Felix The Reaper PC Preview

A chubby hunter moves across snowy ground, searching for his prey. Out of nowhere, a stag begins prancing about while shouting hysterically. The hunter takes aim, releases the spear, but it is doomed to miss. Time stops in an instant and, from the ground, an ornamented elevator cage springs up. Enter Felix the reaper, an employee of The Ministry of Death. Dressed in a suit, with headphones on his head and tasteful, upbeat music in the background, he is ready to do what he does best, namely help things die, all while busting out sweet dance moves.

In order to achieve his goals, Felix must complete the puzzles every level throws at him. The dancing reaper can only move and stand on squares upon which shadow falls. To aid movement, he can change the direction of the sun, altering which squares are coated in shadow, to suit his needs. In the preview build, the sun could only be shifted in one predetermined direction. Getting caught in the sun will prompt shadows to revert to their previous position, as Felix does an appropriately smooth dance move. While there are no limits as to how many times you can get caught in the sun, it does affect your stats at the end. The end screen tracks stats such as the number of sun position shifts, actions taken or times you got caught in the sun. It’s safe to say that score/efficiency fanatics out there aren’t being overlooked. Figuring out where shadows fall requires a bit of perception and prediction skills, the elements of the environment that do cast shadow being pretty easy to spot. Levels also involve objects that can be picked up and moved around. Some of these are the objectives themselves, while others are required in order to either create new shadow paths or extend those already present. Felix can only carry one object at any given time. There’s also a neat “You’re on a roll” message that tells you whenever you’re on the right path to solving the puzzles.  This alongside the short completion time of the levels made for a relaxing yet engaging time.

A short clip rolls before the start of every level. Its purpose is twofold, both furthering the story, as Felix is intervening in the lives of others, while also communicating what he needs to do in order to complete the level. While the characters don’t use words, the cartoon-inspired visuals add lots of charm to them. The game’s lighthearted take on death is amplified by Felix’s positive attitude which makes him easy to warm up to. The preview build of Felix The Reaper also came with six songs, all wildly different from each other. One is upbeat with a bit of funk to it. Another dabbles in folk, using a violin and an accordion. Then, things step into eclectic electronica territory. Apart from being great tracks individually, they support the game’s atmosphere well enough. At times, Felix’s animations didn’t exactly sync with what was going on in the song, but expanding the animation pool is planned as development goes on.

Playing the small slice of Felix The Reaper provided in the preview build filled me with joy.  Charming characters and humorous situations made me curious for what was going to happen in the next cutscene. The puzzles regularly had one solution which, for the latter two of the five available levels, did involve a certain degree of challenge without stepping into “hardcore” territory. Felix The Reaper aims for a linear approach to its levels, centered around one single solution. The music worked in tandem with what was happening on the screen while also making me aware of a handful of interesting artists I hadn’t heard of previously. The mixture of puzzles and situational humor hit the right marks. Provided the team at Kong Orange manages to expand upon them, while adding more cool music to the mix, Felix the Reaper has all the chances to be a great surprise in the year to come.

Bogdan Robert, NoobFeed
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