I found Ultros through Skillup's weekly news video, where in the "Put this on your radar" segment he talked about playing its demo. It's a metroidvania with so called "psychedelics visuals." The vibrant art style got me interested and he said that the demo was a lot of fun. When looking into this game that word "psychedelic" was repeated over and over, which did set of a bit of a red flag since that was about the most anyone said. When the full game released I got it on steam, and enjoyed the first hour or so same as I expected. However from there my enjoyment really went downhill. At some point I remember thinking "This game's shortcomings remind me of Scorn" and sure enough when I checked, it was the same publisher (different studio though). Unlike scorn however, I don't really recommend Ultros.
The great stuff in Ultros really starts and ends with the pretty visuals. It is far too easy to feel confused, lost, and like you are doing something wrong. Like scorn, Ultros seems to not understand some of the "Language of videogames." Most issues seem like they could be fixed with a little playtesting and feedback. There are a lot of times you'll be running back and forth constantly opening the map with no clue as to what you should be doing. The exploration aspects started to frustrate after the first hour, that frustration only got worse as time went on. Combat felt too janky to pull off a smooth kill, but other people may take to it better than I did. The story and characters are boringly shallow, never giving enough info to push the story beyond "look at all this pretty stuff, is the music convincing you this is impactful?"

Very Minor Spoilers Below


The time loop angle is questionable, I don't feel like it ever improved the game and only was an annoyance to make you re-earn skills and gear. I didn't click with the gardening mechanics, usually only planting when necessary to make progress. I really don't get what they were going for with it, usually you have the correct seed on you to do any task and seeds are just sort of spread out on the map randomly so it didn't change the way I played. And I literally never had to feed a monster to make a planting location. I got early on that they wanted to do a "You are the bad guy for killing all these bugs" angle but it failed miserably. There is a weird lack of emotion to everything this game says. Once I got to the bad ending the gardener guy said that it's okay to leave and there really isn't any more for you to do. I was so relieved that I could stop there, and just watched the other ending on YouTube. If you like the visuals enough maybe this is worth a try for you, but I won't be recommending it to anyone which is pretty rare for me.

The goopy and slimy alien design of this game is a huge selling point - the sheer artistic creativity here is off the charts, and it gets really gross at some points. Very phallic and butthole-like things here. If the idea of exploring a completely original feeling world made up of organic and industrial matter in a Metroidvania fashion sounds good to you, definitely put this on your radar.

But there was a lot here that pushed me away despite only taking a few days to finish the main story. There are 2 endings, I think I got the "evil" one... but the game kind of forces you in that direction anyways, so they expect you to go back and try it all a second time to find a "nice" way of finishing things. I felt done by the end though, and satisfied with what I had ended with.

The exploration of the environment is exactly how you'd expect if you're familiar with the genre, and lots of those games have sprawling interconnected maps and systems that are easy to get lost in. Ultros was maybe the most lost I've felt playing a game like this. It's very big, and absolutely full of rooms and hallways that are a slog to run and jump through. They felt like unnecessary padding than anything. Something about this game made it feel like more of a chore than anything about halfway through, when I got lost and unaware of what my next objective was when I got stuck in an area. There's unlockable abilities after you complete a section/boss as per usual, but there's a slightly complicated gardening/seed system that the game kind of haphazardly explains to you. I'll admit, I wasn't using these seeds/plants to their full potential until I was almost done the game, and I think they did that on purpose - to show you, now that you've probably figured out how this shit actually works, go play the game a second time and do all the extra stuff. And one of the endgame things here is to connect all of the sprawling systems on the map. It just feels like too much work in the long run, I didn't really enjoy my time in this world and I was ready to get out.

That being said... I could see myself going back to this in a year or so and trying it again. So for now, 3 stars for a general feel of the game after completing - but there is stuff worth exploring here for lots of folks

Okay don't get me wrong, there are some really cool and unique mechanics here and the soundtrack/art style is sublime. However there's a big obstacle that brings this game so far down for me. I started this game saying I wouldn't look anywhere for online help and just take my time moving through and experiencing it. For a game like this, that throws so many different mechanics at you in cryptic language, doesn't take the time to explain or retain any sort of explanation I felt I heavily misunderstood a few key mechanics like feeding animals to create more gardens, using compost to make plants grow faster, etc. But for the first half of the game none of that is really necessary at all to understand. So during the first half I had a great time, treated it just like any other metroidvania. But then you unlock this "living network" mechanism and realize you can connect up the shamasal you've already killed. Now again, I'm not using any outside help here, so I figured that in order to beat the game I not only needed to kill every shamasal, but I also needed to link every one up to the network. So I spend hours trying and failing to link up these different pathways, trying to pick the right plant, get the right seed, return back to the original spot, etc. I spend hours doing all of this tedious work and only connected 2 shamasal after giving up. This part of the game (if you choose to engage with it) is ridiculous and so very not fun. And it's not very clear that this is entirely optional and the game leads you into believing it's necessary (by providing you with all these different tools for gardening specifically). For me this was a very middle of the road experience, with some very frustrating stretches because I chose to engage with exploration and the mechanics that the game lays out for you. Without the gardening, this would have honestly been a decent game for me.

I love-hated Ultros and I do-don’t recommend it. Like as a love child of two visionaries, it’s a perfect game for your shelf; and probably worth having the physical edition purely for how it draws the eye and stands-out in a sea of similar looking games. On the other hand, it’s got some of the worst gamefeel of any metroidvania I’ve played in a while, often leaving me disoriented, confused, and unclear if I’m supposed to be banging my head against some spinning spikes or… something else? At least the shitty tools the game gives you are uniquely unlike other unlock able in games like it. So, yeah, it’s kind of a bad time, but also a part of an uncharted alien timeloop inside the guts of a space uterus / sarcophagus that I couldn’t say no to.

Ultros promete ser uma jornada sci-fi psicodélica bem única e cumpre bem este papel enquanto esbanja um estilo ousado, hipnotizante e que nos mergulha em transe dentro de um mundo alienígena colorido, místico e poeticamente acurado. Como um bom metroidvania, acertou em cheio na exploração e fluidez no processo de se navegar pelo mapa em grande parte de seu tempo de jogo, compensando os pequenos deslizes.

Sendo este o jogo de estreia da Hadoque, é seguro afirmar que o futuro da desenvolvedora é brilhante, e como um fã do El Huervo, fico imensamente feliz em ter experienciado Ultros, obra que representa tão bem seu estilo único.

Escrevi um pouco sobre Ultros no site Game Design Hub

This game is a lot. I just 100% it and I'm having trouble finding words. That first sentence was all I had typed here for like 20 minutes.

So I saw this game when it was revealed and I was like "oh cool a metroidvania" and that put in on my radar alone. The fact that a Hotline Miami guy made it or whatever didn't register to me. Just was like "yep ok will play that when it launches. Don't get me wrong, the art style and music are both fantastic and work in tandem to bring together the feel of this alien environment, just wasn't particularly what sold me. Maybe what helped me keep it in mind at least? That and being named after a famous FF villain maybe

Anyway, I start this game recently and standard metroidvania things happen. Get weapon, move around and play with all the buttons (can move with D-Pad thank [deity]), pull up a map you fill out as you go, do platforming. Classic stuff. Early on you find an "extractor" which allows you to double jump. I enjoy a good double jump but having it be the first thing you unlock? Something felt off.

There were a few other little differences from the typical metroidvania as well. As you go through and fight enemies you get their remains as food. Different food heals and increases one of four different levels of your nutrition and these levels are used in your "cortex" to unlock certain innate abilities. What was more curious about this is that you get better, more intact meat if you kill a creature using different combat moves which you can unlock more of in the mentioned cortex. Pretty neat.

Then the one that should have been obvious by the surroundings but the flora of the station plays a vital role in the game. There are various types of plants throughout and they all have unique names and properties. They even have their own fruit which has similar functions to the creature remains you can eat. On top of all this though is an ability to plant seeds you find. Very interesting.

All of this gets introduced as you go through the first hour or so. Then you fight your first boss enemy, find the pod behind it that contains something, smash that, and then follow the trail it gives off to the center of the map. Then STUFF happens and the screen goes white. Suddenly you're back where you started.

So this is where I see some people getting upset. I use the word "filtered" which I think is apt but people get upset about it. I dunno. Anyway so yeah, you start over from where you began, no weapon, no items you picked up on the way, no double jump thingy, and no cortex abilities (probably). You set off again. The map is as it was before and still has your progress shown on it but the way you went before isn't a path you can take again for some reason. The game encourages you to go find another way.

I've seen people refer to this as the game having "rougelike" (definitely not) and/or "rougelite" elements. I don't think this really counts as rougelite though. You don't lose everything if you DIE, you just go back to where you saved last. The map is randomly generated, everything is the same layout it was. Certain events initially change where you're able to go but the map is consistent and reliable. The same creatures and plants will be where they were on the last cycle. You lose cortex abilities at first but exploration grants you the means to keep them as you progress. These things and more make me want to label it as a timeloop game before calling it "rouge-anything". It's a metroidvania where you reset after beating bosses. Hell even as you progress its more forgiving than a timeloop game typically is but that is a core mechanic for sure.

With all these in mind, I ventured forth. Encountered different creatures, plants, and new areas. I picked up on some lore stuff as I tried my best to explore. There's seven different bosses to find in a sprawling classic boxy looking metroidvania map. I beat the various bosses and uncovered a good chunk of the map while looping each time. Got myself and my extractor all upgraded nicely. Then I went to the center of the map for the event that sparks the cycle renewing, the typical flash of white happened and some story stuff.

Then I was back where I started for the eighth time. There was a slight different this time. I was offered a way out. The game deliberately places you between getting out of this mess in an escape pod or, to your other side, is your weapon which you can pick up and continue. Curiously, you also suddenly have the ability to manually reset the loop now. This in mind as well as paying attention to the story as much as I had, I knew that leaving wasn't an option. I had a responsibility to finish what I started and fix what I broke.

This is a another point I could see a lot of people checking out. From this point on, your objective shifts. It gave me a similar feel to The Messenger when open the scroll and the true nature of the game is revealed. What you have to accomplish now requires sharp wits, for you to have really paid attention to your surroundings, and to use your tools to the utmost.

There's a brief example of what the game wants you to do in one area of the map for a boss fight that you'll just kinda do without thinking and there are various hints to how it leads up to the true ending but when it fully dawn on you, it can seem quite daunting. Essentially what you need to do is connect each area of the map to the center. You do this by utilizing the 10 different plant species as well as the seven different modes you unlocked for your extractor. Dig up and plant different seeds, cultivate their growth while trimming as needed, use the scanner to see what each plant does and it's health as well as the health of the soil. Hell you even splice plants together to make whatever you need to make connections

There's a lot of options on how to make these connections happen. You need to figure out what plants to use and where to use them. Even that can differ though since there are spots with creatures where, instead of killing them, you feed them and they suddenly like you. This gives the benefit of not being attacked BUT ALSO more importantly when you loop again, there will be a space to plant a seed where you fed the critter where there was no space for seed before. The plant cultivation system is robust and quite vague. I spent A LOT of time in trial and error figuring out what the plants do, how they grow, how they interact with the soil. It got frustrating at times for sure but there were a lot of epiphanies too and I overall feel accomplished and satisfied for having stuck with it.

Completing this game 100% and getting its true ending was a gratifying experience in itself but I don't think it would be for everyone. I think there are good points in the game that clearly telegraph to players what they're in for and if they'd want to stick with it. Hell halfway through the story they give you an out. I think the people that get to that point will find this to be a decent metroidvania experience that looks pretty but has some annoyances they could do without.

However, for those that make it past that part and see what the devs are really going for here, I think those people are truly in for a treat. Its a rewarding game that's bountiful in choosing to do things in a way that feels earned and it's a type of mechanic that ties in strongly with the core narrative of the experience. It definitely a game I won't forget any time soon if at all. I think I recommend it for all metroidvania fans as a blanket hopefulness and then the ones that get through the filters will be the ones to find something truly special.

I’ve not yet played it myself, but apparently El Huervo, the artist for this game, worked previously on Hotline Miami. And from all that I’ve seen, that makes more sense than the sun rising in the morning. By far Ultros’ biggest boon, the art style is absolutely gorgeous, with its sunbaked colors and sharp accents. The neon mosaic of a living sarcophagus adrift in space is an ethereal experience that, to make an early prediction, is a promising early contender for most visually stunning game of the year. If I were just grading the game on that I’d be a different story.

Sadly, the story feels like an experiment to say as few things in as many words as possible, which is weird considering your character doesn’t even talk. It becomes clear early on that Ultros is one of those metaphorical, lore-heavy games that requires a fair bit of reflection and time(line)-keeping to get in order, much less understand. I tried to hang on to every word said, but about an hour in I gave up on caring what the game had to say about metaphorical rebirth space-mumbo jumbo. I would say it made me feel like an idiot, but I challenge anyone not obsessed with the game to make any sense of the lore in Ultros. On its own the characters you meet are interesting and mysterious, shout out to my boy Gardner who’s just a chill dude doing what he does best, gardening. I think if they just left it there, with a kooky cast of characters that you meet and sometimes fight for first dibs at zoning privileges, it would be a charming story not unlike something like Undertale. As it stands, the cryptic monologues just didn’t do anything for me.

As the name Gardner suggests, planting and watering flora plays a significant part in healing yourself, fighting enemies, and traversing the living landscape. While the possibility of planting the wrong seed at the wrong spot exists, re-planting is made easy and non-punishing. Typically, when you plant a new seed, some time is necessary for the plant to grow to its full size if it’s a platforming shrub. A feature most evident in the rebirth mechanic that occurs every time you defeat a new section of the map, sending you back to where you first spawned and taking away your upgrades. On that aspect I’m lukewarm, since when I regained my skill points I usually just rebought the best upgrades over again. The idea is to experiment with new abilities and try out different skill sets, but with almost half the abilities falling squarely in the convenience category, I didn’t bother exploring too much. Conversely, I quite enjoyed the gardening angle. It’s a bit hard to keep track of what’s where when it’s a Metroidvania, but they sold me on the idea, however novel it may be.

The soundtrack was diverse, with traditional orchestral motifs and otherworldly moans interchanging throughout the winding tunnels of the ship. While I’m more privy to the weeping violins, I could appreciate the more haunting, abstract tunes as well. Fun fact by the way: composer Oscar Rydelius actually obtained a fair bit of the sounds in the score during a trip to Peru, including from ambient landscapes and indigenous instruments, which when pitch-shifted definitely fits the vibe they’re going for here.

And yet the weaving of all these cool, unique aspects can’t help but make it apparent how generic the world and movement is. You get gadgets, but none of them really stand out as particularly creative or fun. Even as far as Metroidvanias go, this one feels extremely linear. Twice did I have to look up how to progress further, as seemingly all points of entries into further areas were blocked off or otherwise restricted. If you’re going to make an ultra-dense Metroidvania that’s fine, you simply have to keep in mind that it should be tailored to all orders of progression. The last thing I want to do is go back and forth jump-hugging a wall in hopes that I can break the game into submission.

Now if more sections were like my favorite area of Ultros, the weird pirate game show section, where you play silly sports contests against various aliens, then I’d likely be singing a different tune altogether. It’s cheeky, and wacky, and unfortunately the only memorable section of the game that doesn’t involve running from Qualia, another character in Ultros. Next time, less filler and more killer. While my time was still positive overall, I can’t help finding myself somewhat disappointed with what we got. Unless you’re a hardcore Metroidvania fanatic AND in love with the style like me, maybe just stick to finding a neat wallpaper inspired by the game and giving a listen to the soundtrack.

Ultros is at its core a Metroid-Vania but it doesn’t quiet follow a lot of the core mechanics that you’ve come to expect from the genre. Ultimately it excels at its presentation being one the most beautiful games I think I have ever played; the sound design is fantastic and the visual language is breathtaking. Unfortunately, Ultros is held back by a few odd mechanics and lack of clarity in its requirements of the player.

The first few hours of gameplay and exploration are honestly some of its best. You wake outside a crashed space pod in a hallucinogenic strange world with no direct and merely a puddle to view yourself in. Your only immediate option is to venture out into the organic depths below you and hope to make sense of what is going on. This is when you will be introduced to the games narrative and one of the few character that seem to be lurking in this ship of some kind. The narrative is present in written format where other characters will talk at you and you can see reactions from the players sprite. The story is generally quiet intriguing but seems to lose focus throughout the game. I had a general idea of what was happening but some of the characters and hidden lore seemed a little random or to vague for me to understand on a first playthrough.
The premise is some kind of time loop where you and everyone else is stuck re living a moment while a big ball creature (Ultros) grows in the middle of the ship. Almost ever character has no idea they are in a loop with the exception of one who seems to remember you after you progress the story. I believe there are possibly 2 or more endings to Ultros but unfortunately, I wasn’t particularly satisfied with the outcome I received.

The core objective seems to be killing or reviving 6 of these mummies that are linked to the big ball thing but I’m not really sure why. Once one of these mummies has been slain you go back to the big ball and the loop restarts with some dialog and cool visuals beforehand. Your options are to either slay all the mummies and end the game or once they have been killed bringing some kind of organic tether to them which will cleanse them in some way. Ultros expected you to figure out that this is an option purely by trial and error which could very easily be missed. I do like that this allows the player to pick if they want to put the effort in for an alternative ending but it becomes beyond tedious and for a smaller game there are very little resources online to help.

The exploration in Ultros is similar to your average Metroid-Vania but less focused on upgrading manoeuvrability and unlocking shortcuts. This became one of the first major problems I had with the game, it took so long to get anywhere fast and it was quiet exhausting to explore new paths. Instead, you are encouraged to use seeds that will grow into different kind of plants / trees providing vines to swing on or platforms to jump on. In concept, this is a really cool idea and it defiantly had moments that were quite impressive. However, some plants will take a time loop to fully grow meaning you are not able to use the new “shortcut” until you progress to the next loop. Similarly, this also became a problem when you are not sure what plant to grown where or you do not have the correct seed available to grow the required tree.
The previously mentioned tether that unlocks the alternative ending requires a strong knowledge of what plants to grow and paths to take. This is because you will be leading a tether from 1 area of the map to another in a plant-based daisy chain. Unfortunately, after a few hours of trying to figure out how to make this chain, the slow movement speed and lack of clear direction made me quit this endeavour and instead get the “bad” ending.

Initially while playing Ultros I was quiet impressed by the combat and encouragement to play well and with variety. The system they use rewards new combos and variety by giving better rewards based on how well you perform in combat. There's a mix of different doges, backsteps, stealth attacks, parry’s and much more which was initially quiet exciting. You unlock these moves and other abilities by leveling up your skill tree from eating a variety of grown fruits or carcases from the enemies you kill. However, the skill tree is very limited and you will quickly be maxing everything out as the consumables are also your healing items and there is a lot of them. I believe this is intentional though as when a loop is completed you will be returned to 0 skill points and no weapons as if you just restarted the game. Unfortunately though you can mitigate this almost completely, as with the use of additional hidden skill points found in the world this will keep any chosen skill permanently unlocked. This then feeds into another problem where you become either to strong in combat or you use a skill tree ability where most enemies will completely ignore the player; this allows you to waltz on right past them completely ignoring all future combat.

As I think back on my time playing Ultros I feel honestly more disappointed about what could have been than what has been. The beautiful visuals paired with some great combat ideas and an intriguing set up for a story sounds like a recipe for a brilliant game. But unfortunately Ultros just doesn’t deliver in the execution and that makes me really sad. I hope the small team continues to make games and refine their craft as there’s absolutely passion poured into Ultros and I would to see what’s next from the studio.

When it comes to what I look for in a game, it is much easier for me to state what I would avoid over what I like. One recurring thing that I love though is innovation, fresh new takes and great ideas. I would rather a game was inventive than be a shiny blockbuster that doesn’t bring anything new to the table.
Metroidvanias are a genre that has been extremely popular, especially in the “indie space” so seeing any sort of true innovation there is a pleasant surprise.

Invention and innovation are Ultros’ greatest strengths.
At a glance you would maybe first say it’s the stunning art of “ElHuervo” the same artist behind a lot of Hotline Miami’s unique look.
The art is beautiful, the world is full of colour and feels squidgy and organic. The character and monster designs are great, and it is a part that truly does stand out.
However, I cannot say it is the game’s greatest strength because sadly it can cause irritations. The game even admits to this by giving you options to make things in the fore and background look more separate because sometimes the visual splendour is too much to parse.
Many background items and things you can break (with no real gain) look too much like items that can be picked up and whilst the assets are good this causes some friction within the gameplay that does not need to be there.

The organic feel of Ultros ties greatly into its themes and mechanics which is where I find putting the game on a pedestal much easier.
Ultros is a Metroidvania but it is also a time-loop game, it has some sparing roguelite elements with an upgrade system that can be locked to permanent after a time but the real intrigue with the game when a loop happens is how you interact with the world.
In a surprise twist that I didn't see coming when I first booted up Ultros is that the game has gardening mechanics.
Throughout the world there are patches of land where seeds can be planted, different seeds create different plants and these plants can help the protagonist traverse.
Much like in real life though, plants and trees grow over time and when you first experience a time loop you quickly realise that you may have started from zero but the plants have continued to grow. Some of these may be as simple as taller tree-like obstacles that can now be used to reach higher points you couldn’t previously reach, sometimes these plants grow vines that can be swung from or break through barricades that originally blocked your path.
These additions to traversal not only open up more of the game’s world to you but speed up your progress making it simpler to do the earlier parts that you have done before such as obtaining your blade.

Speaking of blades, Ultros is a close quarters combat game. It has an enjoyable dodge and quick strike mechanic and a slew of fun upgrades that allow you to juggle and dive kick your enemies amongst other things.
The combat is smooth and feels good to use but sadly never really hits much of a challenge.
Throughout the game are boss style encounters, a couple of which have some fun gimmicks to them but for the most part play out as you’d expect and sometimes just feel like a lengthy standard fight - they’re good but not so much of a highlight.

One mechanic the fighting does bring though is a great encouragement to change your styles up and not repeat the same combos. In Ultros, in order to heal and upgrade the protagonist eats - sometimes these are fruits of the plants you find and grow but others are meat and morsels of the enemies you’ve slain, to get the most tasty and nutritious parts you must use a plethora of attacks or else spamming the same buttons will give you some red goop.
Having the food tied into an upgrade system is a nice addition because it also means at points there is risk/reward for eating to level up versus saving for survival, while also later the opposite holds true where eating to clear up your inventory and level up doesn’t feel like you’re putting yourself at too much risk.

As I mention the inventory I feel I have to explain one of my biggest issues with Ultros.
Confusion.
I have already mentioned how sometimes the visuals do not help, the presentation of the story is also hard to understand and things such as the inventory do not clear up matters lore or mechanics wise well enough either.
Whilst playing Ultros, understanding the outline of the story it is trying to tell but being confused by its language I thought to myself “is this what Dark Souls is like for some people?”.
Yes, a Dark Souls comparison, the cliché of all video game reviews but one here that felt quite specific.
The obscure and ambiguous nature of Ultros had me struggle with its narrative but at times made the game difficult to play too, with a specific example of something I feel Dark Souls does that this doesn’t and to its detriment.
Item descriptions - planting seeds becomes far more important in the late game and knowing what each seed will grow to be is only really clear from its art. That should maybe be enough and arguably it is, however some things are so similar this isn’t enough.
Each seed has a different name but they aren’t really a clue to what they do, item descriptions here would not only help build the world but aid the player into moving forwards knowing they are doing what they are intending to do - instead each seed has the same “can be planted” description as one another.
Overall there is a line where you want a world to have its own language but not one that is so foreign the player cannot understand and sadly Ultros goes over it.

From this point on I will be spoiling part of Ultros, something that needs to be spoken about because it ties into its greatest strengths and weaknesses.
I will be speaking about endings, not specifically what happens but the journey to them and if you’ve understood the organic, killing, growing and time-looping themes of the game these are probably quite obvious but if not, and you want to discover for yourself, this is the time to leave.

Two words explain your quest in Ultros Destruction and Connection.
As you travel through Ultros you are searching for Shaman, green folk sat in coffin type displays.
Each time one of these is destroyed a new loop is triggered, some things change but your objective is clear, whilst the map may not be filled out where these shaman are is marked very early on so you need to get to all eight you can see.
Throughout these loops you are made aware that you want to sever the ties of these shaman as they tie-in to the summoning of the big interdimensional space monster Ultros themselves.
The simplest way to save the day being the destruction of these eight shaman through your knowledge gained during the loops and the upgrades you get to a small drone called an extractor.
The extractor is, without revealing specifics, where the metroidvania elements truly come in through a whole host of ways, some of which are very exciting and original, allow you to access places you previously couldn’t and tackle obstacles that got in your way - a few of these tied into the gardening.

Not each upgrade to the extractor is equal in terms of excitement but each does give you a great feeling of progress and spark thoughts in your mind of what you can now do.
Sadly though this feeling comes to an end when you’ve got them all and that may be earlier than you’d expect.

If Destruction is one way to end the game through destroying the shaman then it’s probably somewhat clear what Connection is about.
Returning to the point in where you found the shaman you can actually start to connect them to the centre, this is done via a “living network” which if the shaman are the nodes, the plants you have grown along your journey are the connectors.
This completely changes the game into something not combat focused at all. Rather than killing enemies you are encouraged to befriend them, feeding them so that they no longer attack and may also reveal new spots to garden - and this pacifist style extends to all elements of the world.
You’re rewarded for this in some areas as the living network being reconnected can also open doors and whilst it may be simple for you to find your way back to somewhere you have been you need to build this network without gaps and that is where the challenge lies.
A challenge or sadly, a faff.

The alternative “true ending” is something that I really applaud the game for as an idea, it turns the game on its head. It gives the story more interesting purpose and a better moral message than most.
In reality though, it becomes a slog too quickly. Having to start loops to see the consequences of your actions, changing what you have planted in fiddly ways with little help in terms of how things are marked or described. Spending so much time retreading the same ground over and over, it adds length to the game which may be viewed as value, but for me felt like it just outstayed its welcome to show that it was smart.

Metroidvanias at their best have a great flow of progression and sadly because all the major upgrades of the extractor are found when you’ve done the Destruction finish, you’re no longer getting those endorphins for what is 200% more game.

In the simplest terms my feelings on this game peaked at a 4.5 and came crashing down to a 3 as I struggled and grinded to get the last few plants down in the places the game wanted without guidance. As my playtime went from 7-8 hours for one ending to 20+ for the other, I questioned why I was even bothering and if I even liked the game.
Ultimately I do but I resent the game as much as I adore it.

Ultros is a recommendation from me, but purely because it does do so many smart and interesting things that are worth checking out.
The difficulty I find finishing here is giving advice on how someone else should finish the game.
It would be easy to say that if you do not connect with the gardening aspect in a significant way, play to the destruction ending and leave it - I just worry you’re missing not only things the game wants to show you but the things it’s trying to teach you too.

I dunno man, the visuals are very pretty, but as far as sense of progression goes, Ultros is not hitting the kind of pacing I desire out of a Metroidvania. You're either unlocking way too many skills at once to process the worthwhile usage of each one, or you're finding seeds to plant, the advantages of which are not immediately apparent, and instead delayed until you hit the next bit of story progression. It's too much instant gratification, and not enough clarity messily colliding against each other, with mechanics rarely trickled out at a rate that allows you to slowly learn the advantages of each one, or what each type of seed actually does before you're given more of them.

I also take an issue with the game taking away your skills & abilities per every time loop. I don't understand the intent of this. The argument is that it's pretty easy to re-acquire those abilities on repeat runs, but that's still at least 15-20 minutes of backtracking and grinding up enemies in order to reunlock that stuff, plus another 15-20 minutes per every succeeding loop, and... the fact that it's easy only further begs the question, why did it have to be that way at all? Granted, you can find some items that let you lock some of your skills in place, but... at that point, you've already seen them all, and it doesn't feel that rewarding anymore. Meanwhile, there are some abilities that you are always forced to lose no matter what, requiring you to backtrack to a specific room to re-acquire them. It's incredibly unsatisfying. For every major ability I unlock, all I can think is that I'm about 5 minutes away from losing it.

Perhaps Ultros didn't want to be like every other metroidvania out there, but at the same time, what it tries to do different is unnecessarily gimmicky. A more standard progression system where each ability takes effort to get, but is yours to keep couldn't have hurt. None of what's currently here is necessarily stressful, nor is the game all that hard. I think it just overcomplicates itself in ways that seem pointless, abandoning the structure of a classic metroidvania in favor of one that really just doesn't feel as carefully balanced, or intrinsic to explore. Unless you love plant seeds and cryptic lore. Ho, baby.

dá pra contar nos dedos de uma mão quantos metroidvanias que se diferenciam saem por ano. desde que joguei Hollow Knight esse gênero passou a ser muito difícil de me agradar. fechei muitos poucos nos últimos 7 anos (sim, fazem 7 anos que saiu Hollow Knight). porém, pra minha surpresa, o jogo que eu hypei desde que vi seu trailer de anúncio há 8 meses na Playstation Showcase do ano passado, saiu e realmente ficou do caralho.

rapaz, só jogando pra entender. acho que vendo o trailer dá pra ter uma ideia mas é simplesmente magnífico ficar perdido nesse mundo. não leiam levianamente a minha comparação disso com Hollow. a sua inspiração continua sendo divina e irreproduzível, porém, não tira em NADA o mérito que conquistaram aqui. uma das estéticas mais maneiras que já vi na minha vida. todas as minhas críticas são irrisórias perto da diversão que tive nisso. minha expressão de maravilhado perdurou a gameplay inteira.

com certeza um dos primeiros bangers indies que tivemos no ano. não apenas isso, como também é o debut da dev Hadoque. mal posso esperar pra ver o que essa rapaziada vai cozinhar no futuro. fica a recomendação!