Spooky Ghosts Dot Com is a small metroidvania about a ghost hunter named Ruby. One Halloween night a ghost hunting job comes in, but it turns out to not be a regular gig!
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I've played metroidvanias before, but this one I feel like lacked in a few key ways. I didn't end up playing TOO much of this one, as it got on my nerves really quickly, so I'll keep it brief.
First, I couldn't really tell where I was 'supposed' to go. I know the whole point of metroidvanias is that they're open ended, but in others I've played, areas that are too challenging for you are made to be off limits by physical barriers that can only be passed with abilities you have to unlock somewhere else. This leads into my second problem.
Second, I didn't really feel a sense of progression here. I was able to find three bosses (including the first one) before I was able to find any of the powerups or abilities, or any areas that I could absolutely tell I wasn't supposed to go in yet. This leads to my third problem.
The boss battles were really bland. Each of the ones I found seemed to be total damage sponges. Not like the bosses had uninteresting attack patterns, but in the sense that by the time I had learned the attack pattern, I felt like I had to do it way too many times to win. And it lead to this uncertainty where I didn't know if I was supposed to be there or not, if I was doing poorly because I was bad at the game, or because I had gone the wrong way.
Abandoned for the same reason I abandon most games, died too many times and didn't feel like I was having fun or like I was motivated to keep trying.
First, I couldn't really tell where I was 'supposed' to go. I know the whole point of metroidvanias is that they're open ended, but in others I've played, areas that are too challenging for you are made to be off limits by physical barriers that can only be passed with abilities you have to unlock somewhere else. This leads into my second problem.
Second, I didn't really feel a sense of progression here. I was able to find three bosses (including the first one) before I was able to find any of the powerups or abilities, or any areas that I could absolutely tell I wasn't supposed to go in yet. This leads to my third problem.
The boss battles were really bland. Each of the ones I found seemed to be total damage sponges. Not like the bosses had uninteresting attack patterns, but in the sense that by the time I had learned the attack pattern, I felt like I had to do it way too many times to win. And it lead to this uncertainty where I didn't know if I was supposed to be there or not, if I was doing poorly because I was bad at the game, or because I had gone the wrong way.
Abandoned for the same reason I abandon most games, died too many times and didn't feel like I was having fun or like I was motivated to keep trying.
Nicely put together Metroid-style game. You pet cats, and use cats to travel around. I found that the boss design was ambitious but the fights themselves not particularly enjoyable. Finished in about 2.5 hours, so it doesn't overstay its welcome. Good value buy if you are into this kind of game.
A surprisingly robust, rose-tinted, NES style metroidvania. Despite the prominent cat theming, this is a challenging experience with menacing bosses around most corners. While death loops are frequent, the save pumpkins allow you to try over and over until the gratifying victory and power up you win. Each new ability feels incredibly helpful and makes all previously explored areas easier to traverse through. The only hinderance is one that is similar to older entries of its genre, and that is the few and far between save stations that encourage back tracking after the simplest of advancements. Other than that, this game is entirely engaging and makes you remember the old-school games in a refined light.