Thumper is actually the first rhythm game that I ever played (if Glitchwave genre tags are to be trusted), it's not a genre that I specifically looked for and outside of my general niche of RPG and strategy games. Funny enough playing this reminded me more of Celeste than anything else, having to get the right sequence of button mashing and the correct timing.
Thumper is okay, but after a while it starts to feel repetitive even if the difficulty ramps up a little bit. It's the same move left/right, hold A, avoid this, jump there and you repeat that for a whole lot of time. Yes there are more challenging levels that feel satisfying when you finally beat them, but most of time I was just going through the motions and thinking about other stuff while playing (like what I am going to cook for dinner?). I've got pretty terrible scores on the later levels, but it doesn't feel like a game that grips me to get the highest score, it's just not something that appeals to me, or at least in this game it doesn't.
The music has this industrial feel and is pretty essential to the game, and at times as you hit the bumps your sound effects start to match up with the music tracks, it's a cute little effect but the gimmick wears off pretty quickly. There's a lot of light and color in the graphics, but that too wears off quickly as it's always the same thing over and over again.
Not that I hated my time that I spent with Thumper, it was okay/enjoyable but not much more and it didn't grip with excitement which seems to be the reception that many people give to it. I'm not going to dismiss the entire genre based off this, but considering the hype I do was expecting something more impressive. On a sidenote I played this on Stadia (with the controller) and the controls were 100% responsive and there was no felt latency whatsover... not that it's the most hardware demanding game, but lots of people are still skeptical of the service.
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There definitely is a rhythm in all of those tracks. Sometimes it gets into unpredictable directions, but despite the complexity, it has a pulse that I can feel out. Now I don't play jazz rhythm or anything but I am able to pick out the overall patterns in the rhythm in most of the tracks.
Some sections I have to retry to understand the rhythm and pulse, and it ends up feeling like learning a musical segment. I enjoy that aspect of the game for sure. But in the end, when the game gets harder and start demanding more complex inputs, I can't help but feel that brain power and dexterity practice would be better spent in actually practicing an instrument.
This game answers the question "what if a noise metal was a game?". Only 1 button + d-pad/analog, mesmerizing visuals, insane soundtrack.
Also a funny thing that turns it harder in a different way. Normally rhythm games are on a time signature of 4/4, like most popular music. Thumper twists this in a crazy way, basically these are the time signatures of the levels ( take this with pinch of salt, I did study music but I am no musician nor audio designer ): Level 1: 1/4 or 2/4 ( can't decide here ) Level 2: 2/4 Level 3: 3/4 Level 4: 4/4 Level 5: 5/8 Level 6: 6/8 Level 7: 7/8 Level 8: No clue here, couldn't really feel it but by following the pattern would be 8/8. Level 9: 9/8
This will make all levels feel very very very different. And some like 7 and especially 9 where you'll have this uncanny feeling because this time signatures don't feel "natural". This compiled with the visuals make this experience 100% unique.
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Note: Unlike reviews, comments are considered temporary and may be deleted/purged without notice.Some sections I have to retry to understand the rhythm and pulse, and it ends up feeling like learning a musical segment. I enjoy that aspect of the game for sure. But in the end, when the game gets harder and start demanding more complex inputs, I can't help but feel that brain power and dexterity practice would be better spent in actually practicing an instrument.
Also a funny thing that turns it harder in a different way. Normally rhythm games are on a time signature of 4/4, like most popular music.
Thumper twists this in a crazy way, basically these are the time signatures of the levels ( take this with pinch of salt, I did study music but I am no musician nor audio designer ):
Level 1: 1/4 or 2/4 ( can't decide here )
Level 2: 2/4
Level 3: 3/4
Level 4: 4/4
Level 5: 5/8
Level 6: 6/8
Level 7: 7/8
Level 8: No clue here, couldn't really feel it but by following the pattern would be 8/8.
Level 9: 9/8
This will make all levels feel very very very different. And some like 7 and especially 9 where you'll have this uncanny feeling because this time signatures don't feel "natural". This compiled with the visuals make this experience 100% unique.
Also, the ending levels are aggressively perfect.