Do Not Fall (PSN)

During my playthrough of XPEC's latest release of "Do Not Fall" a couple of things kept on popping up in the back of my mind. One such thought was that the main character "PiPi" reminded me an awful lot of the old "Nestle Quick" bunny from the animated television commercials, and secondly that the name "PiPi" reminded me of something I ought not mention here (Childish Laughter Follows ^.^). The game as odd as it is revolves around some interesting characters/creatures, and their pursuit to make the ultimate drink via the inside worlds of a vending machine. Some of you may not be sold on such an off-the-wall idea, but it's these out-of-the-box creations that generally gain most of my respect when it comes to video game offerings. The developer definitely knew what they were doing with the design, and theme of the game, and executed it all in what I like to call a "Perfect Storm". Do Not Fall, as cutesy as it may appear is a hardcore mind !@#$% that will have you returning for more, and cussing as you try your hardest to perfect your playthroughs. While this description would likely turn away a lot of you it's certainly not a bad thing.

Do Not Fall (Run For Your Drink) is a puzzle based game that incorporates a lot of retro gaming themes as well as some unique twists of it's own. At the core of it you'll find 7 drink (Mineral Water, Milk, Green Tea, Pineapple Juice, Sparkling Water, Marshmallow Chocolate, Shave Ice) themed levels which each have ten hazard filled stages each. In all there is a whopping total of 70 areas to complete to perfection (think "Angry Birds") should you have the nerve to do so. As you traverse the crumbling tiles, and obstacle filled 3D floating landscapes you will guide your character of choice (beginning with "PiPi") across the ways as you gather the ingredients, nuts, and bolts which are all required to create/unlock the drinks found within the magical vending machine. Time is always against you, and the threat of falling to your untimely demise even more so.

The levels, and stages found within "Do Not Fall" are complex in nature, but only require the simplest of button inputs to navigate. The "L. Thumbstick" acts as the characters' movement, "X" is a means of jumping, and "SQUARE" will allow your character to dash through objects as well as through the air. You'll find that the dash move is limited though, and will require that you wait until a meter above the character's head fills before next use. The rest of the more involved techniques will simply pertain to your interaction with certain tile types (bouncing tiles, falling tiles, checkpoints ...).

The first level, or drink (Mineral Water) made initially available in the game will get you familiar with the basics techniques found within. It acts as a sort of tutorial with 10 stages that aim to get you familiar with the feel of the game as well as the requirements necessary to perfect any given stage. In simple terms you will move PiPi across a floating set of tiles that not only has hazards (crumbling/vanishing tiles, moving critters, spike balls ...) which will force PiPi, and the other characters off into the vending machine abyss, but that also have locked areas which require the use of a certain number of collectible keys. Along the way you'll collect ingredients, nuts, and bolts in a slightly similar way to the "Pac-Man" games of old (minus the power pellet induced ghost gobbling). You have two lives, and a set time limit with which to collect everything, and get to the final locked area. Keep in mind that there are also side challenges that you can complete to further unlock content found in the game. These challenges which range from busting boxes to making moving enemies/hazards fall will have you returning for additional playthroughs as you try to perfect the overall stage completion. As you might have guessed you will be given a alphabetical grade based on your overall performance (F-A, S). This grading system takes in account the time it took for you to complete the level, the number of times your character fell, and whether or not you collected/completed everything.

As I mentioned earlier there are also other levels/drinks to be found within the vending machine world of "Do Not Fall". The next level up, otherwise known as "Milk" will continue to get you familiar with the game's offerings. This time around though you will be incorporating advanced techniques that will come in handy later on on the game. The levels/drinks that follow all get increasingly more difficult, and each introduce their own form of threats to PiPi, and his/her comrades (Pig, Lemur, Tribal Boy, Fat Mermaid, Old Cupid, Abominable Snowman). The 'Green Tea" stage for example will have the player taking on multiple possible routes while deciding which one is more efficient for gathering all the necessary items needed for stage completion. Each level/drink has it's own unique theme (creatures, obstacles, tiles ...), background imagery, and threats that are entirely unique to those sets of stages. It is your job to perfect your playthrough, and ultimately deliver that drink of choice to the person/s waiting outside of the vending machine. Keep in mind that every tile, and creature/obstacle has a set way of acting. This means that each additional playthrough of the stages will be the same, and will allow even the more novice players to learn what they must do in order to succeed. It's more, or less a trial and error sort of deal.

Aside from the singleplayer mode you'll find that "Do Not Fall" also features a set of 6 local multiplayer, and online multiplayer mini-games that are each based on the core setup of the singleplayer experience. These mini-games serve as a nice distraction from the hardcore nature of their offline counterparts, but in turn also pose a competitive challenge of their own. The six mini-games included in both offline, and online multiplayer are "Soccer", "Crown Grabber", "A Cold Wind Blows", "Step On The Floor", "Occupy The Base", and "Mark The Territory". In each of these modes up to 4 color coded players will choose from one of the 7 available characters (PiPi, Pig, Lemur, Fat Mermaid, Tribal Boy, Old Cupid, Abominable Snowman) to play as during the competition/s. As with the core singleplayer game these mini-games will be timed, but will also include point based scoring as to retain it's inherent competitive nature. Each mini-game has it's own unique set of rules as well which may not be apparent from their titles.

The "Soccer" multiplayer mini-game is exactly as it sounds, but features a signature "Do Not Fall" twist that adds that competitive nature which I've spoken of several times before. Each of the four players involved in a soccer match will have to pick up, and kick one of four soccer balls into a larger than life net located at the top of the screen. To complicate things players can dash other players to death, and even cause them to fall through the falling/vanishing tiles that the soccer field is made up of. Don't worry though, because characters have unlimited lives in each mini-game, and can respawn from their ghostly form ("CIRCLE" Button) to rejoin the onscreen activities. In the end the player with the most points when the timer runs out wins the match. Keep in mind though that there are four different places to end up in including '1st' through '4th' (4th being last place).

The next multiplayer mini-game is what you'd call a "King of the Hill" sort of experience. This mini-game which is titled "Crown Grabber" features all of the character dashing, falling tile madness, timed gameplay, and point based winnings as the previously mentioned mini-game. It bases it's rules around an obtainable crown that can be picked up, and only worn by a single character. By wearing the crown the character will gain points for however long they have it on. This point gaining can of course be interrupted by other players through via dashing, and by making the player to fall through tiles. Once the crown has been knocked off of a player it can be picked up in it's middle screen location, and worn by the next player to possess it. This in turn will start the point scoring process for the newly crowned character/player. The player with the most points at the end gets '1st' place!

A Cold Wind Blows, the next mini-game in the selection of multiplayer options is a bit deceiving with it's title. While there are wind elements to this particular mini-game the core rules basically involve getting to the safe areas before the surrounding tiles vanish underneath you. By making it to these safe areas you will earn points, advancing you total score as time ticks away. You can also earn points by by collecting special gems. Keep in mind though that if you fall you will not gain points for that phase of safe area switching.  In a similar fashion to 'A Cold Wind Blows', "Step On The Floor" will have players trying to avoid a quick decent into oblivion. As the title suggests stepping on the tiles is the main objective of this particular mini-game. By stepping on tiles you will gain points, but by falling you will lose them. In both of these mini-games the same time rules apply meaning that the player with the most points when time runs out will score '1st' place amongst their peers.

Moving on, "Occupy The Base" is the next mini-game up at bat. In basic terms you will be guiding your character to bases as you try to "occupy" them. It's gameplay is similar to that of "Capture the Flag" modes in such games as 'CoD (Call of Duty)". The only difference is that in this mini-game you will be trying to avoid dashing players, and vanishing tiles in the process of achieving your goal. The more bases that you occupy the more points you will earn. When time is up the player with the most earned points will land themselves in the top spot, otherwise known as 'First Place".

Last, but not least is "Mark The Territory" (Childish Laughter Ensues ^.^). This naughty sounding battle of territorial gain will have characters color coding tiles by walking over them. In a way the gameplay is very similar to that of 'Q*Bert' in that tiles that are walked on twice will change colors accordingly. Your character is initially assigned a color (Red, Blue, Yellow ...) in accordance to your player position at the character selection screen. It is this color that is incorporated within the rule set of this particular mini-game. Not only will you be "Marking Your Territory", but you will also have to collect a character/player specific key which you must carry to a designated spot in order to ultimately claim your claimed territories. By doing so you will earn points based on how many territories are still colored your color when you reach your locked area. Once again the player with the most points when time runs out will take '1st Place'.

There is no doubt that "Do Not Fall" has a lot to offer the gamer in terms of core gameplay, replay value, and multiplayer options. Aside from those significant things you'll also find that there are a variety of additional extras that can be unlocked via in-game achievements, and the nuts that you collect throughout stage playthroughs. Among the additional offerings you'll find "Concept Art", "Cinematics/Videos", and even in-game boosts (Extra Lives, Speed Boosts, Jumping Boosts ...) that can be added to your character to aid in the perfection/completion of each stage within the game. New characters can also be unlocked through the in-game 'SHOP' using collected nuts as well. Most of the purchasable items tend to be on the expensive side (particularly the character boosts, and bonus characters), so you will definitely need to do multiple playthroughs of stages in order to obtain them. It's this type of bonus feature that really accents, and conveys the replay value that "Do Not Fall" provides.

Now onto the verdict ...

The core gaming experience that "Do Not Fall" offers is a well designed yet trying one. It's the type of game that does not forgive the simplest of mistakes yet allows the gamer to learn, and adapt easily to each situation through multiple playthroughs. Like I said before it's a trial, and error sort of game. You will no doubt make it through the two tutorial levels just fine, but once you reach the more difficult levels/drinks you will find that avoiding the fall is more harder than not. With that being said the developer urges the gamer to keep on trying despite the challenges at hand. It's this type of gaming mentality that I think a lot of us gamers lack, and would definitely do good to gain from. I for one often times give up on a ridiculously hard game, and even try to avoid reviewing them here on this blog. I cannot stand the "Impossible Game' indie titles, but found that the developers at XPEC made this game inviting enough despite it's hardcore nature.

While I definitely agree that the singleplayer is not to be missed the latter multiplayer options appear to only be time fillers that will no doubt be ignored by the fans of the multiplayer genre. These mini-games, as I called them are exactly that. They are mostly geared towards the younger generation of gamers, and serve merely as a slight distraction from Do Not Fall's core gameplay experience. At the time of the posting of this review I was unable to find anyone playing online. It was nice to be able to sample the mini-games through bot oriented local play at least though. Not many developers think of us journalists when it comes to multiplayer options, and I think 'XPEC' definitely kept us in mind this time around.

My verdict, as unacceptable as it may be to some is that "Do Not Fall" is worth the $9.99 price tag. Sure the offline singleplayer is the only thing I really find worthwhile, but that is not really a bad thing. I think 'XPEC' did an excellent job of creating this thoroughly enjoyable hardcore puzzle experience. As I mentioned earlier the stage designs are ingenious, and will have you making decisions on the run ultimately pushing your platforming skills to the limit. The fact that the developer made each feature of each stage act in the same way during every playthrough makes replaying the stages less of a burden, and more of a learning experience. Gamers who are determined to win despite the odds stacked against them will no doubt find the challenges within "Do Not Fall" to be noteworthy, and fun. It's up to you whether you can get past the cute animations, and enjoy the hardcore experience that the game has to offer though.