This one was really frustrating to play. I ended up really enjoying and appreciating what Colorgrave achieved with their previous title, Prodigal, and I'm not a 2D zelda guy! But I am a 2d platformer guy and I wouldn't have thought Colourgrave never made one before with how smooth and technical the moveset of Belle and Chime is. And they better married the aesthetic to the more meandering slice of life elements. Prodigal looked fine if somewhat generic but Curse Crackers commits to pastel blues, whites and pinks that make it snug and pleasant to play. There's so much to appreciate but unfortunately Curse Crackers embraces the my pet peeve as far as 2D platformers go: collectibles. Instead of designing stages that would make the nuanced verbset of Belle and Chime sing, they are instead stuffed with 'secrets' that never amount to anything more than hugging and hitting every wall for an invisible entrance. Although the last couple of worlds do offer some thrilling gauntlets, the levels in this game never amount to more than indistinct and shapeless stop and start affairs. And they're all stitched together by a large yet mostly barren SMW-styleworld map that only ever served to disperse the little community whose interactions I got the most enjoyment out of in contrast to Prodigal's compact little burg tying its inhabitants together. The fact that a lot of the cozy slice of life and post game content is tied behind completion nearly poisoned the well for me. I was relaxed and content while playing Prodigal but I was never able to get into a similar sweet spot with Curse Crackers. The ingredients were there but what they cooked was not to my taste. This one was disappointing.