Little girls and big bad wolves and haunting dreams... sounds like your average creepy fairytale fare, right? But Fear Less!, a new jump and run game by Innomin and Atpalicis, takes a surprising focus on personal empowerment, with a protagonist who resolves to become stronger instead of cowering under her blankets. After all, it's only a nightmare.
Race through the gloomy forest, dodging obstacles, grabbing every coin you can reach, and fighting off the local fauna with your trusty sword. Fall behind and Death will collect you, complete with a ghastly little animation— but buy yourself some upgrades, and you'll have a better chance next time. If you're up for the challenge, there are plenty of achievements to be earned as well.
Fear Less! isn't very long, and sometimes it can be a bit opaque. It's not very obvious how to reach the ending, and it really could have stood to display some signs of progress during runs. But no question about it: this is a charming, sugary treat of a game in terms of atmosphere. The art is simultaneously adorable and unsettling, giving a wonderful feel for the protagonist's personality even though she barely speaks, and the music is so catchy you might just have to download it. And while the gameplay is simple, it can be addictive; even when I didn't know how to win, I didn't think for a moment about giving up. Give it a try— with enough persistence, you can triumph over your fears!
Walkthrough Guide
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Fear Less! Walkthrough:
Winning the game:
Most games like this are won when you run a certain distance, if they have an ending at all. Fear Less!, however, ends when you complete a different task. You can run as far as you like, but that won't end the game.
Instead, you need to collect all the medals.
Collecting the medals:
Death Dodger - run 100m far
Not one of the harder medals to collect-- if you're having trouble, you're probably not fully upgraded yet. You'll need to survive for about 50 seconds. Recommended upgrades: Jump, Recover.
Recurring Nightmares - run 666m total
You'll get this one over the course of collecting the other medals. Don't worry about it.
The Grass is Greener - run 500m far
Save this one for near the end, because it's one of the more difficult medals. It'll really help to be used to the game by then. You'll need to survive for about 250 seconds, or 4 minutes and a little bit extra. If it helps, time yourself. Recommended upgrades: All of them. You can do this one without the Fox Ears if you're still saving up for them, but I wouldn't skimp on anything else.
The Hardest One - win a medal
You'll get this one over the course of collecting the other medals, but if you're looking for a good first medal to earn, Trouble With Truffles, How Could You?, Rhythm, Collector, and Fighting Back are all relatively easy.
If You Can't Beat Em... - buy the Fox Ears
You'll get this one over the course of collecting the other medals. However, the Fox Ears really aren't that useful, so instead of buying them right away when you have 200 Dream Coins, you might want to save up 300 Dream Coins to earn the Hoarder medal (if you don't already have it) and then buy the Fox Ears. If you're not very used to this type of game, go ahead and spring for the Fox Ears-- you'll probably get 300 Dream Coins again before you're done.
All of the Things - buy all upgrades
Just go ahead and buy everything in the shop-- you'll probably need most or all of those upgrades to finish the last few medals anyway. Remember that saving up 300 Dream Coins nets you the Hoarder medal, and some of the upgrades, like the Fox Ears, aren't extremely useful. If you're almost there and you already have a comfortable amount of upgrades, you might want to hold onto your Dream Coins until you have over 300. However, go for the upgrades if you're not very used to this type of game, because you'll need them and you'll probably make the money back before the game is over.
Traumatized - die 10 times
You'll get this one over the course of collecting the other medals. If somehow it's your last remaining medal (congrats on being ridiculously good at this game), just do badly on purpose a few times.
Fighting Back - travel twice as far as your first run
You'll get this one over the course of collecting the other medals, and it won't be tricky at all unless you had a very, very good first run. Recommended upgrades: Jump, and either Recover or Health.
Master of Suspense - recover from near death to full health
I've never gotten this medal accidentally, but there's a reliable trick to making it happen. You'll need at least a few levels in Recover, and a whole number of hearts (no half hearts). As soon as you start your run, get injured until all you have left is a tiny sliver of health. The early part of a run is easier, so you'll have a better chance of recovering everything. Recommended upgrades: Recover, Jump, at least one level of Health. It's actually better to have lower health for this medal, but if you've already levelled it up all the way, it won't be that hard to get the medal if you have enough levels in Recover.
Trouble With Truffles - only take damage from mushrooms
This is a good medal to go for early in the game, but getting it later isn't that hard. The start of every run is almost all mushrooms and animals (with one gravestone), so just dodge/attack everything else, but let yourself run into the mushrooms.
Like a Badger Badger - jump over 100 mushrooms
You'll get this one over the course of collecting the other medals. Don't worry about it.
Mushroom Cloud - jump over 500 obstacles total
You'll get this one over the course of collecting the other medals. Don't worry about it.
Out Fox - pop 20 foxes
You'll probably get this one over the course of collecting the other medals, unless you've gotten in the habit of jumping over the animals instead of using the sword. If you've noticed yourself not getting this medal, spend a few runs trying to use the sword more and you should be fine. Recommended upgrades: Sword.
Over the Moon - pop 15 wolves
Wolves are a little bit rarer than foxes, but not by much. See Out Fox. Recommended upgrades: Sword.
With Her Bear Hands - pop 10 bears
See Out Fox, but note that bears only show up once you've ran decently far. If you're having trouble reaching the bears, work on a few more upgrades before tackling this medal. Recommended upgrades: Sword, Jump, Recover.
How Could You? - hurt an innocent bunny
Instead of jumping over a bunny, run into it.
You're NOT on Fire! - safely run past 100 fires
You'll probably get this one over the course of collecting the other medals, especially if you're frequently passing through the long line of flames. If you've got almost everything else and you haven't been able to get this one yet, go back through the long line of flames a few times.
Sunshine - beat the Nightmare
Collect all the other medals, then get caught by Death.
Collector - get 15 Dream Coins in one run
Another easy one-- you'll probably get the medal accidentally. Recommended upgrades: Jump.
Hoarder - get 300 Dream Coins in your bank
You might end up getting this medal accidentally, too, especially if you've already upgraded everything, but you're still having a hard time with some of the more difficult medals. If you're able to get the other medals pretty easily, you might want to consider saving yourself some time by waiting on the Fox Ears until you've already gotten this medal.
All of the Money - get 150 Dream Coins in one run
Depending on how greedy you usually are, this could be either a challenge or another accidental medal. Remember that aiming for the bigger coins is important, but you won't be able to make it without the smaller coins, too. Try to get every possible coin that you can take without injury, but don't give up your health to get more coins-- staying alive longer usually results in a much more profitable run! Recommended upgrades: all of them, but especially Jump and Recover.
Pacifist - jump over an enemy
Pretty easy, but you'll need a few points in Jump to be able to pull it off.
Friend to Nature - jump over every kind of animal
It's not obvious in the medal's description, but as far as I can tell, you need to jump over every kind of animal in the same run. Bunnies count. It's a good idea to save this one for after you've upgraded everything (or mostly everything-- at least make sure you have Triple Jump), but once you have, it shouldn't be that difficult.
Squat Thrusts - jump off the screen
Once you've bought the upgrade, time a triple jump so that you go as high as possible. Note that the protagonist herself doesn't have to leave the screen; it's enough when the top of her bow crosses the border a few pixels.
Rhythm - run 20s flawlessly
From the start, you'll need to run flawlessly for about 40m-- and it's a good idea to try to do a flawless section as early in the run as you can, because it only gets harder from there. You can do this without any upgrades, but if you're having trouble, a few levels of Jump and Sword might help.
Flow Ninja - run 60s flawlessly
From the start, you'll need to run flawlessly for about 120m-- and it's a good idea to try to do a flawless section as early in the run as you can, because it only gets harder from there. Definitely have some levels in Jump, and if you prefer popping the animals to jumping over them, some levels in Sword might help too.
Inception - run 120s flawlessly
From the start, you'll need to run flawlessly for about 240m-- and it's a good idea to try to do a flawless section as early in the run as you can, because it only gets harder from there. I did this with pretty much every upgrade (though Health and Recover would be irrelevant). Note that the forest isn't randomized, and you can try to remember the obstacles and use landmarks. If you've ran flawlessly from the start, you'll be done just before you get to the long line of flames.
Posted by: Alice
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May 3, 2013 12:01 PM