Felix The Reaper is here, a deadly and very danceable puzzle game. It makes us think and has many additions that make it even cuter.
Do you want a little tactical puzzle challenge that makes you smile a little at death? That taboo subject about which it is said that one must be all serious ... Felix the Reaper appears to us like that.
This is going to be a bit of a simple review, because the game is. A simple premise adorned with a lot of cute elements, for lack of a better term. We play Felix, an official of the Ministry of Death who is in charge of making certain people suffer fatal misfortunes. Felix's job is to move objects and people at the right times so that a series of catastrophic misfortunes will cause the target to die.
To this is added that Félix is in love with a worker from the Ministry of Life, and he loves to dance. With this they want to give the game a little more charm to something that is very simple from the outset, as if it were that sauce that Tim Burton puts on all those movies that he makes and that makes it a personal brand. Back to the game. Does the dance and the story mean something on a mechanical level? No way. They could have put a standard parka but the aesthetic change makes the game a little more memorable. Even the dance steps that Felix marks when he moves around the map look like someone wanted to show off their choreography and knowing how to animate. Does it make it worse? No, and it doesn't make it much better either. But it's not a bad thing because it makes the game stand out on an aesthetic and plot level with elements that the genre doesn't need, but doesn't have plenty of.
Moving to death
Now, how do you play? We present ourselves in the moment before a key moment in our chain of events that will end in the death of someone. We have all the time in the world to move, as long as the game allows us. For some reason, the world is divided into grids and we cannot step where there is direct light. With this we are already presented with the key mechanics: picking up objects, moving them and placing objects to make our way, with the help of an ability to change where the sun comes from and vary the shadows.
A priori it seems very complicated but luckily we are presented with a first series of levels that teach us in a natural way to play and advance with these mechanics. There are not many and they are learned in a short time. What we can notice is that the level can get a bit stuck if we decide not to resort to the game's clues if we want to feel that we are the ones who solve the puzzles. A little touch that we liked is that as we progress through the steps to get to the correct solution, we will be encouraged with phrases, some of which are clear references to famous songs by Sonia and Serena or Joaquín Sabina in their Spanish translation. And it is very comforting, and it guides us a bit if after being stuck for a few minutes we start to resort to brute force to find a solution.
What more can we say about Felix the Reaper? The puzzles gradually increase in difficulty and complexity, just like any learning curve… The music and art style are far superior to what you'd expect from this type of brain-teasing game… Aside from its visuals, we have a game that offers just enough and desperately needs a level editor to share with friends. We live in a post-Super Mario Maker world where many games like Tabletop Simulator thrive on mods and their communities; having level editors so your most dedicated players can unleash their imaginations is standard practice for games that are easy to adapt to an editor.
Felix is simple and that is enough
Although perhaps it is too much to ask because Felix the Reaper is what it is: a small puzzle game in which you calculate each movement and enjoy watching the protagonist dance. Except for the slight difficulty we cannot say anything bad; and the aesthetic additions do not make it worse but something more adorable and with a certain touch of black humor. We can recommend it moderately. We liked it but it is far from being totally enchanted.
