Gorgeous graphics and animation. The world design, characters, and presentation are all top tier. The only reason it doesn't rate higher for me is the insane difficulty spikes.
The Last Faith is very reminiscent of Blasphemous, but doesn't quite reach it's level. It's got solid exploration, but not always rewarding. The ability upgrades are very slow and it is very hard at times with seemingly nowhere else to go. There are different play styles, but with limited resources, you're pretty much committed to a certain build based on the upgrades you choose. Still, I quite enjoyed my time with the game.
While there are moments of brilliance, Alan Wake 2 is ultimately a frustrating mess. The graphics are superb overall and the presentation and atmosphere are top notch. Then there's the "mind place" which has you trying to place polaroids on a board in whatever the game decides is the correct spot. There's no challenge or satisfaction, it feels mostly arbitrary and the the controls are janky. Plus, you have to complete certain "mind place" tasks in order to for the game to let you complete real world tasks that you already know you have to do. This is only when playing as Saga, who I liked well enough, but is no where near as interesting as Alan.
I loved the first Alan Wake game. It was a relatively short game with an obscure yet tight narrative and execellent gameplay. Alan Wake 2 is bloated and overcomplicated. I spent way too much time trying to figure out what the game wanted from me rather than just playing it
This is wonderful emotional puzzle platformer that hits the sweet spot of balancing challenge with moving you forward and doesn't overstay its welcome. Perfect pick up for an eshop sale.
It's full of classic Zelda charm and feel. The Echo system is interesting and fun. The main drawback is there are too many echoes and it's clunky switching to what you want. And when it comes down to it, I'd always rather use Link mode. Still, it's tons of fun and has a lot of potential to build off for a sequel.
If you liked the Sleeping King, The Minotaur Prince is more of the same. It's probably a bit better polished and does a bit more with the story telling aspect which is nice. Overall a nice follow up and I hope the series continues.
Terrific concept with some fun meta humor. The puzzles will sometimes leave you scratching your head just to realize the answer was simpler than you thought. However, the game is practically screaming for a rewind feature. Many multi-step puzzles can be screwed up by pushing a block too far forcing a restart of the whole thing. It also loses some of its charm with late game difficulty spikes that leave no room for error.
I really enjoyed my time with Afterimage and I didn't have any performance issues mentioned in other reviews. It has beautiful art style as well as excellent platforming, combat, and level design. The map is huge and exploration is fun.
That said, there are some issues. There would be blocked passages that I would come back to later find I had unlocked them, but don't know how. That and I didn't know what was going on in the story. It sure wasn't for lack of dialogue though. Characters wouldn't shut up. So the ending(s) felt unfulfilling.
Still, I'm very happy with the gam overall.
The combat is fun, but the horde mode style is equal parts repetitive and addictive. The rogue lite elements really don't add anything to the game. I ended up going the full corrupted route because I honestly didn't know there was another choice. The main thing it loses points for is the final boss was a pain in the a$$ and most of the deaths are because you can't even tell what's going on.
Ender Lilies is a beautiful metroidvania with great atmosphere and soundtrack. The spirit combat system makes things interesting as there's always something new to try. I just wish there wasn't a limited amount of upgrade currency so you can still upgrade late game spirits without worrying about using up what you have. The story moments are touching, but I had a hard time keeping up with what's going on.
Great presentation and the gameplay, while quite difficult, has a good flow. The issue is it can get pretty frustrating - especially when most deaths come as a result of odd camera angles and getting stuck. Compounding that is the roguelike mechanics that naturally require a lot of repetition.
After defeating the final boss, there is no credit roll which really makes it feel like an empty achievement. I know there is another ending, but I have no desire to replay the entire game.
You start off entering an office building and instead of locking you into a walk like most modern games, you have a free run and knock over any office supplies or furniture you get close to. It just makes it feel a bit off. That's Control in a nutshell. Control's controls are iffy, the map is useless, and the story is obtuse and unrelatable. I never really new why I was doing anything and had no emotional attachment. It wasn't until at least 2/3rds in that it started hitting it's stride and I felt comfortable. There are some positives. There is a awesome sequence towards the end game that makes you feel totally badass. Unfortunately, it's soon followed by a literal chore of a mission. The presentation and atmosphere are good, but I honestly don't understand all the accolades Control has gotten.
It's still fun, but pales in comparison to the near perfection of the original. Swinging around the city, the combat, cinematic presentation, and the acting are all on the level of the first (if just slightly below), but the story and the repetitive side missions really bring it down.
I think someone on the development team was under the impression that everyone loved the MJ and Harry side missions from the first game. MJ is not at all fun to play as and her reckless stupidity is directly responsible for the major story beats in the game.
I like Miles, but his story was undercooked and his side missions were straight garbage. An animation option later in the game had me wishing they just did a separate Spiderverse game for him. It mostly distracted from the more interesting main story with Peter.
The atmosphere, combat, and exploration are excellent like the first game. The story is a little hard to follow. While I enjoyed the very tough, but fair, boss fights, I didn't really know why I was doing it. IT also gets a ding because there is a certain type of barrier that apparently can't be crossed until the DLC. One of the main gimmicks of a metroidvania is you see and obstacle you can't pass and remember to come back when you get the power up you need. I do plan on getting the DLC, but these should've been hidden in the main game.
Pronty is a fun metroidvania with a beautiful hand drawn, underwater aesthetic. The combat a is a bit different and takes some getting used to. Some of the bosses are really tough and the unconventional controls don't help, but still fun overall. One gripe is there is a lot of typed dialogue and it's tiny so I ended up not really paying attention to the story. There are some nice comic book style cut scenes, but they're too sporadic to have an impact.
Gato Roboto is a short but sweet metroidvania. The mechanic of getting out of the mech suit and playing as a defenseless cat at points is cool, but the game is too short to do a lot with it. Only major complaint is that the bosses can be tough, and you have to button mash the dialogue on each retry. Other than that, not bad for a quick fix.
This game got high praise upon release, but not high enough. It should be in the conversation for best metroidvania of all time. It doesn't bring a lot new (although the memory shards should now become standard) but it does everything exceedingly well. Deep combat and some of the best platforming in the genre.
I never played the original as I am not a fan of first-person shooters. I have to say it does a very good job of bringing the Super Metroid feel to 3D. It also looks incredible. The main drawback is there is a LOT of backtracking and no fast travel. If you got an hour free to play, it's very possible you'll travel back and forth looking for the next way to go only to accomplish exactly nothing. I ended up using guides pretty often just to save the hassle.
Other than that, it's quite a good game. My other gripes stem from the virtue of it being in first person, but the lock on mechanic made it more manageable. Still, it would have been amazing in 3rd person
Thank God Alwa's Legacy did not repaet the frustrating mistakes of Alwa's Awakening. It really takes what was good about it's predecessor and expands and improves apon it. The way it uses and combines powerups is quite clever and the 16 bit aesthetic is used to it's fullest.
It's so good to see this live up to the potential of the original and I am curious if they are going to continue
Alwa's Awakening feels like a precursor to Metroidvanias made 30 some odd years too late. I mean that in good and bad ways. Good in that it feels nostalgic and authentic. Bad in that it does nothing new. Still it's quite enjoyable...EXCEPT for some ridiculously hard platforming sections. of my nearly 250 deaths, probably half came from hitting instant death spikes because I didn't tap the jump button exactly right. It's infuriating. I'm praying that Legacy did away with this nonsense. If I didn't buy the bundle already, I wouldn't chance it.
The core gameplay is fun, turning a shooter into more of a puzzle game. I think I would enjoy it more with out the random generated levels, but I did enjoy the random powerups. I haven't played the original, so I can't compare. It peaked my interest though.
Don't let the "kiddie" asthetic disuade you. This game is an absolute joy to play - especially if you love cats. It's low pressure, no combat, with puzzles that take just the right amount of brain power and some clever humor. It all comes together in a game that's much better than it has any right to be. I don't think I've ever smiled as much while playing a game.
Early on there is a part where you need to button mash to pull a lady from a mirror. For the life of me I couldn't do it and I almost gave up. Eventually, I ended up button mashing both the controller and the mouse together to get through. I'm glad I did. It's a cool atmospheric game with some neat mechanics. I also really like that the puzzles needed to be solved, rather than just come back with the appropriate item. That said, there were some frustrations. Thankfully nothing elseto the level of the aforementioned, but I didn't always know what to do. Not in a good way. I didn't always know what I didn't know I was supposed to know. It had a lot of potential, but didn't live up to the more polished Metrodvanias out there.
It captures the fell of the old school Monkey Island/point and click adventures - with all the good and bad that comes with that. I don't particularly like the art style, but it works well enough. The puzzles are mostly good, until the last chapter where it just gets annoying.
Overall, it's a fun time, but it goes on too long. The ending, while I get what they were going for, is not exactly satisfying.
Gris is a beautiful, emotional platformer with just the right level of puzzles. There's an interesting choice where it takes control away from you on some chase sequences. There are some games where there's a sudden chase sequence that demands absolute perfection or you die and have to redo the whole thing. So I'm glad it doesn't do that, but it's a long chase, not just a quick cut scene. Breaks the immersion a bit. Other than that, lovely game
There's obvious Portal vibes here. But where Portal nails every aspect. Superliminal feels lacking. It starts strong, but quickly becomes repetitive. Where Portal sees how far it can take a clever gimmick, Superliminal starts strong, but introduces random things and never lets you get a real grasp on the rules. The ending sequence is long and confusing leaving you feeling relieved rather than satisfied.
The artwork and the music are beautiful. The story is engrossing with excellent voice-acting. I'm not sure how much difference the choice make, but it feels like they matter and it doesn't always go the way it seems. It deals with corruption in the church, but is overall respectful of the religious subject matter.
It's has it's charm with wordless storytelling, clever mechanics and level design. Too bad the designer decided to throw in sections late in the game that require the type of perfect precision that the floaty magnet controls don't easily lend themselves to. The game is fairly casual up until that point so the unnecessary difficulty spike is incredibly frustrating.
Islets is an absolutely charming metroidvania that's a breeze to play. It doesn't do a lot new, but the island connecting is a nice touch. It's not too difficult and I really appreciate the near instant respawn and saves. Overall it's beautiful and funny and a joy to play.
As a massive Actraiser fan, I was excited for this one. It has the basic element of switching between side scrolling and city building works well as an overall structure. The platforming is quite good, but the sim part is a bit convoluted and not that well explained. There are some frustrating difficulty spikes which is bad enough for the action sections, but a real chore for the city sections. The story is fine with a fair bit of humor. Not sure why it had to be Adam and Eve. I guess just so Adam can be the one to take the apple while Eve innocently watches and then goes to save him. OMG so clever and subversive! Anyway, that's as far as the biblical theme goes. Not that I expected any different.
So, there is a lot of good here, but the frustration factor overwhelms the enjoyment. When I finished it, I wasn't so much satisfied as relieved.
Obviously takes a lot of inspiration from Super Metroid with a more modern-day aesthetic. It also does some cool stuff with the 2.5D that i wish modern metroidvanias would expound upon. There is the shell of cool story and the companion novel is really good. It's a shame this didn't take off as a franchise.
I was charmed by the hand-drawn animation and quirky characters in the demo. Unfortunately, the full game doesn't live up to the promise and gets weighed down by some frustratingly obscure puzzles on top of the already underwhelming gameplay.
While it is certainly striving for and emotional, story-driven effect, it doesn't quite reach the heights is aspires too (pun obviously intended). It has a beautiful art style and soundtrack. The puzzles aren't too and are clever enough, but it's sometimes unclear. The story seems to hit some emotional beats, but I was never that invested in it and didn't quite know what was goin on. On top of that, it's very short even when compared to other games of it's ilk. All in all, it's a fine diversion ,but won't set the world on fire.
It's a beautiful game with hand drawn animation. The puzzles are interesting and make good use of switching between characters. It can become difficult during combat, but the game rarely throws you in a situation where you can't focus on one character while leaving the other(s) out of harm's way. My main gripe is that the map is useless. It's not a full on metroidvania, but there's enough backtracking and exploration that I found myself playing it in that style and a real map would have been appreciated. I found the story simple and effective. I assume it is more deep and intricate, but I spammed through most of the dialogue. I don't mind some reading in my games, but every time you interact with a character it's like you get their life story. It's a bit much. But overall, I really enjoyed this game. It's a bit of a hidden gem and I'm excited to see where they take it (hopefully) in a sequel.
This is an excellent metroidvania that no one seems to be talking about. The combat is deep and involving. The world and character design is excellent. The story is fine if a bit familiar. If anything, its the dialogue that brings it down. It was a bit glitchy and had some freeze up, but it wasn't a gamebreaker.
It's a beautiful mostly casual level puzzle-platformer that focuses on the emotional effect. Kind of like a 2D Journey. It's a lovely experience that lasts around 3 hours. Again, kind of like a 2D Journey. Only real gripe is the change of gameplay towards the end. It's actually really cool and could be used more fully in another game, but it makes it quite difficult all of a sudden
The Shadows of Rose is good, but nothing special. Some really freaky stuff with mannequins. Feels like it could've been good as a fully fleshed out game, but comes off a bit lacking here.
I don't care about Mercenaries so no comment there.
The real star for me is replaying a terrific game in third person as God intended. To me, that's worth it and the other two components are just bonus. I see how some people are upset with the price, but to me. It's worth it.
I played the demo a while back and was totally charmed. Fast forward a few months later, I pick it up on sale and was started somewhere in the middle of the game. I went back and forth frustratingly stuck for my first hour with the game before I realized what happened and figured out how to restart. So I was pretty soured on the game from the start. So realize my review will be colored by that experience. Eventually, when I got into it more and learned how to get past the area I had started in. I relaxed and really started enjoying it. It is definitely a clever take n the metroidvania. You don't get powerups or keys, you just need to learn new ways to use what you already have. Unfortunately, some of the puzzles are long and take multiple steps and you may need to redo a lot if you accidently hit the wrong check point. That plus a couple of glitches and the aforementioned rough start stopped me from enjoying the game as much as I could have. Also, I never new what the point was other than getting to another area so there's less investment. And as far as I can tell, there's no end credits so you don't even get that satisfaction of closure once your done. Still, it is in some ways quite brilliant and I would be cautiously optimistic to play a new installment should it be made.
