In case the developers frequent this forum I'd just like to offer my thanks for making such an excellent game, probably the best game I've played this year.

Great job.

I'll second this post! I don't get why everyone's complaining about the lack of checkpoints. I love the old-school feel that we get from having to complete each level from scratch, and as far as I'm concerned, it just forces you to try harder each and every time, instead of being a lazy gamer. Kudos for actually making a difficult game in the era of spoon-feeding, games that practically complete themselves for you.

Volgarr is one of the best games of 2013, and in fact one of the best sidescrollers I've played since the SNES. Designing a good platform game is much harder than it looks, and Volgarr is one of the few indie games that nails it dead-center. It's disappointing that it doesn't seem to be getting much recognition.

There's no slack in the design. The enemies and levels as well as Volgarr himself are all carefully designed to complement and play off each other. Everything the game throws at you can be countered - you just have to learn the rules and figure out how all the moving parts fit together. And yet, this is not a memory platformer, and it's never cheap or unfair. Once you understand the mechanics, new levels can be defeated with skill and observation. The Path of the Valkyrie especially is all about challenging your mastery of the rules.

As for the checkpoints, they're just fine as they are, in my opinion. I never felt that I was being unfairly sent back farther than was reasonable. Adding an "easy mode" with more checkpoints, especially right before bosses, wouldn't do anyone any favors without some additional mechanical redesign. If I were to design an easy mode, I'd probably just start you off with the magic shield and call it done.

I'll 'third' that. I even bought the soundtrack off of Crazy Viking Studios' website just to support them. This game has a genuine old-school platformer feel to it, and it is no doubt a challenge. Awesome game, it deserves more recognition. If crazy Viking studios will keep making games similar to this, than keep on keepin' on!!!

The more I play this game, the more it impresses me. Tonight I came within an inch of clearing the Path of the Valkyrie, and got to see ending B for the first time. I'm psyched to go back for another try.