REVIEW - Pepper Grinder is a focused side scroller with a wonderful sense of momentum
Drill down.
By Jonathan Garrett
03/04/24
Reviewed on Nintendo Switch.
Review copy provided by Devolver Digital.
Pepper Grinder might take a minute for its traversal to click, but when it does, it’s a moment that you’ll savour. Tight level design and sensible controls coalesce to form a title that will make you angry at your own lack of talent; my aging reflexes are often insufficient to handle the rapidly escalating difficulty curve. But Devolver know what they’re doing here, and the high demand on your abilities will in no way be a detriment to your experience.
If anything, the sense of satisfaction you gain from uncovering a hidden collectible or mastering a particularly tough sequence makes it all worthwhile. It has a propelling momentum reminiscent of the last two UbiArt Rayman titles, where quick decision making provides instant gratification as you navigate environmental hazards and pesky enemy placement. It might not graphically match up to the crispness of those titles, but it’s just as capable from a mechanical standpoint.
Memorising elaborate boss patterns, figuring out how best to utilise a new ability, and the thematic level aesthetics gives the whole thing an almost classic Nintendo vibe. Even the map screen overworld is reminiscent of 2D Mario; you’re constantly being introduced to new spins on the familiar, and given that it’s only a few hours long, there’s a lot of content packed in to enjoy.
Things sometimes get loose when you’re actually drilling through a surface, and you’ll find that same excellent pace can sometimes be a hinderance to your accuracy. It’s in these moments where you might find it grating, but ultimately a trial and error approach leads to victory. You’ll never be so stuck that you’re ready to hard brexit; if anything, the satisfying gameplay loop will make you want to come back again and again.
That’s the greatest compliment I can pay to Pepper Grinder. It’s a rewarding and fiercely challenging game that has been handcrafted with precision and personality. It’s a perfect fit for Switch, and another clear win for Devolver who have, quite frankly, been firing on all cylinders for quite some time now. This is absolutely worth your time.
That drill is as satisfying and crunchy to use as it looks.
WORTH IT?
At the bottom of every game review, we ask the question: Worth it? And the answer is either “Yeah!” or “Nah”, followed by a comment that sums up how we feel. In order to provide more information, we also have “And” or “But”, which follows up our rating with further clarification, additional context for a game we love, or perhaps a redeeming quality for a game we didn’t like.
YEAH!
Pepper Grinder is a tough, addicting, and pacey adventure that will keep you coming back again and again.
BUT
Be patient with yourself, as there are numerous moments that will test your abilities and you may be somewhat humbled.
TARPS?
At the bottom of some of our articles, you’ll see a series of absurd looking images (with equally stupid, in joke laden names). These are the TARP badges, which represent our ‘Totally Accurate Rating Platform’. They allow us to identify specific things, recognise positive or negative aspects of a games design, and generally indulge our consistent silliness with some visual tomfoolery.
