After all these years, Cave Story has cemented itself as a legend and titan of the indie game scene. This must've set a hell of an example back in '04 as a type of game that AAA was moving away from (that we appreciated was still being made), and as something truly accessible to anyone with a computer, while being consistently quality throughout. A one-man passion project that somehow manages to hold its own in a fair few ways - the music slaps, the gameplay is solid and has cool ideas, the theming of the game is cute with a lovable cast... who knows how many creators this inspired. It being free ensured that so many people were able t- wait shit this isnt that one. yeah fuck there's a + on the end of the title lmao i goofed hard. uhhh lemme fix that rating real qui

Got filtered in the final stretch of the true ending, coupled with the fact that I got in with only 30 hp (fuck the falling rocks).
But going through that whole dungeon, with its bullshit second room, fighting a boss in the long-ass third room that can actually kill you if you keep standing below him after killing him, only to reach another long-ass boss fight with no health refills and no save points, is just unfair.
The game is great, and I actually finished the normal ending, and I was happy to play it for a second time, but that final dungeon is just so unfair on so many levels.
Maybe I'll finish the true ending someday, but in the meantime, I'm satisfied with what I played.

Cave Story is a fantastic game... but not this version.

In theory this is the best version of the game right?
well... its basically identical to the freeware version that released over 15 years ago.
and alongside the fact that nicalis used the dev's lack of english speaking knowledge to cheat him out of the entire game, you aren't even supporting the dev, by buying this you're supporting a bad publisher with bad practices and a racist CEO.

Just download the original freeware version, I recommend playing with CSE2, as it allows for a lot of helpful things.

An enjoyable indie that has lots of charm behind its simple plot and mechanics.

One of the first indies to break into the console mainstream, I’ve always respected Cave Story despite never completing it till now (albeit the Switch version, which does change the original pixel art and is published by a shit company). It’s that game everyone knows and loves dearly, praising “Pixel” as a legend for being able to fully flesh out a game in its entirety on his own. So how does it hold up now, where you can find hundreds of indies that you can sink thousands of hours in?

Honestly, pretty well. Gameplay-wise, it doesn’t feel like a game made in 2004, as there are a plethora of weapons at your disposal and having them upgraded or downgraded depending on how much damage you do and take is a really interesting mechanic that I’ve never seen elsewhere. It forces you to be careful and not mindlessly run and gun. Although I did find Quote, the main character, to be a bit floaty and slippery, but it added to the challenge of the game and within a few hours it was manageable to platform. The revamped pixel art is gorgeous, it feels inline with the original art direction, just a bit more modernized. The retro soundtrack is great too, a lot of memorable tracks and some very cozy ones too.

The only “flaw” this game has is the massive difficulty spike towards the end of the game. Throughout the game, the bosses were challenging albeit fair once you learn their attack pattern, and the game is generous enough to give you a save point before and after each fight. However, at the end? 4 bosses back to back, minimal healing, and no save points. It feels out of the blue and unnecessarily pads out the game, as the final bosses in the normal ending were a bit tricky, so if you screw up in one of them it leaves you at a disadvantage for the next immediate boss fight. I wouldn’t say it was frustrating, just annoying. Another minor concern is that it feels practically impossible to get the true ending blind due to having meticulous requirements throughout the game, but that’s usually how true endings go in these games so it wasn’t a big deal.

These days, Cave Story is a simple indie game that doesn’t reinvent the wheel mechanically, but it was a necessary game for the time as it left a tremendous impact. It has a cute short and sweet story, fun gameplay mechanics, and a wonderful presentation.

12 years ago I experienced what I’d consider one of the highest points of gaming for me. I opened my Christmas present under the tree and it was Cave Story 3D. My auntie has been more like an older sister to me. The gifts she’s given to me felt like some of the most major events in my life. That may seem like a stretch, but one of the many gifts before and after this was the gameboy advance SP, which was the first system I, myself, owned that was truly mine and mine alone. It’s been so long that I don’t even know if I asked for it, I have no idea how she knew but she knew to find the game I never knew would be one of the greatest immersive experiences for me. The disconnect between generations is a huge gap within a lot of variables so it’s hard to truly understand what the other is feeling. I never really felt this with her because no matter what, she understood. Gaming and music has been a huge part of my identity. This is a gaming site, so obviously I’m not here to talk about music. Playing Donkey Kong jr on a strange controller that was essentially a compact emulator with 200+ games is the second most vivid memory I have as a child, so nobody can tell me different on what the first game I truly played was. I was young, but I remember it like it was yesterday. My first playthrough of cave story will never be erased from my mind. I was so engrossed with it I felt true passion for the first time. I’m not into too many things, the typical “nerd” shit that people used to consider a couple years ago. Gaming, anime, manga, comics, reading, listening to any and every genre, etc. Thats who I am, and that’s who I’ll always be. Cave story hit a deep spot for me. The music, the aesthetic, the story, the characters, the art style, the gameplay.. everything was what I ever could’ve asked for and then some. Undeniably it’s one of, if not the biggest, milestones for indie games. It set a precedent for everything that followed it. A solo dev that did pretty much everything on its own. Nowadays Toby fox, the creator of undertale, is what the general public of gaming know that as.. but no pixel did it first and he will always be a legend to me and many others that cave story has reached. I’m not here to talk about the game or the story or the characters. I usually do that but I have no intentions or desires to. If you read up until this point I want you to experience it for yourself. It may not hit you nearly as hard as it hit me but I hope you at least enjoy it. To me it’s fun, immersive, and completely sets itself apart from any other game. Not because it really did anything creatively first in a breakthrough type of way.. but because it clearly has its own identity. It’s something to me, that you’ll never forget, and it sets itself apart from any other game ever made. Something that is meant to be played blind multiple times. You will discover things you never seen before if you do things differently, and if you play the newest version of it? You’ll be greeted with so many bells and whistles compared to the original freeware release. I can go on and on and on about the history of this game, but maybe you already know that. What you don’t know is that me and a bunch of other people have felt what I’d like to think is the vision pixel wanted players to see. I hope you give this game a chance and have fun with it, I’ll keep playing forever until I’m 6 feet under, and I hope I can get more to enjoy it even a fraction as much as I have.

Cave Story is a dearly beloved game of mine, I never truly beat despite my love. I simply sucked too much at video games to ever actually get the best ending as a teenager, but after starting it up to see the Halloween sprites this year and realizing how much was resprited I accidentally started a new playthrough that ended up being one where I actually beat the full game.
One of my favorite games, and definitely one of the best indies out there, the fact that the original game in 2004 was the spawn of just one man in his free time is a true testament to what indies are.
If you wanna play it, play the freeware version or buy it used, also please buy Kero Blaster!!