Fun multiplayer adventure! I played this start to finish with my boyfriend, and we both enjoyed it a little more than I thought we would.
There’s a lot here to love, there are so many QOL features in the game that made things very convenient, including: Missed collectibles on the Map, frequent checkpoints that doubly serve as respawn points, map indicators for when an ability you’ve unlocked can unlock a new area, area completion percentages, and at least a few others I’ve forgotten. The team clearly had the player’s enjoyment on the front of their mind with these decisions, and I greatly appreciate that.
The visuals are another thing that I was constantly drawn to. While none of the areas are particularly innovative in video game settings, they’re all visually gorgeous. The characters inhabiting the world– be it the playable characters, NPCs, or enemies– are excellently brought to life through gorgeous animation and a beautiful art style that looks like it was taken directly out of a sketchbook and put into the game. The dynamic soundtrack that subtly changes as you progress through areas pairs with the fantastic visuals to create a nice, serene atmosphere.
In terms of exploring the world, it’s pretty fun! If you’re an existing fan of metroidvanias, it will probably feel a bit bare-bones, but at the very least I think it’s still enjoyable. The platforming sections aren’t anything spectacular, but they’re engaging. The real highlight comes in finding the different collectibles, which was the highlight of the whole game for me. My favorites were the areas that take up the whole screen, and you have to go through a small platforming challenge/puzzle to get the secret. The Mickey Memorabilia is super cute, and very fitting with this game releasing during the Disney 100 celebrations. There are some deeper cuts, and it feels like they’re put in there by people who have a genuine love for the Disney cartoons. I wish the outfits you unlocked were actually wearable, but as I believe the game is hand animated, I get why they aren’t.
The thing metroidvanias are known for (well, one of the things), the abilities you unlock throughout the course of your journey are fun, as well. Like the level design itself, they’re nothing crazy (don’t go in expecting to pull off some of the crazy types of things you can do in Hollow Knight, for example), but they pair nice with the world. I wish there was maybe one or two more, though, as the movement does feel a little basic.
I also enjoyed the humor, albeit it’s a little hit or miss for me. Some of it wasn’t quite my cup of tea, but there were some jokes that got a chuckle from me. The best bits are with the main 4 bantering, especially anything to do with Donald. The running joke of Donald getting junky equipment is a pretty good bit.
As for the negatives, the first is the combat. Or, the lack of it. The enemy patterns in the game aren’t really designed around combat, so it doesn’t feel like it’s necessarily missing anything by not having it, but I feel like it could have really filled a gap in the very simple run and jump gameplay. Just tweak the enemies a bit, and let the players unlock some new moves or combos throughout the game, and I feel like it would have added a lot to the game.
The closest you get to combat are the boss fights which are quite lackluster. None of them are bad, but they’re not great. They’re just fine. They don’t really outstay their welcome, at least.
Probably my biggest issue with this game is the lack of fast travel, which is gated until the very end of the game. This game has so many great QoL features that I’m utterly stumped as to why they thought this was a good idea. It’s not like you can really sequence break in this game, even if you trekked all the way back to where you wanted to go on foot. I almost certainly would’ve 100% it if it had fast travel, but once I beat it I didn’t really feel like going back and getting everything, as I much rather would do it before I beat the game. I’d like to sometime in the future, at least, but man I would have liked to have that along the way.
All in all, I found this game fun. It fell considerably short of what I feel it could have been, though. This game has a fantastic framework, built by very talented developers who clearly have a lot of passion for what they’re doing. I just wish it was a bit more out there with its ideas. I’m optimistic that this game will one day get a sequel, as I feel like they could make something splendid if the team listened to feedback and improved on this game’s shortcomings. I’d still recommend it though, especially if you, or someone you play this with, is new to metroidvanias.
There’s a lot here to love, there are so many QOL features in the game that made things very convenient, including: Missed collectibles on the Map, frequent checkpoints that doubly serve as respawn points, map indicators for when an ability you’ve unlocked can unlock a new area, area completion percentages, and at least a few others I’ve forgotten. The team clearly had the player’s enjoyment on the front of their mind with these decisions, and I greatly appreciate that.
The visuals are another thing that I was constantly drawn to. While none of the areas are particularly innovative in video game settings, they’re all visually gorgeous. The characters inhabiting the world– be it the playable characters, NPCs, or enemies– are excellently brought to life through gorgeous animation and a beautiful art style that looks like it was taken directly out of a sketchbook and put into the game. The dynamic soundtrack that subtly changes as you progress through areas pairs with the fantastic visuals to create a nice, serene atmosphere.
In terms of exploring the world, it’s pretty fun! If you’re an existing fan of metroidvanias, it will probably feel a bit bare-bones, but at the very least I think it’s still enjoyable. The platforming sections aren’t anything spectacular, but they’re engaging. The real highlight comes in finding the different collectibles, which was the highlight of the whole game for me. My favorites were the areas that take up the whole screen, and you have to go through a small platforming challenge/puzzle to get the secret. The Mickey Memorabilia is super cute, and very fitting with this game releasing during the Disney 100 celebrations. There are some deeper cuts, and it feels like they’re put in there by people who have a genuine love for the Disney cartoons. I wish the outfits you unlocked were actually wearable, but as I believe the game is hand animated, I get why they aren’t.
The thing metroidvanias are known for (well, one of the things), the abilities you unlock throughout the course of your journey are fun, as well. Like the level design itself, they’re nothing crazy (don’t go in expecting to pull off some of the crazy types of things you can do in Hollow Knight, for example), but they pair nice with the world. I wish there was maybe one or two more, though, as the movement does feel a little basic.
I also enjoyed the humor, albeit it’s a little hit or miss for me. Some of it wasn’t quite my cup of tea, but there were some jokes that got a chuckle from me. The best bits are with the main 4 bantering, especially anything to do with Donald. The running joke of Donald getting junky equipment is a pretty good bit.
As for the negatives, the first is the combat. Or, the lack of it. The enemy patterns in the game aren’t really designed around combat, so it doesn’t feel like it’s necessarily missing anything by not having it, but I feel like it could have really filled a gap in the very simple run and jump gameplay. Just tweak the enemies a bit, and let the players unlock some new moves or combos throughout the game, and I feel like it would have added a lot to the game.
The closest you get to combat are the boss fights which are quite lackluster. None of them are bad, but they’re not great. They’re just fine. They don’t really outstay their welcome, at least.
Probably my biggest issue with this game is the lack of fast travel, which is gated until the very end of the game. This game has so many great QoL features that I’m utterly stumped as to why they thought this was a good idea. It’s not like you can really sequence break in this game, even if you trekked all the way back to where you wanted to go on foot. I almost certainly would’ve 100% it if it had fast travel, but once I beat it I didn’t really feel like going back and getting everything, as I much rather would do it before I beat the game. I’d like to sometime in the future, at least, but man I would have liked to have that along the way.
All in all, I found this game fun. It fell considerably short of what I feel it could have been, though. This game has a fantastic framework, built by very talented developers who clearly have a lot of passion for what they’re doing. I just wish it was a bit more out there with its ideas. I’m optimistic that this game will one day get a sequel, as I feel like they could make something splendid if the team listened to feedback and improved on this game’s shortcomings. I’d still recommend it though, especially if you, or someone you play this with, is new to metroidvanias.
SolMerse
2 months ago