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Armikrog

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Armikrog
Developer(s)Pencil Test Studios
Publisher(s)Versus Evil
Producer(s)Ed Schofield
Designer(s)Mike Dietz
Ed Schofield
Doug TenNapel
Programmer(s)LoongWei Ding
Pip Robbins
Artist(s)Ed Schofield
Writer(s)Doug TenNapel
Composer(s)Terry Scott Taylor
EngineUnity
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation 4, Wii U, Xbox One
ReleaseMicrosoft Windows, OS X, Linux
  • WW: September 30, 2015[1]
PlayStation 4, Wii U, Xbox One
  • WW: August 23, 2016
Genre(s)Point-and-click adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Armikrog (stylized as Armikrog.) is a stop-motion point-and-click adventure comedy game by Doug TenNapel in partnership with Pencil Test Studios and Versus Evil for Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation 4, Wii U and Xbox One. It is a spiritual successor to The Neverhood, and is developed by many members of the same team. Like The Neverhood, Armikrog uses clay animation.

Gameplay

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The game plays in a traditional point-and-click with a cursor to interact with objects and navigate around. The player controls two characters: space explorer Tommynaut and his sidekick Beak-Beak. Much like Klaymen in The Neverhood, Tommynaut has the ability to store items in his body. The player primarily controls him to do most of the grunt work like pulling levers, driving the Zipkicker and solving most of the puzzles. Beak-Beak has the ability to fly in certain areas and enter tight space that only he has access to. He can also digest small objects and pass them to Tommynaut by regurgitating them out.

Story

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On the planet of Ixen, the populace is in the midst of extinction without the power of P-tonium to sustain them. They send brother astronauts Vognaut, Numnaut and Tommynaut to a planet called Spiro 5 in hopes to find these crystals. Unfortunately, two of the brothers are dead due to unknown causes, leaving Tommynaut and his best friend Beak-Beak to continue onward.

After crash-landing on the planet, they end up locked inside a fortress called Armikrog. They find a baby girl named P and Tommynaut decides to care for her in hopes to find her parents. Upon further investigation, Tommynaut discovers that Armikrog was previously attacked by an unknown assailant who wished to possess the P-tonium crystals, which were assumed to be imbedded in Father and Mother, the guardians of Armikrog and also P's parents. The assailant killed both parents before learning that the crystals were transferred to P instead. Father and Mother's spirits live on in Armikrog as a result. Tommynaut later discovers that the assailant is Vognaut, who is somehow alive and has grown larger due to an unknown mutation. The evil brother kidnaps P and straps her into a device in hopes to extract the P-tonium for his own gain. Beak-Beak is later killed in an attempt to rescue the baby. Enraged, Tommynaut fights his brother and manages to escape with P.

After reuniting all 5 P-tonium crystals from P, the spirit of Mother thanks Tommynaut for saving her daughter. She then gives her blessings to use the crystals to power his home planet, which is more than enough to last for an eternity. Mother then transforms the Armikrog fortress into a giant robot that Tommynaut can use to navigate back to Ixen. Vognaut tries to kidnap P again before he is ejected out of the fortress and is crushed by its gigantic leg. The now transformed Armikrog ascends into space.

Tommynaut is then reunited with Beak-Beak, who is now a ghost. Suddenly, a distress signal is being heard from Numnaut, who too is alive. Tommynaut, along with Beak-Beak and P, set their next course to Darshon's Orb.

Development

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Mike Dietz and Ed Schofield, founders of Pencil Test Studios, teamed up with Doug TenNapel, with whom they worked on Earthworm Jim and The Neverhood, to use Kickstarter to crowdfund Armikrog.[2] The Kickstarter's goal of $900,000, and stretch goal of $950,000 for a Wii U version were exceeded when the funding ended on June 27, 2013.[3]

The game has a voice cast featuring Michael J. Nelson as Tommynaut, Rob Paulsen as Beak-Beak and the PresidANTs, Jon Heder as evil Vognaut, Veronica Belmont as Mother, Bob Baffy as Father, Charlotte Schofield as P, Yumi Iwama, Jeff Minnerly, Bob Doll as the Octovators, and Eddie Fantastic as Numnaut.[4]

The game's soundtrack was composed by Terry Scott Taylor, who composed the music for The Neverhood soundtrack.[5]

Reception

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Armikrog received "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[6][7][8][9] Critics appreciated the fun art style and catchy music. As a fan of The Neverhood, Destructoid's Caitlin Cooke praised the game saying that it has a certain charm that only Doug TenNapel can deliver. She did however criticise the lack of an inventory system and outdated interface.[15] GameSpot's Matt Espineli gave a 4/10 rating, with criticism stemmed from underdeveloped characters, inconsistent sound design and confusing puzzle elements.[16]

In 2017, TenNapel admitted that the developers ran out of resources to put the final polish in Armikrog.[17]

References

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  1. ^ Horth, Nick (September 8, 2015). "Armikrog delayed once again, pushed back to September 30". Game Watcher. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
  2. ^ Matulef, Jeffrey (May 31, 2013). "The Neverhood creators launch Kickstarter for spiritual successor Armikrog". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
  3. ^ Sanchez, David (June 27, 2013). "Dr. David's Indie Roundup: A Hat in Time, Armikrog, Tenya Wanya Teens, and more". GameZone. Retrieved July 9, 2013. ...this spiritual successor to The Neverhood has hit its goal and is closer to being a realized project. Additionally, the Wii U stretch goal of $950,000 was also reached...
  4. ^ "Armikrog Cast & Crew". Imdb. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  5. ^ Pitcher, Jenna (May 29, 2013). "The Neverhood's spiritual successor is a claymation space adventure called Armikrog". Polygon. Vox Media. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
  6. ^ a b "Armikrog for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
  7. ^ a b "Armikrog for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
  8. ^ a b "Armikrog for Wii U Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
  9. ^ a b "Armikrog for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
  10. ^ Waxman, Becky (October 16, 2015). "Armikrog. review". Adventure Gamers. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
  11. ^ Cooke, Caitlin (October 6, 2015). "Review: Armikrog". Destructoid. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  12. ^ Marchiafava, Jeff (October 5, 2015). "Unfinished And Uninspired - Armikrog - PC". Game Informer. Archived from the original on October 7, 2015. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
  13. ^ Espineli, Matt (October 30, 2015). "Armikrog Review". GameSpot. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
  14. ^ Morrison, Angus (October 8, 2015). "Armikrog review". PC Gamer. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
  15. ^ Cooke, Caitlin. "Review: Armikrog". Destructoid. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  16. ^ Espineli, Matt. "Armikrog Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  17. ^ Ek, Robin (7 August 2017). "Interview with Doug TenNapel – The Earthworm Jim drama and thoughts on #GamerGate, censorship and SJWs". The GG. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
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