It's not a terrible game, but there are some unpleasant components to it.
What's good?
-- Once you acquire the power-ups, there are two different gun modifications that feel really smooth.
-- I think that's it.
What's average?
-- Level design is somewhere between okay and bad depending on where you are. Save points are located in precarious places in relation to teleporters, so for most of the game, expect to do some awkward backtracking sometimes (especially the forest, which is annoying to slog through when you're trying to figure out what you're missing next).
-- Basic enemies. They're fine, they have enough behaviors and variety for a short game that they don't wear out their welcome in parts.
-- Exploration. It's a Metroidvania, so it's what you're here for (along with bosses), and this game has a decent number of power-ups waiting around corners or past bosses for you to enjoy and use to overcome gating.
What's bad?
-- Boss design isn't great. One boss you'll end up fighting three times and with only marginal differences between each iteration, and then four other bosses that vary between pushovers and annoying because of certain power-ups you won't have yet. Regardless, none of them are challenging.
-- The climbing power-up. This is a two-fold issue, because being able to basically go almost anywhere is nice, but the real problem is that the areas designed specifically around using it are designed poorly to be an exercise in frustration. Moreover, if you touch a wall, you cling immediately and if you jump off, even if you have double-jump, your jump off isn't long or high, so you essentially lose about half-a-jump of distance. The sticking to walls when you don't want to is especially annoying.
-- Cryptic information regarding keys. This is an optional part of the game, but there are some keys you can try and find to get access to a walled off area. The clues for these are bad. One suggests that the area you're in changes, but it turns out the clue is to tell you that you just need to walk in and out of the room several times for the key to appear. Another says it's near a save point, but the phrasing of the clue made me think it was in one of a couple save points that were in a completely different location.
-- Indestructible enemies. Hazards like the electro ball, I get. Bonefish and the tank? Why? They behave just like other stuff, why can't you kill them?
-- The interface in general. It's hard to really tell how you're doing with picking up power-ups and the pause menu has a decent map, but there's no markers on it, so you better remember everywhere you've been (and you WILL wander).
-- The gusting wind bits where you have to ride wind up in order to reach certain areas. These things were very finicky and resulted in me crashing back into hazards a lot.
Bottom line:
The game is already available on the cheap and it's an okay Metroidvania, so if you don't want to pull the trigger on it at full price, wait for a sale. You might get about 3-4 hours out of it if you take your time and wander around as much as I did.
What's good?
-- Once you acquire the power-ups, there are two different gun modifications that feel really smooth.
-- I think that's it.
What's average?
-- Level design is somewhere between okay and bad depending on where you are. Save points are located in precarious places in relation to teleporters, so for most of the game, expect to do some awkward backtracking sometimes (especially the forest, which is annoying to slog through when you're trying to figure out what you're missing next).
-- Basic enemies. They're fine, they have enough behaviors and variety for a short game that they don't wear out their welcome in parts.
-- Exploration. It's a Metroidvania, so it's what you're here for (along with bosses), and this game has a decent number of power-ups waiting around corners or past bosses for you to enjoy and use to overcome gating.
What's bad?
-- Boss design isn't great. One boss you'll end up fighting three times and with only marginal differences between each iteration, and then four other bosses that vary between pushovers and annoying because of certain power-ups you won't have yet. Regardless, none of them are challenging.
-- The climbing power-up. This is a two-fold issue, because being able to basically go almost anywhere is nice, but the real problem is that the areas designed specifically around using it are designed poorly to be an exercise in frustration. Moreover, if you touch a wall, you cling immediately and if you jump off, even if you have double-jump, your jump off isn't long or high, so you essentially lose about half-a-jump of distance. The sticking to walls when you don't want to is especially annoying.
-- Cryptic information regarding keys. This is an optional part of the game, but there are some keys you can try and find to get access to a walled off area. The clues for these are bad. One suggests that the area you're in changes, but it turns out the clue is to tell you that you just need to walk in and out of the room several times for the key to appear. Another says it's near a save point, but the phrasing of the clue made me think it was in one of a couple save points that were in a completely different location.
-- Indestructible enemies. Hazards like the electro ball, I get. Bonefish and the tank? Why? They behave just like other stuff, why can't you kill them?
-- The interface in general. It's hard to really tell how you're doing with picking up power-ups and the pause menu has a decent map, but there's no markers on it, so you better remember everywhere you've been (and you WILL wander).
-- The gusting wind bits where you have to ride wind up in order to reach certain areas. These things were very finicky and resulted in me crashing back into hazards a lot.
Bottom line:
The game is already available on the cheap and it's an okay Metroidvania, so if you don't want to pull the trigger on it at full price, wait for a sale. You might get about 3-4 hours out of it if you take your time and wander around as much as I did.