Art direction is fantastic, with detailed and stylized environments and featuring some deliciously unsettling imagery (you can really see the horror roots of red candle games). The 'taopunk' aesthetic feels both foreign and familiar in a way that keeps things pretty interesting. Also some very memorable music tracks in there.

Gameplay wise, I quite enjoyed the parry based take on a sidescroller metroidvania. The major bosses in particular are overall great, with generally pretty clear movesets that are fun to learn and cool to fight against. However, the exploration and platforming aren't as smooth. Movement feels pretty good, but basic mook enemies can be a bit annoying and not as consistent as the major bosses, which made for some occasional unfair moments. The world design in general was pretty normal fare.

I enjoyed the story more than I expected ! The world presented is interesting and I was curious to learn more about it as I went. The characters are pretty basic but not in a way that's a detriment to the game.

Overall, I really enjoyed this ! The game has it's slow moments, but at its peaks it's a fantastic action sidescroller.

Art direction is fantastic, with detailed and stylized environments and featuring some deliciously unsettling imagery (you can really see the horror roots of red candle games). The 'taopunk' aesthetic feels both foreign and familiar in a way that keeps things pretty interesting. Also some very memorable music tracks in there.

Gameplay wise, I quite enjoyed the parry based take on a sidescroller metroidvania. The major bosses in particular are overall great, with generally pretty clear movesets that are fun to learn and cool to fight against. However, the exploration and platforming aren't as smooth. Movement feels pretty good, but basic mook enemies can be a bit annoying and not as consistent as the major bosses, which made for some occasional unfair moments. The world design in general was pretty normal fare.

I enjoyed the story more than I expected ! The world presented is interesting and I was curious to learn more about it as I went. The characters are pretty basic but not in a way that's a detriment to the game.

Overall, I really enjoyed this ! The game has it's slow moments, but at its peaks it's a fantastic action sidescroller.