SO CLOSE to being a truly great Metroidvania.
I loved a lot about this game, and I think for the developers first outing, it's an absolute achievement. Moving around and platforming in this game is excellent, with some of the most fun movement abilities I've EVER used in a 3D platformer. I loved how quick and snappy everything feels, and the versatile movement abilities led to a couple instances where I had fun sequence breaking the game. Movement is really the star of the show, and it carries the entire game.
The issues I have with the game come from 2 areas: level design and combat. Level design in this game is not necessarily bad, but the world feels a little too samey. I was so sick of seeing the same tile sets and environments over and over again, which was made even worse by the baffling decision to not include a map feature. I probably spent at least an extra hour of my time with the game running in circles because of the lack of a map feature.
Combat is also a low point in the game, due to the fact that it never really feels good. Enemy hit detection is especially really unclear at times, and it leads to a lot of unfair hits. The decision to have heavy attacks make your character drop their weapon is also one of the most infuriating and baffling aspects of this game.
Even with how negative all that sounds, I truly do believe that the movement carries this game. A lot of Pseudoregalia feels amateurish, but I still feel like this developer has a winning formula on their hands if they just work out a few of the kinks.
I feel a potential Pseudoregalia 2 could be a modern day classic.
I loved a lot about this game, and I think for the developers first outing, it's an absolute achievement. Moving around and platforming in this game is excellent, with some of the most fun movement abilities I've EVER used in a 3D platformer. I loved how quick and snappy everything feels, and the versatile movement abilities led to a couple instances where I had fun sequence breaking the game. Movement is really the star of the show, and it carries the entire game.
The issues I have with the game come from 2 areas: level design and combat. Level design in this game is not necessarily bad, but the world feels a little too samey. I was so sick of seeing the same tile sets and environments over and over again, which was made even worse by the baffling decision to not include a map feature. I probably spent at least an extra hour of my time with the game running in circles because of the lack of a map feature.
Combat is also a low point in the game, due to the fact that it never really feels good. Enemy hit detection is especially really unclear at times, and it leads to a lot of unfair hits. The decision to have heavy attacks make your character drop their weapon is also one of the most infuriating and baffling aspects of this game.
Even with how negative all that sounds, I truly do believe that the movement carries this game. A lot of Pseudoregalia feels amateurish, but I still feel like this developer has a winning formula on their hands if they just work out a few of the kinks.
I feel a potential Pseudoregalia 2 could be a modern day classic.