Pepper Grinder (2024) [PC] review

A brilliant addition to Devolver’s already exceptional library

 

From the moment Pepper Grinder was first revealed, I knew that we were in for a remarkable, unforgettable 2D experience. Developed by a small independent team based out of Oregon, Ahr Ech brings a unique approach to the platforming genre, resulting in one of the strongest indies thus far in 2024.

Pepper Grinder has been a passion project for the last seven years, and was first revealed by Devolver Digital on November 9th, 2022. Fast forward to February of 2024, where they made another appearance by dropping a demo through Steam, followed by a release date reveal from Nintendo later in the month. At this point, having seen the years of development and now experiencing the demo firsthand, I was more than sold.

Ahr Ech has brought the soul of classic platformers combined with an aesthetically pleasing pixel art design, topped off with exceptionally polished gameplay. Pepper Grinder plays and controls as smoothly as it looks. You’ll mainly be using a couple primary buttons to perform 95% of the actions from beginning to end. While two of your standard face buttons cover the ability to jump and grapple/swing, the right trigger activates Pepper’s drill both in the ground and out on the surface. Expect to be constantly holding down RT, as this is how you will traverse through the various sandy terrains, underwater sections, and other environmental objects.

It is in Pepper Grinder’s brilliant level design that the developers’ vision truly comes to life. You aren’t just hopping from platform to platform; at times you’re directly flipping platforms around to create new routes, sinking ships from below to reach a spot that was previously out of reach, breaking jars and crates for additional loot, and dozens of other innovative interactions to discover for yourself. Pepper feels like she has the perfect amount of weight she should have when quickly dashing out of one section of sand into another, watching the environment mold and reshape to the direction and power of your drill.

To add on to the incredibly strong level design aspect, each stage also contains five collectibles in the form of golden skull coins. These are acquired in various ways such as digging through a suspicious looking crack in the wall, grappling up to an unseen section of land, or interacting with the environment in unique ways that I don’t want to spoil for you here. These golden coins are used at any of the shops throughout the world map to purchase keys for unlocking secret stages, as well as sticker sheets for optional shop collectibles and different cosmetic changes for Pepper. The map itself feels extremely similar to Mario platformers, providing you a stage select and a small screen that displays your progress on each level.

Experiencing Pepper Grinder is as much about the platforming as it is about the drill itself. Pepper is quite literally one with her drill, damaging enemies and holding her own in challenging boss battles while also using it to engage with mechanisms like platforms and keys, progressing you through different sections of each stage. Hitting B while exiting a drilling section propels you out at a high rate, which is often required in order to reach the next area of terrain. Physically controlling Pepper with the left C-stick as you drill through the ground feels incredibly rewarding. You’re given full 360-degree control of motion, and while this can feel sensitive to the touch at first, it only takes a few minutes to start feeling comfortable with how snappy and concise it is.

In conclusion, Pepper Grinder effectively improves on the already strong platforming genre, taking its primary focus away from the actual platforms and placing it on the environments around you instead. I played through the demo twice on Switch, half of the full game on Steam Deck, and the other half on MacBook with a DualSense controller connected. All versions of Pepper Grinder performed at the same high quality across the board, so you can trust that your preferred platform will give you the optimal experience. $15 also feels like a fantastic price point for this title. You should be able to finish the main game in 5 hours or less and also reach 100% completion in less than 10 hours.

Special thanks to Devolver Digital for sending us a copy of Pepper Grinder for this review.

PIXEL PERFECT

Recommended

Hailing from the mitten state, Alex is a physical collector and gamer of all genres for over two decades. He has established himself in wedding videography and finance which he uses to help encourage others in forging their own path in remote work and full control over how far they can take their passions to support themselves and their families.