It’s almost always a positive sign when the earliest glimpse of a game’s potential is in its ability to take something as universal as moving one’s player-character and turn it into something altogether more involved and engaging. It’s another thing altogether when that same new take on old staples reveals for itself a whole host of potential outcomes and ideas to bounce off. Easy it would be to take one look at the way movement is applied in a game likePepper Grinderand wave it away as unnecessary – adding one too many convoluted steps to an otherwise simple concept – that a developer like Ahr Ech can not only make this change work, but allow other ideas to be recontextualized with as equally-exciting potential.
A great benefit, in hindsight, given that it may well only take you a fair afternoon or a lengthy pairing of sessions to roll credits onPepper Grinder. A game that, if you’re not all that fussed on taking a repeat trek through its multitude of stages in the pursuit of the highest-ranking, shortest-recorded time, can be beaten in around three hours. But it’s an estimated three-hour time that Ahr Ech utilizes to great effect in crafting a precision-platforming release whose twist on movement is on its own an easy addiction to master. But in tandem with the many ideas the game swaps in and out level to level, novel in the all-round approach.Pepper Grinderis by no means the most striking release. Be that its visuals or indeed its soundtrack – even with the somewhat-surprising lean towards a more upbeat, electronic tinge –Pepper Grindermay not look or sound like the kind of game boasting a surprisingly-consistent series of neat ideas after the next. But it’s because the game is so primarily mechanics-focused, for people in it for the gameplay and the challenge it brings,Pepper Grinderis a necessity for its respective genre.
Meat For The Grinder
That Pepper Grinder is able to so quickly instill satisfaction in how it controls is a testament to how well-executed its core mechanic is. As its name might allude to, the main tool for traversal – and indeed combat, when the need arises – lies in the titular Grinder drill your character Pepper carries with her over the course of the game. Allowing you to not only freely burrow in and out of solid ground, but as a result move through it to get from point A to B. The need to get a proper grip on how you move, as well as determining the exact time and point to enter/exit any traversable area, is where the more subtle puzzle aspects come into play. Lining up an ideal leaping from one plot of ground to the next, making split-second decisions on whether it’s worth refining your trajectory, deciding on whether you have the time or indeed the space to make such a correction.
Again, these all sound like common actions appropriate to any type of game, let alone a platformer, but it’s because the act of traversing and strategizing one’s movement are so intertwined wherePepper Grinderearns that satisfaction of controlling it. Regardless of whether it lands you with a successful intended action, or by contrast, frustration via miscalculation. The added fluidity of how it generally feels – to the point where your character leaps out of and back into ground like they were a dolphin – only adds to how wellPepper Grindertranslates this core mechanic into one you not only need to master, but one that gets its hooks in quick.
Pepper Grinder’s Fondness for Movement Makes it One of Precision-Platforming’s Most Promising New Faces
A calculative yet delightful repurposing of movement as its main draw, makes Pepper Grinder’s introduction a fascinating one.
Not least when it comes to hunting down the optional collectibles tucked away in each level. Or even just aiming to hoover up as many visible gems as you can spot over the span of each level;Pepper Grinder’s more secondary investments wouldn’t be as tempting a momentary time-sink had Ahr Ech somehow faltered on getting to grips with your driller device. But it’s becausePepper Grindernails that happy-medium – between unruly and totally deprived – that makes scouring the more secretive corners a convincing addition to one’s time. Not just because the combination of controls and in-game physics land at a satisfying middle-ground, but the levels themselves are designed in such a way to distract you from that otherwise cracked corner leading to a hidden alcove or some branching path leading to an alternate route.
For all the talk up to this point on its controls and its mechanics,Pepper Grinderdoes just as well in its orchestration of stages to beat. Stages that, on average, may end up no longer than a few minutes, but whose ebb and flow of snaking paths, life-stealing hazards and perilous gaps to leap between, demonstrate more so Ahr Ech’s understanding on not letting its players get too accustomed.
Wonder-Full
In fact, it’s the waysPepper Grinderintroduces new ideas and elements for each level that is so strong a showing it’s worthy of praise on its own. And while it would be foolish to proclaim Ahr Ech have replicated the same wealth of variety and twists that a game likeSuper Mario Bros Wonderexcelled at,Pepper Grinderstill manages to make a hefty chunk of its level assortment shine by way of what it introduces. Whether that’s a series of cannons you have to chain together, a la more recent Donkey Kong titles; lava that, when dosed with water, hardens enough to the point it can be drilled through.
Or a personal highlight, by way of one of the locked-away optional stages: waterfalls of frost similarly-solid enough for you to not only ascend through, but at points descend from – all while avoiding mines along the way. Again, the fact that levels aren’t that long – and further to that, the game itself is on the shorter side – prevents what twists and turns the game makes from feeling like too congested a crowd. Allowing each of these levels to shine and have their moment as the next splendid take on the core concept. Even at its most irksome in so far as the difficulty imposed – a brief elevator sequence, for example, that has you battling back against a horde of enemies spawning out of pipes – what frustration is felt is so easily swept aside by the variety of ideas Ahr Ech is willing to incorporate.
And incorporate to satisfying results again and again. Culminating in a final boss fight that is as hectic as it is deliberate in providing you with the opportunity to nail one’s use of movement. And even with the admittance of a sudden uptick in difficulty as to the latter two end-of-world boss fights compared to those in the first half, againPepper Grinderstrikes just the right balance between the scale of its challenge and the windows of opportunity it offers. Punishing for those who aren’t making ample use of one’s move-set (and being a little opportunistic when possible), but still predominantly fair in how it dishes it all out.
Time Trial
But as previously noted, outside of the base levels to conquer themselves,Pepper Grinderis relatively sparse when it comes to additional objectives and content to invest in. The only other notable area comes in the form of the Time Trial variants of each level. Unlocked after finishing a stage for the first time, players can hop back in and aim to beat the respective levels as quickly as possible. Successfully doing so grants players unlockable decals to use with the in-game stickerbook. Essentially serving as a kind of stripped-back photo mode whereby players can adorn backgrounds with stickers of unlocked sprites and objects.
Were it not for the fact that the Time Trial mode is a relatively enjoyable way to further hone one’s skills, the rather forgettable and far-from-exciting prospect of unlocking mere stickers might’ve been greater a knock against the game. It’s by no means a deal-breaker or necessarily an aspect that works majorly against the game. But given that a sizable number of in-game achievements pertaining to filling certain sticker collections are locked behind random chance, it’s an unfortunate nuisance in an otherwise smartly-packaged game. The aforementioned random chance coming by way of the ample item shops in the game world. Where players can not only purchase temporary health pool buffs, but can also try their luck at pulling a new sticker type, gacha-style.
And almost always receiving duplicates, with no indication of whether it’s even worth having another go. Admittedly, the extremely-charitable dishing out of gem currency throughout the main campaign makes the cost of multiple attempts a non-issue, that this form of collectible is locked behind an RNG system such as this, while not all that detrimental, does stick out as one of the few (if quite literally only) gripes. An unnecessarily tedious means to unlock something for a mode that, in all honesty, doesn’t add much by way of value to the overall experience.
Closing Comments:
Clocking in at around three to four hours to roll credits,Pepper Grinderwhile not the lengthiest of platforming titles thanks to its prime drilling mechanic, makes said run-time a thoroughly satisfying one. A core premise that’s aided on top by a thoughtful approach to level design, not to mention a knack for continually chopping and changing the formula with one interesting new element or introduction of a neat gimmick after another. Developer Ahr Ech’s ability to conjure so much from out so little a detail as how a character moves should not go unnoticed. Serviceable, bordering on unnecessary, its secondary content might feel,Pepper Grinder’s ability to be just as satisfying to control, as much to work out and eventually beat, grants this particular drill-powered adventure a well-deserved identity all its own.
