You wait forever for a plus, then two come along at once
A little known fact about N++: it was originally supposed to be a PS4 launch game back in the retro year of 2013, but it’s taken almost two extra years to finish it off. And within seconds of booting up the game it becomes blindingly obvious that N++ has been under the coding knife for far, far longer than originally planned.
Not in a bad way, I should emphasise. This isn’t a, “clearly it’s had lots of bumps on the road to release,” two-year extension, or a, “this is out 24 months past its prime release window and now it just feels dated,” situation. Rather, it’s one of those fabulous instances where all the extra gestation time has resulted in every single detail, be it the tiny direction-change animations or the way you cycle through different colour themes for every stage to mix things up, feels polished and refined to the point of absolute perfection.
Take the main menu screen. A place of tedium in most other titles, it’s not only home to teasing replays of levels you’ve yet to experience, but it’s housing the most satisfying pop-up option tabs I’ve seen. And yes, you’d be forgiven for thinking I’m destined for the loony bin after being excited by some poxy menu tabs. But before you dial for those white coats, I put this challenge to you: play N++, squeeze L2 or R2 in the main menu and then try telling me you don’t want all your other games to steal Metanet’s user interface innovations.
Am I really rambling on about menus? Let me press 'triangle' and start over. That reset philosophy is the crux of N++ – it’s about throwing yourself into a situation, maybe doing something wrong, hitting the suicide button (or simply watching your limbs race each other to the opposite sides of the screen if a mine’s done the grisly work for you already) and going at the problem again.
Sliced down to its most basic kernel, N++ is about negotiating your stickperson past traps and enemies to the end of five consecutive 2D levels to complete an episode. There are 63,335 pieces of gold in total in N++’s levels. Along the way you’ll need to brush the exit switch to open the door and, if you want, collect optional gold nuggets to extend your timer.
Things start off simple enough with levels designed to teach you your basic moveset and to help you get comfortable with your inertia, but it’s not long before different enemies are introduced, each crueller than the last.
More painful still are the twisted maze designs that seem impassable until you discover previously unimaginable acrobatic abilities. You use only the D-pad and 'cross' to control your ninja, but momentum plus (-plus?) unique level geometry equals an incalculably wide range of physics-based moves.
Then, after 25 increasingly tricky, ultimately gruelling episodes, you realise you’ve finished the Intro tab and the game can begin proper. 125 levels down, only 2,235 left…
Fast though the escalation of brutality may feel, the difficulty curve is exceedingly well-judged. First you’ll just want to finish an episode. Then the goal becomes to do so while nabbing every gold piece. After that you’ll target deathfree runs, your playthroughs becoming more and more elegant as you perfect your flowing style in the process.
Ultimately, leaderboard domination is your aim, with the scores to beat always visible when you dive into an episode.
Time to hit 'triangle' again and go back to the start once more. That bit about it taking two years to finish off N++? It’s not quite true. N++ isn’t done yet. Although there’s no sense that the game is incomplete while playing, the Deathmatch mode we previewed last year, for instance, is still yet to arrive.
Metanet’s still making more. People who buy N++ early will see their game effectively doubling in size, for free, at an unspecified future point. People who wait will find N++’s price will increase to reflect the new breadth of content.
Not that it’s small as is – it’s huge. Not that you must hold out for new levels, either – a stage editor with online sharing gives rise to infinite content possibilities. Even without the promise of more yet to come, N++ is a monumental game. The ultimate, unflinching test of skill, it’s proof that some delays are well worth the wait. Matthew Pellett
More game than you can shake a stickman at (with more still to come), N++ joins the likes of resogun and towerfall ascension at the very pinnacle of PSN’s best downloadable experiences.