Everything I like about base Cuphead, polished and cleaned up. Lessons have been learned, gameplay has been tightened even further, animation has gotten even stronger, the references are even more clever and naturally baked into everything.
"The King's Leap" in particular is a GREAT way to change up combat. Tying progression to the parry system is a fun way to suggest the fights as friendly challenges with lower stakes. It also has a lot of cascading effects for how each of the mini-fights read, the more defensive focus giving it almost a Punch-Out sort of vibe - never a bad thing in my book.
Also, I love love love Ms. Chalice. She's easier to play, but she's not a strict easy mode; you're instead playing an entirely different game with her. The effect of bringing her back into the main game is a little like if you could play Dixie Kong in Donkey Kong Country 1 - she makes it easier in some ways, but she doesn't absolutely demolish the game, since it's designed around abilities she doesn't possess. Sometimes I prefer Smoke Bomb or Cuphead/Mugsy's offensive Super Arts to Ms. Chalice's dodge-roll and more defensive Super Arts.
My one complaint is that it's over and done with so quickly, but this is a DLC campaign, not a standalone title - perfectly fine to have it as a quick expansion to the rest of the game. Things like replaying the base game with Ms. Chalice, finding all the secrets that have been added into the fights, and the Broken Relic add a good amount of longevity to this, too.
"The King's Leap" in particular is a GREAT way to change up combat. Tying progression to the parry system is a fun way to suggest the fights as friendly challenges with lower stakes. It also has a lot of cascading effects for how each of the mini-fights read, the more defensive focus giving it almost a Punch-Out sort of vibe - never a bad thing in my book.
Also, I love love love Ms. Chalice. She's easier to play, but she's not a strict easy mode; you're instead playing an entirely different game with her. The effect of bringing her back into the main game is a little like if you could play Dixie Kong in Donkey Kong Country 1 - she makes it easier in some ways, but she doesn't absolutely demolish the game, since it's designed around abilities she doesn't possess. Sometimes I prefer Smoke Bomb or Cuphead/Mugsy's offensive Super Arts to Ms. Chalice's dodge-roll and more defensive Super Arts.
My one complaint is that it's over and done with so quickly, but this is a DLC campaign, not a standalone title - perfectly fine to have it as a quick expansion to the rest of the game. Things like replaying the base game with Ms. Chalice, finding all the secrets that have been added into the fights, and the Broken Relic add a good amount of longevity to this, too.