Lovely Planet is an interesting game to say the least. It’s rather basic in its design but highly addictive. The title features a colorful pastel art style and tight shooting mechanics that explore the oversaturated shooter genre in its purest form. This approach to game design has its benefits and problems. While the title makes for an addicting experience, it’s rather shallow. At the end of the day, whether you like this game or not boils down to what you expect out of such titles. I feel nowadays many developers think console gamers want mobile experiences. In my opinion we really don’t. At least I don’t. This might be Lovely Planet’s biggest downfall despite the fact that it’s so fun to play.
The main aim of the game is to go around dodging bullets and shooting enemies. If you miss an enemy you lose. If you get hit you lose. If you miss one of the flying bombs you lose. However, it’s not as bad as it sounds. You just have to start the level from the beginning and try again. The levels are very short and getting three stars is very hard. A lot of replay value is built into this title. Gamers who strive for total completion will love this game. Practice makes perfect and there is no better game than Lovely Planet to demonstrate that. Navigating each level becomes somewhat like a ballet. You have to time each move and jump perfectly. Remember where the enemies are and where they fire from. Getting three stars is difficult but not impossible. It’s very rewarding when you attain them however.
There are a hundred levels to master and five worlds to discover. While that is a lot of content, most of the levels look exactly the same. It seems like most of them just have structures moved around. One redeeming quality has to be the multiple secrets hidden in each world. This keeps you coming back for more.
You might be wondering why I’m not talking about the gameplay or other aspects of the title in great detail. I pretty much did. You just go around shooting and dodging enemies. That’s all it is. Nothing more. You pretty much have the same weapon throughout the experience and encounter pretty much the same enemies. The game runs at 60 frames per second so the shooting is super smooth. Firing is accurate and jumping around reminded me of the floaty experience found in Destiny and Halo. This can lead to a rather shallow experience. I understand what the developers were trying to do here but maybe incorporating a basic story in there would’ve been beneficial to the title.
The sole purpose of this game is to provide an addicting experience. It requires you to master each level and attain those three stars. It succeeds in those aspects but I kept on longing for something more. This game is great to experience in short bursts and between those heavy hitters. I found myself playing it while I was waiting for commercials to end during episodes of The Flash. Is this really how we should be playing games? I want to be immersed in an experience, not play it to pass time between commercials.
Games like Lovely Planet are always hard to evaluate. What do you compare them to? Other indie titles on Xbox One? I don’t think that’s really fair because the title tries to just be a simplistic shooter that hooks you with its gameplay. It’s addicting for sure. It’s an exploration of the gameplay mechanics behind a shooter rather than a story that spans the galaxy or attempts something grand.
Summary
I would recommend picking up Lovely Planet if you genuinely prefer games that require repetition and tremendous skill to master. There is a market for experiences like this out there. The title is addicting and will keep you hooked for dozens of hours. Maybe hundreds if you want to go for total completion. Unfortunately, this game will appeal to only a niche audience because the average gamer doesn’t crave these experiences. I’ll admit, I got hooked by this one but realize it’s not for everyone. Watch some gameplay before you purchase this title. It might be your cup of tea but you have to remember that it’s not for the average gamer out there.
Asher is a games journalist, former News Writer (Gaming) at Windows Central. They contributed 1110 articles to ICXM between 2015–2017, focused on opinion pieces, game reviews, Windows and PC, and Xbox news: wrote over 1,100 ICXM pieces on Xbox news, hardware reviews, and platform commentary before joining Future plc’s Windows Central in 2017.