PONCHO

 PC
Metascore
62

Mixed or average reviews - based on 4 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 4
  3. Negative: 0 out of 4
  1. Game Rant
    Nov 10, 2015
    70
    When the player has truly got to grips with the ‘easy to learn, difficult to master’ parallax layer mechanics, together with additional skills Poncho acquires, the player will find themselves with a pretty, interesting, and fun platformer.
  2. 3DJuegos
    Nov 10, 2015
    70
    Poncho is a platform game with interesting gameplay mechanics, but its control system and level design don't always work fine.
  3. Destructoid
    Nov 2, 2015
    60
    It's a great concept, and when it's working it's a great inventive challenge, but when it goes downhill, it put a huge damper on my experience as a whole. I wanted to like it, but it was tough given some of the rough puzzle and level designs on show.
  5. Everyeye.it
    Nov 17, 2015
    52
    The idea is sound, albeit not original, but the mix doesn't work as it should.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
5.8

Mixed or average reviews- based on 4 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 4
  3. Negative: 1 out of 4
  1. SuperkenGaming
    Nov 14, 2015
    7
    PONCHO
    from fun to frustrating
    Poncho is colorful, gorgeous, and charming, This is a 2.5dish puzzle platformer where you play as an adorable    PONCHO
    from fun to frustrating
    Poncho is colorful, gorgeous, and charming, This is a 2.5dish puzzle platformer where you play as an adorable blue robot in a poncho set out to save the world…
    This game can be absolutely down right fun and addicting, but sadly only about half of the time.
    The levels in poncho are very explorery, to progress you go around collecting keys or cubes to buy keys from shops, and you flip switches and solve environmental puzzles to find the next teleporter and move on to the next level
    There are 3 layers in every world and you can hop back and forth between the middle, the foreground, and the background, this concept alone is enough to make a 10/10 experience with challenging platforming using simple timing tricks, and storytelling with the gorgeous environment.. but instead they add these annoying white blocks with seemingly no pattern that essentially give no warning they are about to change, I mean they kind of do, but even once you see it it doesn’t matter because they’re all timed differently and you don’t know if it’s about to go forward or backwards, and then you fall and you have to repeat over and over and over,. Because you can’t die and there are no checkpoints…The concept of dimension hopping is great, but dimensions look completely flat, so the human eye can’t see the next moving platform you need to jump onto or dodge, because there’s lights flashing, platforms moving, it’s not fun. These parts ruined the overall experience for me…
    Because other than these moving cubes, PONCHO is a great concept..
    And I’m not over exaggerating or crying because I wasn’t good at the game… There’s just simply no obstacle to overcome with them, there is no skill to learn… what they do one time they won’t do the next time, it’s less about timing your jumps and switches and more about praying you’re in the right algorithm and you don’t get knocked back to the start….
    I found myself getting through with luck and button mashing… they simply just got in the way of my fun…
    it isn’t all too bad though... poncho can be pretty enjoyable until you get to the frustrating level 5..bet then its good again for the final 4 levels.. but never mind they’re going to smack you again with the final level… for the final level they literally throw all of the things wrong with this game at you.
    The finale was a perfect opportunity to give a casual high 5 fun for all experience, but instead they decide to leave you with a bad taste in your mouth if you cant find the patience inside of you to push through the poorly designed ending puzzle sequence… it’s a jumbled mess.
    I’ve said it once and I’ll probably say it over 9000 times again there’s a difference between challenging and difficult, challenging is fun and engaging... Difficult is just straight up frustration.
    I feel like PONCHO makes the mistake of being hard just for the sake of being hard... the story, the color, the opening it all fools you into thinking this game wants to deliver an experience, but ultimately it sacrifices challenge for frustration.
    It’s almost like the developers don’t want you to enjoy or beat their game... The moment you start having fun they take it away from you.
    You’ll lose hours to the same annoying sections rather than losing hours replaying moments you loved… just saying no to the game creeped into my mind way too many times than it should.
    As far as actually bugs go though, this game is fairly clear of them, but its super easy to find yourself in an endless death loop in some of the smaller stages and I found my character constantly not jumping when I pressed x almost as if the sensitivity for commands is way too low…
    I’m almost convinced no one is meant to beat this game…
    But I’m glad that I ultimately did.
    For me, the ending was worth the endless hours stuck in the final tour.
    But I’m persistent as heck, if you annoy easily, you owe it to your blood pressure to stay away.
    For what it is
    Puzzle Platformer: 6.5/10
    Overall: 6.5/10    … Full Review »
  2. SenshudoTV
    Dec 2, 2015
    8
    In summary, the game is enjoyable, and looks beautiful - however the controls were difficult to play with and the perspective was often out ofIn summary, the game is enjoyable, and looks beautiful - however the controls were difficult to play with and the perspective was often out of place resulting in deaths from the background appearing to be a platform on the foreground. Poncho is a fun game, with unique charms and beautiful graphics - however it could be much more fun. A few little quirks that detract from the fun just need to be resolved first!… Full Review »
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