I really enjoyed my time with Lone Fungus. I still have some more things to do (100%, other difficulties) but I think I have enough of an informed opinion after getting 2 endings to review it.
The game is inspired by Hollow Knight heavily, and it wears that on its sleeve. You can see it everywhere from how the magic system works (hit enemies with sword to get energy to heal and cast spells) and how the basic sword attacks work. However, writing this game off as a Hollow Knight ripoff is doing it a major disservice.
The main thing that sets Lone Fungus apart from other Metroidvanias I've played is the complex movement system. You unlock a variety of ways to platform and get around the world faster in Lone Fungus, which gives it a unique feel compared to other Metroidvanias. The complex movement system really helps compliment the exploration and non linearity of Lone Fungus as well. Due to the he various types of maneuvers you can pull off, it makes you seriously question if you did something before you were supposed to or not; which I think is a good quality for an exploration game like this to have. I will say that when the game really wants to test your platforming capabilities in the Astral Gates or some of the other challenges strewn about it can be annoying but if you dislike them that much they're mostly (if not all) optional.
I mentioned it earlier but the non-linearity in this game really is one of its strongsuits. I'd say I don't like exploring the world quite as much as I do something like Hollow Knight or Super Metroid, as admittedly there aren't many interesting setpieces across the world like there are in those games. That being said though, Lone Fungus does have many power ups scattered around both mandatory for completion and optional, which makes it worth your time. I can understand how someone could find the lack of direction frustrating, but like, you chose to play a Metroidvania. Isn't getting lost the point?
I'm bad at writing conclusions but basically Lone Fungus is just a good Metroidvania with more focus on platforming than you'd typically expect that I'd recommend to anyone who's into or wants to get into the genre.

Reviewed on Apr 02, 2023


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