Comments on: Indie game of the week: Iji

Indie game of the week: Iji

pancreas — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 22:02:07 -0800

It's not often that a freeware game can truly be called a masterpiece but Daniel Remar has finally released Iji, an action platformer with touches of RPG, in which you control a female heroine with a whole lot of engineered superhuman abilities. What makes this game so good is the sheer of polish that has been put into the production and the large amount of choices there are to make. You can choose what abilities to level up with, whether or not to bother killing enemies and the path you take through each sprawling area, which can effect the outcome of the unfolding story.

By: localhuman

localhuman — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 22:26:00 -0800

Sounds cool, but no download for os_x, if you swing that way.

By: MythMaker

MythMaker — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 23:08:33 -0800

Yeah, I noticed the same thing. No Mac version, no download from me...

By: ardgedee

ardgedee — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 03:12:20 -0800

Yeah. I don't mind posts about software I can't use. But at least let us know what systems they run on.

By: ham

ham — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 03:26:12 -0800

Wow, does intentionally buying a computer with a notoriously limited software library really give you the right to complain that this poor guy's game won't run for you? He designed, coded and animated the game on his own and all you can do is complain that he didn't bother to port it to Mac! Looks awesome pancreas, I'm downloading it now.

By: DecemberBoy

DecemberBoy — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 03:42:31 -0800

Runs OK under WINE, but not really worth downloading. The graphics would have been bad 15 years ago, the sound is poor, and the story is hackneyed. This is one of those games by and for Gameplay Nazis, who can ignore every other element as long as there's some complex jumping puzzles. If you want a free game like this that's better in every regard, check out Doukutsu Monogatari (Cave Story). There's even ports to other platforms, because the author didn't code it in some platform-locked game prefabricator software.

By: robotot

robotot — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 04:36:01 -0800

Looks interesting to download, which I am. I'll post some more once I've played some.

By: vira

vira — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 06:44:14 -0800

a notoriously limited software library Not to ignite any holy wars, but between wine, vmware, and fink, the list of things that won't run on MacOS X is pretty short and uninteresting.

By: scope the lobe

scope the lobe — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 09:29:22 -0800

He designed, coded and animated the game on his own and all you can do is complain that he didn't bother to port it to Mac! If he had used something SDL or pygame it wouldn't have been a bother. In this, the 21st century, I'm fully prepared and willing to fault any programmer who uses platform-specific libraries.

By: voltairemodern

voltairemodern — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 09:29:52 -0800

This is one of those games by and for Gameplay Nazis, who can ignore every other element as long as there's some complex jumping puzzles. If you want a free game like this that's better in every regard, check out Doukutsu Monogatari (Cave Story). Or seriously? Just buy Portal. I can't believe how cheap that game is.

By: Pogo_Fuzzybutt

Pogo_Fuzzybutt — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 09:32:08 -0800

Not to ignite any holy wars, but between wine, vmware, and fink, the list of things that won't run on MacOS X is pretty short and uninteresting. The very model of efficiency. It's why I sold my macbook.

By: ardgedee

ardgedee — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 09:46:36 -0800

> Wow, does intentionally buying a computer with a notoriously limited software library ... MeTa. It sounds like a neat game and I'd just as soon see folks discussing the game here and argue about OSes elsewhere.

By: porn in the woods

porn in the woods — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 09:57:35 -0800

Sell your old PowerPC-based Macs, ditch your creaky desktop PC, and get a current Mac with WinXP via Boot Camp (the way to go for gaming) and/or Parallels.

By: vira

vira — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:00:55 -0800

Wine is frequently faster than native. Vmware too. On my linux system, my 3d games (WoW and EVE) get higher framerates in wine.

By: mannequito

mannequito — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:42:24 -0800

It really didn't sound to me like those Mac users were bitching or complaining. Just like they were pointing out for others what the original post didn't : you need windows to download and use it. I went poking around the site too before I read that

By: JDHarper

JDHarper — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:42:37 -0800

This game is really pretty awesome. And it runs on my graphics-impaired laptop, which is even more awesome.

By: JHarris

JHarris — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 11:27:36 -0800

It sounds like the Mac users were bitching because they do that with literally every computer program that gets posted to the blue that doesn't run on a Mac and doesn't state that up front. I can see where they're coming from, but I think they're risking a backlash with this kind of stridency, especially, as vira points out, most programs CAN run on a Mac these days, one way or another.

By: radiosig

radiosig — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 12:39:51 -0800

this game is fun. i just stayed up until 7am last night getting to the final boss and beat it this morning (on normal). the physics are satisfying, the weapons are fun to use (perhaps the most important thing), the music is good, it's nice and colorful, and the dialogue is a bit amateurish but effectively conveys a sense of mystery that works well for me; i'm one of those people mentioned upthread for whom a "good enough" story is good enough in an action game. the "economy" of the game art is interesting -- in a good way -- as well, especially cut scenes, which are in the venerable Ninja Gaiden tradition. a note about cave story: yeah, cave story is good. i beat it like four different ways two years ago. it's an incredible game, but not every single (FREE) software offering on the internet needs to live up to that gold standard to still be entertaining. haters can, you know, suck eggs.

By: anthill

anthill — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 12:39:57 -0800

If you're looking for an awesome (physics-based, non-platformer) game, you should check out Hammerfall.

By: selfnoise

selfnoise — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 13:52:17 -0800

"...the dialogue is a bit amateurish but effectively conveys a sense of mystery that works well for me; i'm one of those people mentioned upthread for whom a "good enough" story is good enough in an action game." One of the nice things about having games like Portal is that even people who are never going to write a masterpiece of interactive fiction try a little bit harder because they see what's possible. The game is a lot of fun... it reminds me of playing Blackthorne years ago. Thanks for pointing it out.

By: pancreas

pancreas — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 17:15:56 -0800

I apologise for not pointing out that it doesn't have a Mac port. I'll try to remember that for next time. I won't ever be posting Mac software simply because I don't own one.

By: juv3nal

juv3nal — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 17:52:04 -0800

"Could you at least add a Windows tag?" He did. See up there where it says "game"? That means it runs on Windows machines only.

By: treepour

treepour — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 18:36:00 -0800

Good game, thanks. Works fine for me via vmware. I think the annoyance (which I experienced a bit myself) is that when you go to the author's page, it doesn't even mention platform. Also, the game was made with, apparently, pretty decent game-making software -- whoever made it didn't code it from the ground up, so it's a little much to expect him port it to other OS's. I like the pacifist angle -- I haven't finished the game yet, but I've actually found the story far richer when killing less than 5 per sector. On the other hand, there seem to be some places you just can't get to without going on a rampage . . . which makes the game unusually replayable. And I thought the music (99% originally composed for the game) was very, very good.

By: anthill

anthill — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 19:03:09 -0800

After a few minutes of play, it seems like a 2d version of System Shock in the graphic style of Out of this World. Could use a little more Trilby though - not being able to crawl while crouched or roll, nor have any meaningful interaction with enemies got a little dull.

By: nightchrome

nightchrome — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 18:06:44 -0800

For something created for free by some dude for fun, this game is absolutely fantastic. It runs smooth as butter on my laptop, and despite the amateurish graphics the effects, weapons, animation, physics are all very well-polished. There are a lot of commercial games getting released that are in far, far worse shape than this. Frankly, if you choose to disparage a game because it doesn't have the latest supershiny omg realistic graphics pushing your card to the very limit, well, you deserve to miss out on great games.

By: Durn Bronzefist

Durn Bronzefist — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 23:23:30 -0800

If you're looking for an awesome (physics-based, non-platformer) game, you should check out Hammerfall. Ugh, I am gutted. Another night on low sleep, because I thought I could play "a few minutes" of Hammerfall. I was at my desk this morning and couldn't get the little spinning imagery and music out of my head. Tonight I got two smiley faces away from completing that stupid sword-slashing-basket test (having worked through two acts/worlds to get there). Great fun, though. And frighteningly impressive from the first non-tutorial level there.