I took a week off because I really wanted to finish Death Stranding, which I finally finished after about 35 hours of playtime.

NOW IM BACK! And this week I parkour like no person has ever parkour before. This week is Bionic Bay.

Bionic Bay is a 2D platformer from Psychoflow Studio and Mureena Oy. The game will release sometime in 2023 for Steam and The Epic Game Store.

Bionic Bay really does not shine much light on the story but it does show some mysterious machine heart being researched and then a wild explosion, then nothing. The player is then warped to a mysterious world filled with large machines, and what seems to be an infinite factory that creates weapons.

Bionic Bay‘s demo really shines a light on the platforming aspect of the game. The onboarding does a really good job of showing the player that there is a small jump, a higher jump, a dash, and a lunge to maximize distance when jumping. By the end of the demo, I was MOVING. Either I was dashing to gain speed to make a jump or wall jumping into a dive to make a platform a questionable distance away, Bionic Bay has a really awesome freeform movement mechanic going on.

The second mechanic that is introduced within the demo is the ability to swap with objects. This mechanic is directly introduced after the extensive platforming tutorial, and it is introduced at the perfect time. Platforming sections turn into puzzles as the floors now are covered in mines and lasers are literally everywhere. Swapping can occur whenever the player uses the right mouse button to attach a device to an object and again to swap positions with that specific object. The mechanic really makes use of the environment around the player, as anything that is loose can be swapped with. Moving obstacles out of the way to get inside vents, using larger objects to block lasers, and even creating makeshift bridges are all at play here.

Bionic Bay is an absolutely beautiful game. The environments that the player traverses through really hits a mysterious sci-fi feel. There are machines everywhere and there is no explanation for why we are there and what purpose this world is for. The pixel art really adds to the overall aesthetic of the game. The first area echoes real dregs of a wasteland and as you climb higher it gets a more lush green with a backdrop of trees and a sun.

Bionic Bay is a choice video game. The demo lasted only 30 minutes, but it was probably the most exciting demo I played in recent times. The movement and even platforming are incredibly satisfying, and the backdrop environments are oozing with sci-fi storytelling that makes me excited to discover it. Bionic Bay really impressed me with the physics-based platforming and I really hope that everyone plays it before it is gone after Steam Next Fest wraps up.