$2.99 for a Switch game? What could possibly go wrong?

36 Fragments of Midnight – Nintendo Switch – Released: 9/14/2017 – $2.99

NOTE: This review will not be in the traditional short and long review due to how simple the game is.

This game I was kind of excited for. It was the first developer I emailed this week for a review copy. I liked how it looked and reminded me a little bit of Super Meat Boy but at $2.99, I didn’t expect it to be amazing and it wasn’t but that isn’t a bad thing. “36 Fragments of Midnight” is a procedural generated level platformer game but even at that the game kind of isn’t in a way. There seems to be about 10-15 sections of a level that ranges from dodging cogs that instantly kill you to waiting for lasers to stop working for you to pass to letting barriers come to block the lasers. These “levels” are put into different orders as you collect 36 crystals but they repeat a lot and this is where I could call it more like a speedrunning game. Here is the icon for all you icon haters:

The game is fun until you get the 36 crystals but then it is over and you can always restart to play it differently or if you die. Is it a bad game? For an adult I would say it is okay for the short time it took to beat the game on my 3rd or 4th try as I learn the patterns and controls. But for someone new to platformers? I think it is a pretty good starter and time waster to get to the bigger games that will come in the future hopefully with the Virtual Console.

After beating it I decided to take it to my nephew who is four and he just kept playing it and playing it for a good hour. I feel as though my nephew liked the repeated nature of the game and he had a clear section he had trouble on so when the identical section popped up he would be able to ask me for advice. My girlfriend also tried it who doesn’t game that often outside of Pokemon and RPGs. She spent about an hour before she had to go home getting to around 26 crystals and told me that she just wants to finish it so I guess that is a good thing. She seemed more motivated to find out what happens when 36 fragments is collected once I told her it was like seeing a person suddenly figure out where presents comes from on Christmas.

I no longer give games a score but always felt as though if I spend at least 1 hour for every $1 spent it is worth it. Considering this game is $3 and I spent 1 hour playing, my nephew seems to enjoy it and my girlfriend wants to finish it still even after an hour. I think it is worth it if you have kids and want something easy for them to learn the basics of a platformer and master some tough jumps that would require them to leap off the edge and double jump back. My first try resulted in death after like 3 crystals then I got around 20 then I beat it at 6:47. The ending irked me a bit but I still restarted again and got 5:19. The game is mediocre but if it had more it would be pretty enjoyable. I would love to see an update that had at least 50-100 sections so they don’t repeat as often.

Update: 4/2/18

I would have to give this game a 4 out of 10 because even though it is short, it is fairly cheap so you get what you pay for!

As always let me know how the review was, your thoughts and opinions on the game, did you pick a copy already, and what games would you like to see me cover in the future!

Trailer: