I'm afraid it's me.
Juice Galaxy is what it sets out to be: An adventure through an odd world, meeting odd creatures, guided along with floppy mechanics.
The combat in Juice Galaxy is impressive; despite, or perhaps because of, being so unpredictable in its physics-basis, the gameplay is very skill-based; managing movements and considering what will happen next based on the current trajectory of one's arm and weapon becomes its own art for skill-based gameplay; and for when that isn't enough, the mechanics within for getting more and more powerful weapons can help compensate to give the player a way to earn the power needed to become a satisfyingly formidable force of nature; and the infinite expanse of the wilderness offers increased challenge for when we seek it.
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My current gripe - it's version 0.1.16 as of now - is twofold.
1. Firstly that the bosses- the most interesting and rewarding enemies to employ the skills and powers of Juice Galaxy's unique combat gameplay- are much too weak and easy. This has been the case for a significant amount of time; now it is even more so due to the addition of the immensely satisfying, yet currently overpowered grimoires.
For all intents and purposes, the enemies found from monster level 20.0 onward are more challenging to fight than the dedicated bosses of the game, with the exception of the Wawsp Queen, who, while a fun character, is fairly redundant and repetitive as a boss, and much less fun to thwack, shoot, and dodge than the likes of Mrs. Slitherss and Sergeant Suckerpunch.
With Juice Galaxy being so combat-focused, the enemies that are most fun to fight also being the easiest to beat is a major drawback. I worry at, as tougher bosses are implemented, like I assume Swirly D will be, these "pioneer"/"veteran" bosses, if you'll pardon the term, will be left behind, essentially being differently shaped level-10 pollywogs.
It's enough to keep me from giving Juice Galaxy a star.
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2. The other concern I have, on combat being too heavy by coincidence, is that combat seems to be all there is to do. Every secret to be discovered, every thing you can hold and equip, every stat we can level up in the Juice fountain, is about fighting. Someone to fight, or something to fight with, or something to make fighting easier, so on.
A good scrap I like as much as the next computer chair potato; yet, Juice Galaxy presents a very interesting world, with memorable characters, combat and non-combat alike, and dialogue and scenery hints that there's more to life in this odd place than just tripping strollfiends and fish-hooking dragins.
In such a world it feels truly- and not just metaphorically- painful that the only interesting way I can interact with this world is to hurt things within it. The peculiar in-game physics present plenty of possibility for non-combat-based challenges and interactions, and the unique motif of the setting as a fever dream made real would excuse almost any odd contest or civilian project that might come up.
This is to say nothing of the possible ways that currently combat-based objects could be used in non-combat scenarios, and likewise non-combat objects or props could come to have a niche use in fighting.
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Even so, for what it is so far, Juice Galaxy has provided a great deal of fun; the additional updates each provide something new or improved, and the ones that drop something significantly new in particular almost all revitalize the game in a welcome way; and for the game's early state it is a sound behind-the-shoulder combat experience.
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