GRAB THIS GAME. The only reason I don't five-star this game is because there are some bugs that occasionally surface and at least one was responsible for making me have to die at least once in order to get back to normal progression.
That aside, level design and gameplay are STELLAR. The tower is a behemoth that sprawls upward and about and as you think you have a grasp on the size of the tower, you find that you're only seeing about half of what's actually there.
Secrets abound and you're actively encouraged to poke around. In fact, that's one of the quintessential cornerstones of why this game works -- it implores you to explore to your heart's content. Dying isn't an issue because any currency you build up is spendable on death and none of it is ever lost, even if you choose not to spend it. Worried you're not going to make it to whatever goal location you've got? Just try your best, spend some currency on upgrades after you die, and then come back to it again.
The character swap system is largely fun, though Arias wasn't really worth it to me and I spent most of my time switching between Kyuli (who I mained for her range) and Algus (after he got an ability that I found to be very useful).
Area progression is hypothetically linear, but sometimes getting lost can lead you to some secret areas that let you pick up some more goodies and come back with massive stomping powers as a result.
You could argue that if anything, the game actually gets too easy once you start branching out in different directions after the first boss because it's not difficult to start amassing orbs from a slew of enemies if you're not just actively avoiding them and some of the ability power-ups you find while exploring give you major leverage on both regular monsters and bosses.
Regarding bosses, all of them were fun to me, though as I mentioned before -- there wasn't much challenge after the first one. That's probably on me, but I won't delve into why because it's spoiler territory. Boss patterns are simple to understand and the difficulty in the fights lies largely in how to get the most damage out there without being greedy -- if you don't temper your desire to get a few extra hits in, you will pay the price.
Visually, it's an 8-bit spectacle and the bosses and minibosses are far more entertaining to look at (and fight) than most of the regular monsters.
Music is good, not great -- it's solid adventuring vibes throughout the entire tower, but none of them are specifically sticking with me right now after 100%ing the game.
Content is wonderful. There is a true ending for players who want incentive to strive for 100% bestiary, items, and map collection (the bestiary isn't mandatory, but you may as well if you're on your way!). There are multiple modes of play that are unlocked after beating the game or finding certain secrets/fulfilling certain conditions. Boss Rush and NG+ (which shuffles items and other such things) are some enjoyable staples, but there are others I won't mention here. Beyond the modes of play, there are other secrets that are optional to the main game that also alter the gameplay a bit.
I achieved 100% bestiary, items, and map completion along with the true ending at roughly 16 hours of time. I'd say at least an hour of that was wandering around, maybe two. There's a lot to get lost in, and that's a great thing in this game.
There are two features I'd like to add, but for sake of spoilers, I'll refrain from mentioning one of them. The other feature, however -- it would be nice if you could place markers on your map to indicate your own areas of interest. The game does try to give you a number of useful markers via some upgrades you purchase, but they're not really helpful when trying to figure out if you need a certain character for a certain ability in a room or if you just walked into a room, walked out, and never completed the room. In that respect, this map system could use the Batbarian treatment. Other than that, a little polish and at least for me, this is a 10/10 game. Buy it at full price, it's absolutely worth it at 20 bucks. Over a dozen of hours of fun before even unlocking multiple modes that change the dynamics of the game? ALL DAY, EVERY DAY, I'M THERE FOR IT.
That aside, level design and gameplay are STELLAR. The tower is a behemoth that sprawls upward and about and as you think you have a grasp on the size of the tower, you find that you're only seeing about half of what's actually there.
Secrets abound and you're actively encouraged to poke around. In fact, that's one of the quintessential cornerstones of why this game works -- it implores you to explore to your heart's content. Dying isn't an issue because any currency you build up is spendable on death and none of it is ever lost, even if you choose not to spend it. Worried you're not going to make it to whatever goal location you've got? Just try your best, spend some currency on upgrades after you die, and then come back to it again.
The character swap system is largely fun, though Arias wasn't really worth it to me and I spent most of my time switching between Kyuli (who I mained for her range) and Algus (after he got an ability that I found to be very useful).
Area progression is hypothetically linear, but sometimes getting lost can lead you to some secret areas that let you pick up some more goodies and come back with massive stomping powers as a result.
You could argue that if anything, the game actually gets too easy once you start branching out in different directions after the first boss because it's not difficult to start amassing orbs from a slew of enemies if you're not just actively avoiding them and some of the ability power-ups you find while exploring give you major leverage on both regular monsters and bosses.
Regarding bosses, all of them were fun to me, though as I mentioned before -- there wasn't much challenge after the first one. That's probably on me, but I won't delve into why because it's spoiler territory. Boss patterns are simple to understand and the difficulty in the fights lies largely in how to get the most damage out there without being greedy -- if you don't temper your desire to get a few extra hits in, you will pay the price.
Visually, it's an 8-bit spectacle and the bosses and minibosses are far more entertaining to look at (and fight) than most of the regular monsters.
Music is good, not great -- it's solid adventuring vibes throughout the entire tower, but none of them are specifically sticking with me right now after 100%ing the game.
Content is wonderful. There is a true ending for players who want incentive to strive for 100% bestiary, items, and map collection (the bestiary isn't mandatory, but you may as well if you're on your way!). There are multiple modes of play that are unlocked after beating the game or finding certain secrets/fulfilling certain conditions. Boss Rush and NG+ (which shuffles items and other such things) are some enjoyable staples, but there are others I won't mention here. Beyond the modes of play, there are other secrets that are optional to the main game that also alter the gameplay a bit.
I achieved 100% bestiary, items, and map completion along with the true ending at roughly 16 hours of time. I'd say at least an hour of that was wandering around, maybe two. There's a lot to get lost in, and that's a great thing in this game.
There are two features I'd like to add, but for sake of spoilers, I'll refrain from mentioning one of them. The other feature, however -- it would be nice if you could place markers on your map to indicate your own areas of interest. The game does try to give you a number of useful markers via some upgrades you purchase, but they're not really helpful when trying to figure out if you need a certain character for a certain ability in a room or if you just walked into a room, walked out, and never completed the room. In that respect, this map system could use the Batbarian treatment. Other than that, a little polish and at least for me, this is a 10/10 game. Buy it at full price, it's absolutely worth it at 20 bucks. Over a dozen of hours of fun before even unlocking multiple modes that change the dynamics of the game? ALL DAY, EVERY DAY, I'M THERE FOR IT.