Ugh. One of the most frustrating 6/10s I've ever given to a video game.
Presentationally, it's very capable. Art style and soundtrack are nice. But man can this game get frustrating, and not always for the good reasons. Enemy design is just bad. Most of them are annoying little things where the counterplay is just boring. Bosses aren't great, either.
But the most frustratingly straightforward problem is the controls. Double tap to dash? Tap forward to parry? It's nightmarish. I assume the developers wanted to emulate the NES feel by only using two face buttons, but it only drags the game down.
Also, the story is painfully generic, but this isn't a big deal, considering the type of game it's supposed to be. I just wish the game didn't make as much of a big deal of it as it does.
Overall, this game feels like a wasted opportunity, because it has all the right ingredients for a platformer with great flow, but it's squandered by suboptimal controls and poor enemy design. In the end, it just makes me wish I was replaying The Messenger again.
Presentationally, it's very capable. Art style and soundtrack are nice. But man can this game get frustrating, and not always for the good reasons. Enemy design is just bad. Most of them are annoying little things where the counterplay is just boring. Bosses aren't great, either.
But the most frustratingly straightforward problem is the controls. Double tap to dash? Tap forward to parry? It's nightmarish. I assume the developers wanted to emulate the NES feel by only using two face buttons, but it only drags the game down.
Also, the story is painfully generic, but this isn't a big deal, considering the type of game it's supposed to be. I just wish the game didn't make as much of a big deal of it as it does.
Overall, this game feels like a wasted opportunity, because it has all the right ingredients for a platformer with great flow, but it's squandered by suboptimal controls and poor enemy design. In the end, it just makes me wish I was replaying The Messenger again.