What can I say, I'm a sucker for rogue likes. This one can get repetitive, but it's part of the intent, and it never got boring. I cleared the game once and that's enough for me, I don't intend on trying for hours on the double NG+ remix bosses of hell, that's not for me. Pretty neat! Hoping for the second game.
Truly an early 2010s roguelike 2D Pixel Art indie of our time, in the best ways and the worst ways. I played about 3 hours of this game and dropped it, as it just wasn’t getting its teeth into me.
Let’s start with the best - great soundtrack, cute pixel art, a fun premise and core mechanic. If I liked this game, I could see myself loving this game. The loop is there, and pretty clearly set out for the player to engage with. It doesn’t try to hide what this game is and it lays it all out for the player, which I appreciate when it comes to these sorts of experiences.
Now to the worst - the controls aren’t ideal (they feel a little too fine tuned for Mouse and Keyboard perhaps?), and the combat isn’t really that engaging. Early game coin generation feels a little too slow, considering every time I want to go back and play the game I have to give up all my coins I wasn’t able to spend, though this could absolutely be a skill issue on my part. The dialogue is charming and cute but it could maybe have done with a little more time explaining what is actually going on and leaving breadcrumbs for me to explore. Why not tell me about The Maya before I encounter it, so I can be intrigued to find my way there? Bear in mind, all this is being said through a 2024 lens, and when this game came out over a decade ago, such expectations were unrealistic, or just unnecessary.
Now is this a bad game? Likely no, and obviously it did well enough to get a sequel. Is this a bad game for me as an individual? Yes, and I won’t sit here and pretend to like it or give it more of my time to learn how to enjoy it. This game feels like a dream for those who enjoy the ‘2D, pixel art, roguelike, indie’ crowd, of which there are many many people, but it’s just not for me - and that’s okay.
Let’s start with the best - great soundtrack, cute pixel art, a fun premise and core mechanic. If I liked this game, I could see myself loving this game. The loop is there, and pretty clearly set out for the player to engage with. It doesn’t try to hide what this game is and it lays it all out for the player, which I appreciate when it comes to these sorts of experiences.
Now to the worst - the controls aren’t ideal (they feel a little too fine tuned for Mouse and Keyboard perhaps?), and the combat isn’t really that engaging. Early game coin generation feels a little too slow, considering every time I want to go back and play the game I have to give up all my coins I wasn’t able to spend, though this could absolutely be a skill issue on my part. The dialogue is charming and cute but it could maybe have done with a little more time explaining what is actually going on and leaving breadcrumbs for me to explore. Why not tell me about The Maya before I encounter it, so I can be intrigued to find my way there? Bear in mind, all this is being said through a 2024 lens, and when this game came out over a decade ago, such expectations were unrealistic, or just unnecessary.
Now is this a bad game? Likely no, and obviously it did well enough to get a sequel. Is this a bad game for me as an individual? Yes, and I won’t sit here and pretend to like it or give it more of my time to learn how to enjoy it. This game feels like a dream for those who enjoy the ‘2D, pixel art, roguelike, indie’ crowd, of which there are many many people, but it’s just not for me - and that’s okay.