This game is bursting with charm and promise. The essence of Smash Bros. is already all there, waiting to be polished and refined years later. Playing this game just makes one happy, you know? Just pick a character, pick a stage, and slap Mario and Pikachu around with a laser sword on Hyrule Castle, as Samus is coming at you with a Hammer. Pure bliss.

I will say that I have a major gripe with this game though, which also permeates Melee: both games forgo any kind of input buffer, rendering them clunky to play. It feels awful, like the game is eating your inputs and not being responsive at all. You essentially have to time all your button presses perfectly if you want to have the best time with this game and frankly, I don't think it's worth the effort. It's baffling too considering some older games have input buffer, no idea why they didn't bother with it for this one and Melee. In that regard, Brawl already feels better to play than both despite having worse gameplay.

All in all, if you want to experience a fun throwback where Smash was more of a concept than the giant hallmark name than it is nowadays, I highly suggest you give this game a try!

I’m a big Zelda fan and Breath of the Wild in particular, and seeing the devs cite this game as one of their inspiration clearly shows when rampaging in the dungeons of Going Under. Combat is exhilarating, players have to think on the spot, time their attack, mind their positioning, make use of various makeshift weaponry, focus on enemies efficiently before taking them down in often hilarious fashion, whether it be burning demons to ashes, squishing goblins with cars or destroying skeletons with giant hammers.

Difficulty-wise, the game doesn’t pull its punches, especially during the second act of the game and in the post-game content. I was surprised to notice that my muscle memory from BotW ported over to this game, which shows the expertise of the dev team in creating a combat system that feels familiar yet wholly original. Post-game content consists of a mode called Impostor Mode whose whole focus is on re-playability and difficulty modifiers, which will get very frantic near the end. I’m happy to report however that Going Under includes a well thought-out Assist Mode, for those who find the game to be too daunting. This Assist Mode still leaves plenty of challenge but makes it a bit easier overall.

The story of this game is surprisingly enthralling: Jackie’s co-workers are all very funny and sadly relatable, the player really ends up caring about them, especially during the second act. The writing is absolutely brilliant, making Going Under one of the funniest game I have ever played. Jokes on start-up culture and witty remarks on the failings of capitalism always land and leave an impact. The game also have a bestiary to complete, the Rolodex. I quite like features like this in games, and the many enemy descriptions in Going Under are one of the highlight of this game's writing.

As for the presentation, the game has a lot of charm. The whole game is stylised after the infamous Alegria corporate art-style, although it manages to make it charming and appealing to the eye. Soundtrack is full of chill beats that make fighting in the dungeons all the more delightful.

I could not recommend this game enough. While it is shorter than most rogue-likes and rogue-lites (it took me around 12 hours to see the credits roll), the game still offers enough re-playability through its Impostor mode. It is a labour of love and care, one that is absolutely hilarious in its gameplay and writing, and it has become one of my favourite rogue-lites ever made.

As someone who tried a lot of RPGs but could seldom finish any of them, this was one of the few that completely hooked me from beginning to end. It does everything right and then some.

Gameplay absolutely shines in this game, where traversal in the overworld is made fun and interesting through contextual movement actions like climbing or jumping, and where battles are riveting, with a combat system that's quite simple but still allows for a bit of depth. Regular attacks are finally given a proper use in a turn-based RPG, where they replenish your MP, and every attack also involves the player, with timed button presses. Combat also includes a weakness system which is a joy to strategise around.

As for presentation, this game is quite simply the best looking pixel-art game I've ever laid my eyes upon. Sprites are brimming with life and are beautifully animated, the real-time lighting system is complex and completely baffles me, I cannot wrap my head around how it works. Both music and sound design are stellar work, with some tunes that'll sweep you off your feet, like The Storm Calls For You, and some sound effects are so satisfying and pleasing to hear, you'll be delighted every time you hear them.

I will not touch upon the story or the characters for spoiler reasons, but apart from the two somewhat boring main protagonists, the cast is lovable and endearing and you'll be left tearing up at some of the events that happen to them.

Overall, I cannot recommend this game enough, it ticks every box for me, and just when I thought it lacked difficulty, they added more difficulty modifiers in a post-launch update that left me wondering if the game had any flaw at all. Absolute masterpiece in my eyes.