#manufacture43

[clickbliss]

Pawarumi Review

by Amr (@siegarettes)

Pawarumi Developer: Manufacture43 Publisher: Manufacture43 Switch, PC, Xbox One, PS4

Sporting a multiple weapon system and three color polarity system, Pawarumi might immediately bring to mind Treasure’s shooter diptych of Radiant Silvergun and Ikaruga. But while it clearly draws inspiration from the two, Pawarumi is both simpler and more complex. It frequently overwhelms, but is balanced by allowing some messiness. Pawarumi might be balanced around a triangle of weapons, but it’s often a game of dichotomies.  

At the heart of Pawarumi is its three color weapon system. Red lasers home in on enemies, the green wave beam hits a wide area directly ahead, and the blue laser inflicts direct, steady damage in a small area. At first, Pawarumi seem follows the usual STG weapon balance, trading off between covering wider angles and doing direct damage. This is unfortunately undercut by two factors. 

Despite the varying beam styles and widescreen play space, weapons are generally only effective within a limited area straight ahead. Even the homing shot has a surprisingly small sideways lock on range. The utility of the weapon styles is cut down further by the color system, which makes the decision of where to deploy them dependent more on what resources you currently need to replenish. 

Using oppositely polarized colors causes more damage, reversing them charges your super weapon, and matching colors replenishes your shield. The problem with having a three color system is that it isn’t as immediately obvious what color is the opposite, especially since the three colors used are red, green, and blue, which don’t always have clean color complements. (It also creates readability problems with colorblindness, especially the common red/green form). To combat this the HUD prominently displays how the currently used weapon will react to other colors, animates as you fill up your shield and super meters. It’s an effective, if inelegant solution.

A lot of my attention ended up on these status bars rather than the situations themselves, placing a large emphasis on the resource management aspects of Pawarumi, rather than the shooting. Tactical choices become flattened, and I found myself more often choosing shots in response to which of my current resources was low, rather than responding to the current enemy formation. The three colors might initially hint at a more complex weapon triangle, it often feels just as binary, or even more restrictive, than in other shooters. There’s rarely a reason not to go for the most powerful color. 

These problems don’t make Pawarumi a bad game--there’s still a strong sense of feedback, and interesting decisions around its larger structure--but it does diminish the core appeal for me. Small touches like difficulty modes resulting in different stage orders and endings are interesting, but the ways Pawarumi approaches spaces and world design weren’t compelling enough to keep me interested in the little narrative there is. And while exploiting weaknesses can be fun, especially when facing bosses, the color system ultimately made the game feel less dynamic, as if there was a right answer to each situation, but without the instant readability that simpler systems provide. 

On top of that, Pawarumi essentially requires a one credit clear, instantly booting you to menu if you die, with no options to continue. To make any real progress, especially on normal or hard difficulties, I needed to reach a stage then scout it with practice mode until I understood what the right answer was for each situation, then go back and play it for real with added pressure. For some the process of slowly unraveling the stages might be satisfying, but it almost felt mandatory here, instantly turning it into a grind. Maybe I’m spoiled by other modern shooters, but I prefer to do a rough run through the game to understand what’s coming up, before refining it into a single credit run. 

Pawarumi is full of interesting ideas and concepts, but in practice it’s too messy to feel coherent. The tri-color system makes it difficult to quickly size up situations, and the variations in shot type end up as little more than aesthetic variations. The multiple routes provide a draw for replaying the game, but the strict continue system turns the initial experience into a grind. As a game, Pawarumi is fine, enjoyable as a thing to pick at. But as a shooter, it’s too unrefined to really deliver on the core concepts it tries to play with. 

[thecollectibles]

Pawarumi by Alexandre Chaudret

Character design and illustration made for the space-maya shoot'em up "Pawarumi", by the independent Manufacture43

[linuxgamenews]

Pawarumi coming to Linux very soon

Pawarumi is a modern take on the genre of shoot’em up's. The games available on Early Access for Windows only as of October 23, 2017. Yet according to a recent Twitter post, releasing on Linux.

Our Linux build is now fully tested and will ship on Monday UnixFolks ! cc @gamingonlinux @linuxgames @linuxgamecons @thelinuxgamer @VennStone ! Let's get in touch guys ;) #linuxgaming #shmup https://t.co/RH7UdFu8em

— Alex@Manufacture43 (@manufacture_43) November 17, 2017

So although the games a pure shoot’em up experience. This is not a Bullet Hell. The core gameplay is developed around a principle called the Trinity Mechanic. So the development uses a clever new use of the good old Rock-Paper-Scissors. This mechanic also allows the player to recharge its shield. Charge up a Super Attack or increase its damage at any given time. The mechanic gives a new lease of life to the genre. With a deep game system, that offers unlimited strategic opportunities. Also including shiny graphics blending pre-columbian inspiration with 90's pop culture aesthetics. Voila Pawarumi. Since the games coming from a successful Kickstarter. This is a true tribute to the Dreamcast age of top down shooters.

Pawarumi Early Access Trailer:

Since Pawarumi is going through Early Access. Development means the community has been building great expectations from Pawarumi. So now that we will have Linux support beside Windows. This is a definitive bonus. Also to make sure Pawarumi lives up to everyone’s dreams. The devteam chooses to go through a quick Early Access phase. While this harvests as much feedback as possible. This will help them improve the game quality even further. With a final release around January 2018. Working close to the community Being in Early Access means that the team will release regular updates. With more content each time and will be acting closely with the community to improve the overall game. Giving it a highly polished level of quality. The communications with Manufacture 43 developers will go through Steam forums but also through their Discord server. Since it is open to everyone, including the usual social media reach out. Pawarumi is available on Early Access priced at $16.99 USD. Releasing for Linux on Monday, November 20, 2017 beside Windows.

[websitesselection]

Pawarumi's #kickstarter campaign is now officially launched !Head to https://t.co/y7G1lgibdB to discover more about the game and support us! http://pic.twitter.com/M2CBamM7sL

— Daniel@Manufacture43 (@manufacture_43) March 27, 2017

[kadjura]

techno mayan pilote made for my friends at Manufacture 43 http://www.manufacture43.com/