Anyway, I like Plok’s cel-shaded acrylic aesthetic in all the worlds he explores and the colors really pop out at you (Creepy Forest is so psychedelic and mesmerizing throughout), I like Plok’s smooth animation and the way his head bops left and right when he moves (and also how seemingly out of breath he becomes the lower his health is, it’s a really neat touch), I love the vintage monochromatic stages starring Grandpappy, the ability to launch his detachable limbs towards his enemies and targets is a good concept for the most part, I enjoy the different temporary power-ups he finds like the boxing one and the missile launching one to name a couple examples, and Tim and Geoff Follin’s soundtrack is excellent (the themes you hear in Akrillic are so immersive and enjoyably catchy and the boss theme is intense with the occasional evil laughter in the backdrop) as per usual, and the gameplay is good.

What I lament the most about Plok is its lack of a password system and how the continue system for when you lose your last life is a bit unforgiving (by collecting the four letters that spell “Plok”, you’ll start again from that stage in particular but not necessarily the last one you were on) due to how limited the number of continues is. I have no qualms playing through Ocean Software’s Mr. Nutz in one go and that’s a difficult platformer in its own right, for example, HOWEVER in my opinion Plok is even more so with the lack of invincibility time as you sustain damage and pixel perfect platforming and needing to contend with the enemies around you and how in the Creepy Forest there are moments you have to wait for the rotating plank to be clear so you don’t get hurt by the side with spikes while having to evade the projectiles of the flower enemies et al. I mean, I like that it’s got different ways of trying to challenge you, but sometimes the difficulty might go a bit far (particularly if Plok is left in a vulnerable state with no limbs to defend himself with like in Gohome Cavern), though I liked that gathering the Flea flag before you got rid of the last one fully replenished Plok’s health which truly helps. I’ve only ever managed to beat this game on Child’s Play (albeit incomplete compared to Normal, though the enemies are slower here) a few times, and the farthest I’ve ever gotten on Normal mode was the aforementioned Gohome Cavern and beating Plok on Normal mode is one of those things I hope to accomplish someday. It is too bad there’s no password (apparently, if I recall correctly, programmer John Buckley said they couldn’t afford to incorporate one in a comment he left on a Plok OST YouTube video) because Plok is a good game otherwise, just on the incredibly hard side later on.

Who knows what Plok 2 will have in store once the Pickfords eventually get to making it, I wouldn’t mind playing another platformer starring him.

To each their own