- Publisher: Devolver Digital
- Release Date: Mar 28, 2024
- Also On: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X
- Critic score
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Aug 6, 2024Cat Quest 3 is a light but charming pirate adventure that'll make you feel like a kid again.
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Edge MagazineApr 18, 2024It's like watching penguins in an Attenborough documentary turning from ungainly waddlers into torpedoes. [Issue#397, p.114]
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Apr 17, 2024If you have the money to spare or see the game on sale I would highly recommend experiencing what this title has to offer.
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Apr 15, 2024Pepper Grinder is a side-scrolling platformer with a good pace and solid platforming mechanics, but it's marred by some questionable action choices that prevent the title from shining as much as it should. This is particularly regrettable in the case of the boss battles, which, despite featuring beautiful designs, offer unsatisfying gameplay, as does the overall duration of the adventure.
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Mar 29, 2024Overall, Pepper Grinder is a very good game. Some stages have unique gimmicks that blend well with the base move set, others just challenge players with the basics. I like Pepper, she has a lot of character for a silent protagonist and the soundtrack is quite good too. There’s a lot to like with Pepper Grinder, I just really wish the boss battles were better or absent because they weigh down the rest of the experience.
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Mar 29, 2024Pepper Grinder does a good job of making players feel like their skills are progressing as they play through the game. It does sometimes feel like a grind, but there are enjoyable aspects to Pepper's adventure that should be tried. The drilling as a travel tool is neat, and the boss monster's designs and fights are entertaining, but the fun seems to fizzle out a little too quickly. Still, despite this and the game's sometimes frustrating controls, Ahr Ech set out to create something a bit different. And while some aspects come up short, some players will find things worth drilling through to discover.
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Mar 28, 2024Even with all that said, though, Pepper Grinder’s core gameplay is still ridiculous fun, and raising the flag at the end of each platforming level still feels triumphant, if only for short-term pleasure. Pepper Grinder is a short game, only four to six hours, so the lack of other compelling aspects feels disappointingly underwhelming. Still, the thrill of the precision-heavy chase is an oh-so-tempting one, even if you won’t remember the chase very well afterward.
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Mar 28, 2024Pepper Grinder is a good video game but it doesn’t feel like a complete video game. The mechanic of burrowing away through different biomes is always satisfying as you make platforming leaps of faith between different bodies of ground. What exploration, world and mechanical growth is there is really strong, it’s just limited and brief. Fun throughout but over before you know it, Pepper Grinder is a charming title that is just missing that extra little spice.
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Mar 28, 2024Pepper Grinder offers plenty of fun during a surface level playthrough. Once you drill into the depths of its game mechanics, however, you’ll find an overly forgiving “casual” game and a relatively frustrating “time attack” game. That said, you can collect stickers and that’s pretty cool.
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Mar 28, 2024Like its diminutive main character, Pepper Grinder may be a little on the short side, but even this small pinch of Pepper still packs plenty of punch. Plowing through platforms feels fantastic, no two levels ever seem the same, and there are some wonderfully destructive toys to discover and employ along the way. I do wish the boss fights outside of the final encounter were a bit more challenging, and the lack of anything meaningful to buy in the in-game store meant I didn’t feel compelled to take too many return trips through each world to collect any missed currency and extend my playtime. But if you’re in the mood for a short but sweet slice of propulsive platforming action of a kind rarely seen since Ecco the Dolphin’s last adventure, Pepper Grinder is all driller and no filler.
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Apr 16, 2024Pepper Grinder is short at just four to five hours, but I found it a perfect amount of time to establish and iterate on the core mechanic without the game getting rote. For those of you who love a good platformer, you can even continue playing after rolling the credits and have a blast collecting hidden coins or taking on time trials.
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Mar 28, 2024There are a few dents and scratches in Pepper Grinder's toolkit, then, and some of them will require a little brute force to work through. But taken as a whole, three-to-four-hour experience? I wouldn't say they're devastating enough to spoil the otherwise immaculate performance of its drill work. Pepper Grinder is still a fun, novel and sparky breed of platformer, and one that will regularly make you break out in more smiles than anguished grimaces. Despite its hardships, you'll still mourn when those credits roll, and if that's not a sign of a good video game, I don't know what is.