A game that's in a constant state of switching between good, bad, and mediocre. Part of the disappointment was my fault for having specific expectations unnecessarily.

The Bad: Mediocre platforming (in a game that's primarily platforming, getting stuck on corners should be unacceptable), too much backtracking. Also like, the game has a system where you can choose to kill enemies and if you don't they thank you for not killing them. But they very actively discourages you from sparing enemies because you get less XP from this and the only way to spare them is to bribe them with your money. And it won't work on lots of enemies. Weird.

The medium: The writing is not particularly amazing, (by the numbers, then at the end we're told our player character has changed but haven't seen any of that growth at all). First twist feels kinda meaningless. The levels are a little too long with infrequent save points.

The good: The ending is fantastic, I wish more of the game had felt like it. I think some of the gags are very cute and enjoyable, and I enjoy the hub world a lot. Everybody loves a good hub world.

Last notes: Anybody else think its kinda weird the game has literal monkeys who dress like indigenous caricatures and are called savvages by one of the protagonists??? That's weird right.

(I played this game 6 months ago this is just a recollection of my thoughts)

I really enjoyed this game, I think the writing is good for what it is though this game has a lot more potential to be so much more. It's an enjoyable experience though, I enjoyed the battling even if it's a bit slow but it's really not that bad (especially with the shield mechanic being the way it is, super cool!).

For a first game from these devs I think this is a great start. Great gameplay, fun writing, and really awesome music! I'll need to replay this game again and make another review at some point.

Completed with all upgrades and cassettes collected (aside from one that's glitched and doesn't appear). Very much inspired by the classic Paper Mario games, Underhero is primarily a 2D platformer, with RPG-style combat. The premise here is that players control an underling of an evil leader and, after unexpectedly killing the game's hero on their stereotypical quest against evil, the player finds themself taking up that quest themselves. This makes for an unusual story with a real sense of fun throughout.

Although the gameplay starts off feeling a little slow due to the stamina-based combat system, by the time that you're past the initial areas the pace (and challenge) ramps up notably, to the game's benefit. Each enemy has its own quirks, strengths and weaknesses with visual tells to exploit, in a system where timing is crucial to maximise the chances of success. While there are a few enemy types that can get a little frustrating, especially those which can fly, for the most part the battles works well, with satisfying results.

Special mention has to go to the game's ending sequence, which, without spoilers, sees some very unexpected developments. While there's not much in the way of replay value save for a few collectibles and achievements, I was left with an overall soundly positive sentiment towards Underhero, which seems to have gone under the radar for many who I'm sure would enjoy it.

It’s an alright M&L-style RPG/Platformer hybrid, but I gotta complain a bit.
- The lighting is really weird and messes up a lot of visibility and object readability. Glowing lava spills that were just foreground elements looked too much like a hazard while hydraulic presses that kill you blended right in with the background. Other such cases.
- I didn’t like how doors that were entered on the background wall sometimes had back exits on the side of the screen, particularly in labyrinth-based levels with many doors to confuse for the exit. It was very misleading at times.
- A lot of enemy attack telegraphs need either better rhythm, better follow-through animation, and/or more room for projectile motion so it actually rewards timing and reaction. I found myself having to guess when to time my dodge/parry despite knowing what attack was coming, because the attack wind-ups were slow and virtually non-indicative of the instantaneous follow-through’s timing.
- Item pop-up text covers over dialogue boxes…
As for the story, very hit and miss. Elizabeth’s snarky demeanor made for some nice dialogue to accompany the silent protagonist, and she had good moments like back-talking deliberately unhelpful npcs, but other times she just heckled the plot irony-poisoned style. The overall story concept was really neat. The worldbuilding was solid, most characters had charm and there was some satisfying lore dump throughout the game and in the final act. It just also felt hampered by a lot of ‘undertale’ moments, as though the game wanted to strike the same emotional chords but forced it into places it didn’t belong, or it just didn’t bother to reach its full originality potential. The finale was cool though, albeit on a pretty bullshit final plot twist. I think I’m just getting tired of the common indie game tropes. I dunno.

it was a game.