I put this game down for a long while after it left GamePass, but I enjoyed it enough to pick it up for myself. I really loved this one!
Artistically this game knocks it out of the park for me. It's bright, poppy, and so full of flair and charm. I love how every character is made up of these cute simple shapes and designs, almost like Muppets. Every environment feels so different even during the revisits in the latter half of the game. Music is such a vibe. "9:01 am" is one of my personal favorites, and the final boss music goes insane. Truly a treat to see and hear from start to finish.

The actual rougelike elements of the game are simple; combat is as well. There are a number of different weapon types, but for the most part they're all either swinging something or shooting something. Some are big, some are small, and they have different attributes based on their size. The game is split into 3 levels, each based on different startup companies. Every area has their own sets of enemies and weapons, so they offer different challenges. Each level is a set of 3 floors and a 4th boss floor. Along the way you pick up different upgrades called "Perks." Sometimes these things are super helpful, like making 2 handed weapons swing like 1 handed weapons, and some of the later ones are even better. The choices mesh well with the Mentor mechanic. Each member of Fizzle has a number of quests for to do, leading to their mentorship. These give even MORE upgrades, and can really change how you approach floors.

I'm definitely going to come back to this one to take on Impostor mode and unlock the last of the perks, but this was one hell of a time. It's quirky, funny, tough, and has tons of replay value. I highly recommend this one!

Pseudoregalia is incredibly fun when you get the hang of it. For me, it took a bit to get the game under my thumbs but there were moments of fluidity that felt amazing. The sense of growth in the short playtime this game comes with is quick and rewarding.

There were times where I felt the game was fighting against me or was a bit clunky controlwise. Ledge grabs felt inconsistent, combat was a bit wonky, but it worked for the most part. The actual metroid-vania aspect of this game isn't handled very well, in my opinion. While the moveset you get is varied and interesting, the lack of a proper map system and areas that all look and feel the same leads to tons of running in circles and rechecking rooms. Something as simple as a marker on the map that indicates that something is in the room would've helped a ton (which is why most other games in this genre do this). The most frustrating parts of this game are when you feel like you have very little direction, because you find yourself running through the same small corridors repeatedly. On the topic of the small corridors, the camera does not agree with a lot of this game's geometry. I understand cameras in a 3D space are hard to work around, but it seemed that in most cases areas were either far to tightly packed and hard to navigate (Underbelly) or so big I couldn't see what was next (Theater, Bailey). Trying to navigate these tight spaces with minimal vison was mildly frustrating, and happened fairly often for me.

I really wanted to love this game after hearing all the fanfare, but I just think it's pretty good. Maybe it's a skill issue, but my time with this game was pretty rocky.