Necrosphere is a game about death. In my 3 hour playthrough, I died about 850 times, or once every 12 seconds. But my character only really died once, in the game’s introductory sequence. Fatally wounded, Terry is sent to the Necrosphere, the place people go after they die to “do nothing all day forever”. Fortunately, Terry’s friends aren’t having it and send helpful notes and equipment from beyond the veil to guide their fallen partner back to the land of the living.

Necrosphere’s standout gameplay feature is its uniquely constrained control scheme. Unlike most platformers, the game is played using only two buttons: one to move left and one to move right. Early on, this affords an opportunity to explore what can be done in a platformer without jumping. The player may need to drop between platforms to avoid dangerous spikes and fireballs, or rely on bouncing between stationary “gravity bubbles” to gain elevation. As the game progresses, new techniques become available that incrementally pack a surprising amount of complexity and interactivity into just two buttons.

These techniques are also necessary to access new sections of the map (for example, by quickly dashing across small gaps). Necrosphere isn’t just a platformer, it’s a minimalist Metroidvania. This aspect of the game offers the usual fun that comes from discovering areas that were previously out of reach, but it doesn’t feel fully realized. The absence of a map forces the player to aimlessly backtrack in search of the next place they are supposed to go, tediously breaking up the core gameplay loop. Different sections of the map at least feature different background colors, but the pixel graphics and retro color palette offer little help in the form of memorable landmarks for getting your bearings, even within these distinct zones.

The game shines in more linear sections where you are challenged by increasingly difficult and complex platforming segments. These consist of short sequences broken up by “soft checkpoints”; upon death, you’ll immediately respawn at the beginning of the current sequence so that you can get right back into the action. Over time, new obstacles and mechanics are introduced, requiring the application of new techniques and greater precision to progress. The platforming level design is interesting, varied, and offers challenges demanding skillful execution.

Having already cut my teeth on countless Mario games and more sadistic indie creations like Super Meat Boy, the first half of the game gave me little trouble. However, Necrosphere later ramps up the challenge to an extent that violates the expectations established in those earlier sections. As segments become longer and timing requirements become less forgiving, the player is expected to execute increasingly complex maneuvers with almost no room for error. In my playthrough, the hardest segment of the game was a 20-second platforming challenge that I repeated for about 20 minutes before finally completing.

Other modern platformers have been praised for challenging players, but the best of these generally start out difficult or gate their hardest content behind a higher difficulty setting or an optional “endgame” outside of the main story. Necrosphere instead lures players in with simple but creative platforming puzzles before later subjecting them to a fiendishly difficult hand-cramping platforming crucible. I can’t think of another game with such an astonishing difficulty curve.

In the end, the initially lighthearted story is wrapped up with a bizarre and tonally inconsistent ending that felt like a poor reward for my efforts, suitably mirroring the shift in gameplay. Nonetheless, I was satisfied by having completed the game. I like this type of challenging platformer, even though it’s not what I was expecting (or even what I got in my first play session). The tight, unique controls and interesting level design create a memorable challenge and I had fun. Unfortunately, many won’t, including the people I saw enjoying (but struggling through) the early part of the game at PAX. Unless you’re a glutton for punishing platformers, stay out of the Necrosphere.

Necrosphere is a game about death. In my 3 hour playthrough, I died about 850 times, or once every 12 seconds. But my character only really died once, in the game’s introductory sequence. Fatally wounded, Terry is sent to the Necrosphere, the place people go after they die to “do nothing all day forever”. Fortunately, Terry’s friends aren’t having it and send helpful notes and equipment from beyond the veil to guide their fallen partner back to the land of the living. Necrosphere’s standout gameplay feature is its uniquely constrained control scheme. Unlike most platformers, the game is played using only two buttons: one to move left and one to move right. Early on, this affords an opportunity to explore what can be done in a platformer without jumping. The player may need to drop between platforms to avoid dangerous spikes and fireballs, or rely on bouncing between stationary “gravity bubbles” to gain elevation. As the game progresses, new techniques become available that incrementally pack a surprising amount of complexity and interactivity into just two buttons. These techniques are also necessary to access new sections of the map (for example, by quickly dashing across small gaps). Necrosphere isn’t just a platformer, it’s a minimalist Metroidvania. This aspect of the game offers the usual fun that comes from discovering areas that were previously out of reach, but it doesn’t feel fully realized. The absence of a map forces the player to aimlessly backtrack in search of the next place they are supposed to go, tediously breaking up the core gameplay loop. Different sections of the map at least feature different background colors, but the pixel graphics and retro color palette offer little help in the form of memorable landmarks for getting your bearings, even within these distinct zones. The game shines in more linear sections where you are challenged by increasingly difficult and complex platforming segments. These consist of short sequences broken up by “soft checkpoints”; upon death, you’ll immediately respawn at the beginning of the current sequence so that you can get right back into the action. Over time, new obstacles and mechanics are introduced, requiring the application of new techniques and greater precision to progress. The platforming level design is interesting, varied, and offers challenges demanding skillful execution. Having already cut my teeth on countless Mario games and more sadistic indie creations like Super Meat Boy, the first half of the game gave me little trouble. However, Necrosphere later ramps up the challenge to an extent that violates the expectations established in those earlier sections. As segments become longer and timing requirements become less forgiving, the player is expected to execute increasingly complex maneuvers with almost no room for error. In my playthrough, the hardest segment of the game was a 20-second platforming challenge that I repeated for about 20 minutes before finally completing. Other modern platformers have been praised for challenging players, but the best of these generally start out difficult or gate their hardest content behind a higher difficulty setting or an optional “endgame” outside of the main story. Necrosphere instead lures players in with simple but creative platforming puzzles before later subjecting them to a fiendishly difficult hand-cramping platforming crucible. I can’t think of another game with such an astonishing difficulty curve. In the end, the initially lighthearted story is wrapped up with a bizarre and tonally inconsistent ending that felt like a poor reward for my efforts, suitably mirroring the shift in gameplay. Nonetheless, I was satisfied by having completed the game. I like this type of challenging platformer, even though it’s not what I was expecting (or even what I got in my first play session). The tight, unique controls and interesting level design create a memorable challenge and I had fun. Unfortunately, many won’t, including the people I saw enjoying (but struggling through) the early part of the game at PAX. Unless you’re a glutton for punishing platformers, stay out of the Necrosphere.