting, The characters are quirky, interesting and quite funny at times too. though not to spoil to much of it but the story doesn't really explain much about what these gadgets are apart from being from another world and then some other confusing stuff about the world that doesn't really get wrapped up too well but the rest of the story was a blast from start to finish otherwise. it's rather charming.

It's a bit short tho and if i'm to be honest, maybe buy it at a lower price around the 10-15 area but feel free to buy it anyway because i honestly love this little game. it's great.

Snowball
Snowball

A really neat, short game that uses it's unique grapple mechanic to make for some really fun momentum based platforming.
Some of the levels can be a bit basic and boring but the good levels are super good!!
It has some funny dialogue to make up for it's rather basic plot.

Overall I really enjoyed my time with it. Especially once I got used to the grapple mechanics.

happygreenfrog
happygreenfrog

Not gonna write a long review (at least not just yet) but the grapple mechanics are fun and it's fun to grab enemies and throw them at other enemies using said grapple mechanics. Also, the art-style is really cute, though I feel like that goes without saying, I mean just look at the screenshots.

It's not quite what I'd call perfect, but it's absolutely worth your time and money.

Energonchi
Energonchi

NICE commitment in resisting level contrast level design with absolution and acceptance that denies both slamming controller layouts of a great game

the simmering eruptness of overwhelming nature of shocking angered boasts of a compelling storyline with
a dragging atrocities that whispered a containment breach in a hollow hallway

the infatuations of cool unique boss patterns with flowing snarl bronxed effort put into them make a quite rejoice to a casting setting

characters are betrayed into a mild paste bin that punishes the exaggerated sigh that chuckles the real deep
monologue really fittingly well

nice thrilling throwback to treasure developer games that are overly all taunted into contrite smiles
detailing suffocating serpents hiss all over the chained top

the weapon design choice is good too with culpable dedication i just wish the controls were deviously right in cherished support

i give this game a 8.8/10 its decent in brilliant pleaded sensation just some perished people might not get a kick out of it

Ansi3l
Ansi3l

I love this game! it's a good game.
the gameplay was fun for me! and although some things in the plot felt sudden i really liked how it turned out, the characters are also v good :D

Vendi
Vendi

Meh. The levels are a maze, there's nothing wrong with having big levels but its really easy to get lost and spend more time than needed. At least they tried to make some puzzles and all so its not repetitive. AND THE FAIRY LEVEL SUCKS SO HARD

couturiervite
couturiervite

First off: I'd like to comment how superb the pixel art and music are. Between that and the cute factor, Grapple Force Rena is a joy to experience. Also: bonus points for the lesbian subtext; that was super adorable despite being subtle.

Controls are pretty well thought out, all things considered, even if the physics and grappling aim are somewhat unreliable, though much to my surprise, keyboard and mouse actually eliminate some of the frustration. A lot of replay value, too, though that depends on how masochistic you are given the degree of perfection this game asks for a great number of its achievements. Even with my above-average platforming skills, there's a few I'm pretty sure I'll never get.

The level design in Rena leaves something to be desired, or rather, I don't think these sort of Genesis/Mega Drive maze maps pair well with such a demanding scoring system tied to so many achievements. More egregious were some truly obnoxious segments: the black knight pinball level in particular drove me insane, and the two collectathon stages (ice, bells) go on for way longer than they really need to, bordering on tedium.

Plenty of room for polish, and definitely not the best in its respective niche (having been so many excellent throwback platformers over the past several years), but by no means a bad game. If you're a fan of this sort of thing, Grapple Force Rena is one you might want to check out.

Rating: ★★★½

𝖔𝖇𝖆𝖒𝖆
𝖔𝖇𝖆𝖒𝖆

cool game if you like grappling hooks and who doesnt like grappling hooks sylvan saudade still sounds like dragonspiral tower

Lazy
Lazy

(TL:DR) You're not missing out on anything by not buying this platformer. The story is super unsatisfying as it sets itself up big and then ends on a whimper. Go buy Freedom Planet instead, the superior (in every way) GalaxyTrail game.
(Super TL:DR) Go buy Freedom Planet instead.

A part of me didn't want to make this a negative review but I felt the downsides were too much.

The gameplay with the grappling is kinda eh, you are not really missing out on anything revolutionary. I wish there was more emphasis on keeping momentum with swinging to make Rena go fast in some sections. Every stage has a different gimmick that is 50/50 for me if its enjoyable or not. I enjoyed a level where you carried around a penguin with a sword who swings at enemies and you are able to just throw him in the air as he kills flying enemies. Though I extremely disliked the black knights challenge level where you basically play in sonic 2's casino level where everything is bonking you around and its hard to control. There was also a level where you play as Rena's ally, Pine, a magic user who is way more fun than Rena's gameplay imo. It feels like the inspiration of this game came from Egoraptor's Super Castlevania 4 review where he mentions how they should base the game more around the whip.

Real quick about Pine, I think having the game be based about playing Pine would actually be more fun. If they polished the character up a bit (like giving her wall jump, and possibly unlockable magic) you would get a better gameplay experience.

WTF even happened to the story? The narrative does a screeching halt to a premature climax then immediately moves on to resolution, skipping the falling action. Almost all loose ends are ignored by the end. Critical questions like what was Lueh's (The seemingly main antagonist) motives/master plan and what is his original world? Why was Rena's grapple, and the rest of the "gifts", created and how do they work (specifically how they are only bound to one person). THERE IS LITERALLY A WORLD ENDING THREAT LOOMING THE DIFFERENT WORLDS AND ITS NEVER EXPLAINED OR DEALT WITH. These questions and more show how nothing is given reason or explained in this game. It feels unfinished like they cut the game in half. The ending just felt so unnatural. I was waiting for something to jump out and say "SIKE, the journey's not done!", but that never came.

Usually a main motivator for me in video games is the music, and I can say the music in this game was eh. There was only 2 tracks I enjoyed throughout the game but all the boss music felt super underwhelming. Though section about music is probably just subjective. You can look up the ost yourself if music is a real make or break for you.

BlackMage
BlackMage

Enjoyable little romp. Didn't really dig the way the grapple controlled at the beginning but it's totally fine once you get used to it. Level design was a little weak, but the movement was fun enough to make up for it. I loved the art, music, characters and writing; The dev really nailed the Genesis vibe. There were some loose ends story-wise, so there is potential for a sequel at some point. The story mode itself is pretty short (took me 3 hours), but getting good ranks on all the levels will definitely take some time. There are also boss rush and time attack modes, neither of which I checked out, because I frankly don't really care for that sort of thing.

Pros:

    • Great art & music
    • Entertaining writing
    • Likeable characters
    • Tight movement
    • Grappling Hook

Neutral:

    • Grapple takes a bit of getting used to, but feels good when you do
    • Getting S or even A-ranks (as well as some hard achievements) requires some very proficient play. Great for those who like gitting gud.
    • Story had some loose ends/unexplained things

Cons:

    • Level design is pretty weak and kind of maze-y
    • Main game is pretty short for the price but the extra modes might make up for it

My overall rating would probably be an 8/10. Get it for full price if you really dig achievement hunting and going for good rankings, otherwise wait for a sale and grab it then.

LDDestroier
LDDestroier

This game has some serious Sega Genesis style. The swinging mechanic is realized tremendously throughout the levels, the humor and characters are top-notch, and BOY the music rocks. Shoutouts to "Tussle Through Town" and "Sand-Swept Sunset".

If you like 2D platformers, you are committing a grievous transgression upon yourself by not picking this game up.

Neman (RealSovietBear)
Neman (RealSov…

Very satisfying grappling mechanic and a good Genesis/Mega Drive feel.

Kalamoona
Kalamoona

Fun game. Great visuals/sprites. Great character designs. Great music.
Interesting gameplay mechanics.

Sunroses
Sunroses

So, Grapple Force Rena is basically a game about swinging around and throwing robots at other robots, but it's also very reminiscent of the original Sonic the Hedgehog games, with a lot of stuff based around momentum going on and the typical "learn the level to improve at it and get better times" sorta deal. This all comes together fairly well, and it's overall a rather fun and enjoyable experience, with a surprisingly compelling story (albeit slightly confusing at the end)! Also the characters are absolutely adorable, i love them,,

All that said, it is a bit rough around the edges. Rena mostly controls rather well, but there are a few points (especially during the final boss) where the game seems to expect you to move around a bit faster than she's capable of easily doing in the space you're given. Her run doesn't build momentum on its own, so it's fairly slow unless you're swinging off of something to boost yourself, which isn't a problem except in those cases where you're trying to avoid things without a near enough ceiling to grab onto. My biggest gripe is that the range on the grappling bracelets kept feeling just a little too short, which is just as much a level design complaint as it is an issue with the mechanics. None of this prevented me from enjoying the game, but it made for a few frustrating moments! Worth keeping in mind.

The music definitely nails the megadrive/genesis sorta aesthetic, and the game is fairly visually nice, though some of the environments feel a bit barren in terms of detail. Normally that wouldn't be a bad thing but in this case it just feels like there's a lot of empty space that feels kinda off? Idk.

Overall, though, I'd definitely recommend this to classic Sonic fans or anyone else who finds this kind of game appealing!

EclecticSteve
EclecticSteve

If you're looking for a game that really captures the charming essence of a classic Sega Genesis platformer (think Gunstar Heroes, Aladdin, Earthworm Jim, etc), this is it.

I almost passed it up because I've played so many retro-style platformers that look pretty but are too boring to stick with. But this game takes pains to replicate what made those classics fun: namely a well-executed "hook" (no pun intended) to differentiate it, and levels with twists that all feel different from each other... on one level you might be teaming up with a friend to take out all enemies, but on another you race against the clock to catch up with a retreating enemy.

I'm definitely having some good clean fun with this one : )

Vivy-NX
Vivy-NX

listen a lot of the time i will put ultra hd 4k effort into my reviews but i dont think it will be necessary this time. other people do this too so yknow just check their reviews.
there is a mini boss fight in this game towards the very end and an achievement tied to it that is in of itself worth the price of the game. when you get there you will know exactly what i mean. it brings me so much joy. please play the game. also theres a demo if you're unsure so be sure to check that out and then probably play the full thing.

Zeebrax the Astral Lifejacket
Zeebrax the As…

Genesis-inspired graphics and a great central mechanic set off the adventure of a village tomboy and her magical grappling bracelets. The only way to really play is to dual-stick it and use the bumpers for jumping and grappling; even so, there's a bit of a learning curve in coming to grips with Rena's moveset and swinging momentum. Once I got it down, however, I never felt like the gameplay was janky or glitchy. A little claustrophobic at times, perhaps.

While Rena isn't hard to finish, mastery is attainable for those who want to put in a few extra hours. The story and big cast of characters are cute and well-written -- but the story unfortunately ends on a cliffhanger, and that's my only real sticking point: just when it gets you interested in the world and drops you into deeper waters narratively speaking, it kind of poops out. If this is important to you, you might want to wait for a sale.

MF | Acolyte
MF | Acolyte

I have a very mixed opinion on this game. On one hand, it's very pretty and has good music. The game has personality without a doubt, and the dialogue is funny and cute. Rena is a great main character although emotion can be somewhat forced sometimes. The enemies have a lot of variety and the bosses are creative and well designed (with some exceptions, mainly the Archmage.) Where I feel Grapple Force Rena falls short is in the control and level design. The game seems to try to force a path while giving you extreme control over vertical mobility, allowing for large skips. This makes the game feel good from a speedrunning perspective, but it feels like a slog if you try to complete it the "intended way." Levels feel long and drawn out without much to do, and the tileset does not properly support the immense scale, making the terrain look shoddy at points. This is especially noticeable in worlds 1 and 6. The Grapple mechanic, while simple, does allow for good gamefeel in terms of mobility and combat. Picking enemies up and using them as a weapon is very satisfying. The other characters you can control feel alright as well, but you don't get to use them as much as I would have liked. Overall, Grapple Force Rena was a pleasant experience, though it feels a bit more like an experiment than a game with a publisher. There are a lot of things I wish the game had done better and I would love to see in a sequel. I honestly would not have recommended this game until I remembered just how much charm and care is obvious when playing it. You have enemies like Big Fan and Propella Fella that just make me smile reading the name, and Rena's interactions with her friends are always cute and funny. This game is worth the price for sure, let's give it some love and hope a sequel rolls around soon.

SyntaxTsundere
SyntaxTsundere

Y'all keep sleeping on this one when its a really damn good game, lots of fun to speedrun and has a lot of hidden secrets through it. Also Pine is a really fun boss

Malnox
Malnox

I've been hyperfixating on this game for the past week or so.

nerdnet78
nerdnet78

As someone who enjoys 2D platformers similar to this one, I decided to pick up the game, considering I've heard of GalaxyTrail from their Freedom Planet fame and decided to support them. I think it's solid enough, albeit the difficulty got somewhat unfair at one point with your opponents becoming overpowered, ruining the balance in combat. The plot got confusing in the latter half too, but I'm not the type to consider story too much. This game is nothing special, and I definitely think Freedom Planet is a more robust work of theirs, but I do think it's worth a playthrough, it was a fun experience.

sabeerareeb™
sabeerareeb™

A pretty fun platformer
Its pretty short but worth it
Give it a shot

Welt
Welt

One of my favorite indie platformers ever. Honestly my only complaint is it is WAY too short for how good it is. 8/10

roosell64
roosell64

𝄞 Rena, can't you see? You're just not the girl for me. I know it might be wrong, but I'm in love with Rena's mom! 𝄞

Slanto
Slanto

I think $15 is a fair price but personally $10 sounds much more reasonable because it's the type of game where you play it once and enjoy it a lot, then wait a month and play it again for a friend to see, and do it again in 3 more months and so on.

I really enjoyed this game a lot- especially throwing enemies at the ceiling and grabbing them again and doing it again and again. A couple levels were a little confusing but overall this game was great.

8.5/10. More content would be the next step for this game so I can continue to enjoy it's movement and combat and all.

Zen
Zen

Jogo simples, mas não deixa de ser divertido por isso. Afinal o jogo faz uso da minha mecânica favorita em jogos de plataforma, que são os grappling hooks, e pra mim GFR é um prato cheio.

9/10

Bug Report: achei uns bugs nos elevadores do level 6-4, eles tremiam de maneira esquisita quando se mexiam

Axl High
Axl High

Couldn't get the Linux build to work on my system, had to enable proton. Please test your shit GalaxyTrail.
Besides that, cute little platformer with fun grappling hook physics. Only real complaint is how easy it is, but that's up to personal taste.

Wise guy,heh?
Wise guy,heh?

i don't like this game. i cant put my finger why.
it's kinda good still

KirbyBabyLuigi
KirbyBabyLuigi

This game is just really good. Its just a lot of fun platforming with some physics based moment options. The only problem i had was there wasn't enough. I'm praying for Grapple Force Rena 2!!!!

LittleChorse
LittleChorse

I wish it was longer because this game is so much fun to play. It has a good amount of levels and the story is fun and lighthearted.

lottieratworld
lottieratworld

Very fun platformer with lots of fun characters. Not very difficult either which is perfect for me lol. Highly recommend it :)

entitativity
entitativity

Brings back great memories of playing Bionic Commando as a kid.

ThereforeDragons
ThereforeDragons

I enjoyed this game in small bursts.
I loved the characters, and the swinging mechanics were fun. The story has a simple setup, but I think it was extremely well written.

It has some minor similarities to Mischief Makers, which I found endearing.

aidang5678
aidang5678

I enjoyed it though it isn't a very challenging game at all, Difficulty options should be a thing. I do really like the ost though.

SleepyKaph
SleepyKaph

Really good game, deserves more attention.

kokiri1232
kokiri1232

Grapple Force Rena is a good action, platformer game, now the story. Rena a young girl who dreams to be a hero who practices every day for the day to prove herself and that day has come. Soon robots start attacking her hometown, now it's up to this young hero to Grapple and throw her enemies into submission and learn what it means to be a hero.

All right the likes; the gameplay while being frustrating at times is still good, it was fun to Grapple around and grab enemies and throw them, it’s simple yet pretty good. The story is very good, while on the surface it looks like your standard go and defeat the bad guys, but there are some pretty good moments that to talk about the nature and what being a hero is about, especially at the end which is very good advice.

The characters in the game were good, with their own unique looks and some pretty good dialogue, even the NPC’s that only had a few lines were pretty good characters my favorite has to be the tiny Sheriff even though she was only on for just little bit in that one town I found her, I also liked that fairy Puzzle Master she was cute.

The pixel graphics for the game are really good, nicely made and pretty detailed with plenty of interesting scenery and character designs. The levels in the game are all very good nice and diverse with plenty of nice locations to look at. The enemies and bosses in the game are very good pretty diverse with their own unique looks and Powers. The music in the game was very good with plenty of nice tracks to listen too.

All right the dislikes; there are some parts in the game that can be very frustrating which I think could been fixed if our main character could double jump just a little bit. Price for the game is a bit too high as well should have been $10 maybe 11.

Now with all that said Grapple Force Rena is a good action, platformer game, it has a very good story, good gameplay and good characters, now if you're looking for a simple action platformer game, this game is right for you. Honestly I hope someday this game gets a sequel, the story does leave some unanswered questions and there's plenty of room to make a sequel.

Dreamer Margrave
Dreamer Margrave

A cute adventurous game so far. Good story telling, and a well supplied use of the grappling mechanic. Definitely worth a try if you're into puzzles that involve grappling things.