Many games make up their own names and/or words which usually make some sense or even has some connection to what the game is about, Stardrytch on the other hand has no sense or connection to the game except for the star bit, you are somewhere in space and you've crash landed on a planet.
Supposedly there is a star somewhere in that system. What drytch means I have no idea and a short google search will turn up nothing. Anyway Stardrytch is apparently a challenging action-platformer set in a lost world where sci-fi and fantasy collide. The time I spent with this game did not really strike me as overly challenging, though it was not so easy as to bore you to death. The rest of the game took care of that. The game is cartoony with pleasing hand-drawn characters and environments but the animations are somewhat lacking. The whole game feels floaty and has that cutout cheap animation.
Not a metroidvania, the game plays out in levels, with a start and an end, and then an overworld where you choose the next level. The emphasize is platforming, with some combat. Everything feels very floaty. You press the jump button and your character starts moving up only lifting their legs into a crouch while you float up and then down. Horrible jump mechanic and animation. Really takes you out of the game.
This might be a personal gripe and some people might not notice this but for me this makes the game unplayable. I had the same issue with Ender Lilies, an excellent metroidvania (according to Ashraa at eNRD), but they had the same cutout animation style which completely ruins the experience for me and I can't play the game, no matter how good it is. It is not specified but I really feel this game is for children, the artwork and animation just screams children TV but according to the blurb it is a challenging action-platformer with precision combat and platforming. That does not sound like a childrens game, besides I could not really see that it is very challenging, maybe I am just biased and couldn't get past the floaty feeling and the janky cutout animations.
The drawings seem like they are straight out of a children's Saturday morning cartoon. This could very well be someone's first attempt at a game and if so, it is a very good first try, but a mediocre game. Now if this is someone that has made many games and has experience I have no idea what they were trying and this is atrocious. The parts I played seemed stable and I did not encounter any bugs.
In conclusion Stardrytch has pretty drawings, animations and a nonsensical name. Save your money.
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