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Taiwanese developer Red Candle Games have already proven themselves as one of my favorite indie studios with Detention and Devotion (two horror games I hold in very high regard), and I was especially happy to see them still push forward with their next game despite the nonsense surrounding Devotion’s continued ban from storefronts. Branching out into making a Metroidvania with Sekiro inspired combat no less is quite a shift from their previous works though, and I was very curious to see how a team of their caliber would handle such a different project

Needless to say, very satisfied with it. Nine Sols is fantastic, certainly drawing from the likes of Sekiro’s brutally difficult “parry or die” gameplay but adopting it to a 2D style incredibly well. It stands out on its own by forgoing a direct posture system in favor of its talisman mechanic (where you instead quickly attach bombs earned with parries to enemies), which gets so fun once your skills open up and makes for some of the most entertaining combat I’ve played of these type of games. The bosses in particular are really cool to fight against, initially seeming like insurmountable walls that gradually get more and more manageable as you memorize their patterns, until you can somehow effortlessly flow against their relentless attacks without even thinking. The final boss for the true ending is especially awesome in this regard, honestly one of the most rewarding I’ve fought in recent memory

Beyond just the combat, it further impresses with its unique “Taopunk” world-building and heavier narrative focus that’s a cut above many others in the genre. There’s not many Metroidvanias where I was as invested in the dialogue and characters quite like this one, Yi in particular was endearing as the main protag, and the story surrounding his vengeful path against the “Nine Sols” he once worked with was really interesting to follow, getting surprisingly heartfelt even. The game’s hub, the Four Seasons Pavilion, is nice too in how it encourages you to keep up with the other characters and watch as it changes in appearance the more items you bring to Shuanshuan

The game’s music is great and the handdrawn 2D art/animations for characters and environments is lovely, mixing beautiful aesthetics with grungy underground sci-fi machinery, and using detailed manga style panels for story moments that further add to the excellent presentation

Map exploration was enjoyable too. It’s not really Hollow Knight level in that regard, but has solid variety and was fun to clear out areas looking for chests or optional bosses. Traversal is limited initially but also gets pretty good as you unlock stuff like air dash and double jump for platforming sections. The priority was definitely more towards its combat here, but still well done

This one’s a really short (can be finished in 2-3 hours) but amazingly unique and quirky DLC that’s worth playing if you liked the main game. We get three episodes, which are basically small what if scenarios with the alternate versions of three characters from the Remedyverse (fans of Control and Quantum Break definitely shouldn’t miss this!). I also loved how the three parts are played as if they were episodes in a fictional TV show not unlike the cult classic Twilight Zone.

Just one small advice: don’t let the crazy humor mislead you, the battles can be quite challenging even for veteran Alan Wake gamers! It’s a pity we can’t play as Alan and/or Saga, but otherwise, I can only recommend this to everyone who already played Alan Wake II, one of the best games of 2023.