Genre fusions have been becoming more relevant recently. It’s when you take two different video game genres, mash the core elements of them together, and somehow get them to work. It’s even more impressive when you see two genres which clearly weren’t supposed to be put together get along, because the developers figured out how to work around the potential problems that could have occurred. Sure there are times when one genre spends too much time on screen and overshadows the other, or creates entirely new problems which didn’t exist before. Nonetheless at least there was an attempt to see if two colliding ideas could work. I’m actually a really big fan of genre fusions, because if you are a game designer and want to find solutions that work then experimenting with genre fusions allows you to see what does and does not work. When one genre gets too annoying and you need downtime to serve as a break.
Just take a look at Persona 5 for example. One half of the game has you diving deep into dungeons and engaging in turn-based combat, and the other half has you playing life simulator and spending time with characters through visual novel-esque moments. If the visual novel stuff feels too slow and gets boring you can always swap over to the JRPG dungeon crawling, or if the difficulty of combat or length of dungeons start to get annoying you can swap back to the visual novel life simulator to cool yourself down. Certain design elements even get you to swap between these two often, because if you don’t take time to boost your relationships with characters and unlock mechanics needed to make your party better then you will struggle.
Finding the time to swap between the two genres is what helps make genre fusion games work. Going through a linear level structure in The Messenger and obtaining new navigation powers along the way, then demonstrating the accumulated strength by allowing them to access new areas and traverse previous difficult areas with ease through metroidvania exploration. Solving puzzles within a cryptic cabin to unlock new tools which will help you stand a chance during future runs in Inscryption. Getting the player to connect to the cast while traveling, so that when big sport matches come up they perform better and set their party free in Pyre. That switches in position between genres. Knowing how to design one side so that it may aid the other.
There has been a rise in numbers with these genre fusing games recently, but one example you probably haven’t heard of yet is Lair of The Clockwork God. Developed and published by small indie studio Size Five Games, and the third entry to the Ben and Dan series. The studio actually dates back to 2008, and they have made quite a few games outside the three Ben and Dan entries. They made stealth roguelikes like The Swindle, sports title Behold the Kickmen, and before they were called Size Five they were referred to as Zombie Cow. Most of their games are funded through Kickstarter, and Lair of The Clockwork God was their most recent project. Combining the obscure puzzle solving and wacky solutions of the Dan and Ben games with the challenging nature of side scrolling platformers. It was a weird combination to be honest. Out of all the things you wanted to combine it had to be platformers and click n’ points? It’s like combining deck building mechanics with a first person shooter. (Whispering in the corner) What the hell is Neon White? Anyways, Clockwork God combined these two together and I was really worried when stepping in. I thought it would all fall apart and the self aware humor wouldn’t redeem it, but what I got was something else. Clockwork God is confident with itself and not only delivers good subtle self aware humor, but also intriguing puzzles and levels to navigate. It’s a severely underrated indie and I’m so glad I didn’t skip out on it. Today we’ll be talking about why I really liked Lair of The Clockwork God and why it deserves your attention.
Story
We follow two close friends, Ben and Dan, as they journey through an overgrown jungle in Peru to pick up a wildflower Dan states can cure cancer. While venturing through the jungle, the two friends discuss their future careers and the path they’ll take. Ben wants to remain a traditional puzzle solving adventurer like in their previous games, while Dan got surgery to smush his body in such a way where he performs tight parkour as an indie platformer. The two friends find it difficult to agree with their personal choices. Dan thinks Ben isn’t willing to adapt with modern ideas and what’s popular in the gaming world. Ben on the other hand thinks Dan is selling out and he’s about to lose his puzzle adventuring partner. Despite their arguments they soon discover the flower, which Ben plucks out of the ground and they both take a plane back to England.
Upon arriving back in England they discover the world has finally gone to hell. Every single type of apocalypse you can imagine has appeared and is tearing the streets apart. Zombies, aliens, dinosaurs, lovecraftian horrors, killer robots, nuclear missiles, and many more. What is basically happening is a super ultra doomsday, and Ben and Dan are sh*tting their pants watching it all unravel. Luckily Dan is able to piggyback his best friend, and the two manage to outrun the several explosions and make it to a fallout shelter. They soon discover the shelter goes deeper than they imagine and upon opening up a secret doorway they find themselves in what seems to be an underground lair. Filled with lab equipment, active security systems, intrinsically designed hallways, and a monitor with dozens of complex wiring and components.
The monitor has a face on it, but is unable to speak or respond to questions. Ben and Dan notice there are railcars lying on the side of the monitor, and when they sit down on them a set of tracks are prepared for them. A glowing green gateway lying on the other side of the room is opened, and from there they are transported to a different environment. The two friends navigate the place they are transported to and make it to the end, and shortly afterwards they are teleported back to the room with the monitor. This time the monitor speaks and claims to be the protector of mankind. The monitor kept a close eye on every sector of earth. Preventing any threats from entering the atmosphere of our planet and making sure no gateways to mostrous realms were opened up. All was going well until a disturbing malfunction occurred. Causing the monitor to shut down and allowing several apocalypses to occur two weeks after the shut down. The monitor is back online, but is unable to chase back the apocalypses happening outside. The monitor claims it lost its emotions and without them it has no reason to protect mankind. However, it can reobtain these emotions by sending participants through simulations and seeing them enact these emotions. This is where Ben and Dan come into play. They will go through simulations specifically designed for them to experience emotions the monitor needs. By doing so the monitor will get back to protecting mankind, so off goes Ben and Dan. To navigate the dangerous simulations and restore the apocalypse preventer. Oh bollocks.
Gameplay
The gameplay follows you switching between Ben and Dan. Both of whom specialize in one of two genre fields, platforming or puzzle solving akin to click n’ point adventures. Ben is the puzzle adventurer and is able to interact with characters, uncover info that can help him, and pick up items to solve problems with or fuse with other items in his inventory. However, Ben is unable to jump and navigate around obstacles which is where Dan gets involved. Dan is the platformer character and he can jump high unlike and unlock new equipment to navigate around hazards. Yet, Dan is unable to interact with characters and solve problems that require interaction beyond pushing an object. You need to make full use of both characters as there are times when one of the two friends can’t progress without the help of the other. Dan needs a new navigation upgrade, but Ben needs to craft it for Dan. Dan can’t traverse across a gap and high walled obstacles, so Ben needs to rearrange objects or activate switches to carry Ben forward. These problems make full use of the genre fusion Clockwork God went for.
Around the third chapter of the game you unlock the lair which acts sort of like a hub world in between levels. I say “it sort of acts like a hub world” because it’s more like a place you explore more to uncover RAM Chips to load up the next mission. Your arsenal of puzzle solving tools and platforming upgrades expand as the game goes on, so to unlock later levels you need to use abilities you have unlocked. It wasn’t a metroidvania as the level design wasn’t interconnected, but it had the feeling of one. You cut down the amount of backtracking you do with each new power-up, and feel how much progress and accumulation you have obtained by the end.
Each of the simulations you go through focus around a specific emotion and gimmicks centering around the simulation’s setup. Let’s take the first simulation as an example, JOY. Dan is dumped into a straightforward platforming haven, but Ben is killed and spawned in the respawn waiting room. There he must interact with other deceased platforming characters waiting to respawn, solve some light puzzles, and meet the requirements to spawn at a section close to where Dan is stuck at. Only then can you properly complete the simulation. These simulations are truly unique and I like the fun situations you get caught up in. In the FEELING OLD simulation, you must put on clothing and perform acts that only make you feel young but convince a nearby teenager that what he is doing has quickly become old and outdated. The FEAR simulation has you control a drone as Ben to provide light for Dan who must make his way through dark hallways and hide from killer spiders. Just when you think a simulation is lagging on too long or that it gets too vague with the puzzles it ends. The pacing and ideas on display are all well executed, and it’s more a challenging yet fair puzzle platforming adventurer. Besides that there really isn’t much else to say about Lair of The Clockwork God. I may spoil some moments and jokes near the end of this review, but I won’t spoil how the overall game ends. Hopefully you can restore the emotions of mankind’s robotic protector and stop the apocalypses happening.
Thoughts
Lair of The Clockwork God is a splendid little adventure that does enough to hook the player in and make each sadistic moment worthwhile. It’s a well designed game and manages to make the combination between the platformer genre and click n’ points work, but there were times it exceeded my expectations. Transforming what could have been an average experience into the unique and stellar one I’m describing to you.
Gameplay wise almost everything with Clockwork God works. The platforming is my biggest criticism with the game. It’s not terrible, but it is really shallow and some deaths can feel pretty cheap at times. However, checkpoints are often really forgiving so you don’t backtrack so much to the point where you died. Plus the main focus of the game wasn’t just on the platforming. It was to fuse platforming with the puzzles of a click n’ point, and these puzzles are really well designed. Some of the solutions this game has can get crazy at times, and while they can be confusing and sometimes require a guide to figure out they are rewarding. They contain more satisfaction and payoff than the platforming sections, which is surprising because sometimes you’re just mashing away at your inventory until an item works with a piece of the environment.
One of the later puzzles in the game requires you to hoist a dead body onto a button, so that it may weigh down and open the way forward. You must dig the grave up with a spade, but now the problem is getting the coffin out of the pit and the body over to the button. You must drink water from a nearby waterfall to urinate in the pit so the coffin may float upward. Then place a seesaw underneath the now pulled out coffin and use a nearby gravestone to launch the corpse out. Then use a torch to light the mass amounts of farts emitting from the corpse and watch it fly around like a balloon onto the button. Weird solution to come to, but a pretty creative one.
One major aspect that might turn players down from Clockwork God is the writing and it ranges depending on who you are. It looks like a family friendly game on the surface, but when playing the game I noticed there was a lot of crude humor. Way more than I was thinking. The characters are swearing a jackton, there’s a bunch of sex jokes, and you can witness the immaturity levels. Is this bad though? No, in fact Clockwork God does this humor pretty well in my opinion. The writers were self confident, but they weren’t so self-confident that they rubbed it into your face. A joke works best when it’s used once, and that’s what Clockwork God does. It remains subtle and delivers its jokes in one fell swoop. The JOY simulation has Dan navigate an overly energetic knockoff Green Hill Zone being sponsored by several brands. Mainly extremely unhealthy beer and fast food brands existing at the time of 1990s platformers. Dan even makes a comment hoping he gets Sonic levels of fanart, and Ben compliments starting he really doesn’t want that. There are actually a lot of moments when Clockwork God makes fun of other genres and industry staples. From the microtransactions and online pay to win services of today, the dramatic not so methodical thought out writing certain writers can get away with, and a bunch more. The humor of Clockwork God may not be for everyone, but I certainly enjoyed it.
My other main compliments with Lair of The Clockwork God is that the soundtrack and artstyle is good. The soundtrack is well composed and I fail to see a single bad track in the game. The art style is made up of pixels, but a lot of time was put towards the detailing. The amount of colors on display, the lighting, the shading, and the jittery animations of the world. I was really surprised with the quality of this title, but I do have a few complaints. Ben walks unusually slow and there’s no way to speed up his movement. Which is fine because the terrain he navigates isn’t difficult or long, and you unlock the ability to teleport near Dan later on. It does get annoying though and it can drag out backtracking. I’m also going to say this game is best enjoyed with a mouse and keyboard, because while it is still manageable to play with a controller it certainly does feel like it was designed for PC controls as controlling with the right joystick to look around and select options with Ben feels really off to me.
The puzzle that requires you to use the fake online store can take awhile to figure out, and there was this mechanic I thought was a glitch. When Dan jumps where Ben is standing he sinks into the floor. You’d think this is a glitch indie devs would make, but you’re actually supposed to use this to obtain an item later on which is weird. Final complaint is that this is a one and done game. Meaning once you finish it there are no reasons to go back and replay as certain segments lose the charm the first playthrough had. Besides that I really enjoyed Lair of The Clockwork God. It’s well paced, doesn’t overstay its welcome, has unique tricks on display, and goes on sale for a really cheap price. In the end I give Lair of The Clockwork God a 9/10 for excellence at best.
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