Precision platforming in a Metroidvania sounds like an odd and interesting mix, but I'm not entirely sure it works out here. The platforming challenges themselves are mostly sound, but dying feels really painful in this game when the space between two save points can feel huge. Especially since there's often hard bosses far away from save points as well. And despite its nature as a Metroidvania, loads of areas can only be progressed through in a linear way anyways. Imagine if Celeste were built like a Metroidvania without each screen being its own checkpoint, and make of that what you will.
These extra-hard platforming bits also feel really lacking in terms of rewards. Sometimes you'll get something worthwhile like an entire optional power-up, but most of the time you're trying to get through Hurtbox Hell without taking a single hit of damage just for an extension of 10 max HP. By lategame, this hardly means anything when 10 HP is 1/12th of a hit. These Don't-Take-Damage challenges taking on another layer of frustration when ghosts can randomly turn up in most rooms you enter, including these platforming challenges, where they can just swiftly ruin a good run.
That said, its style is really charming and it's a game that's far from afraid of being unexplainably obtuse in terms of aesthetics. Why is there a white abstract void in the middle of the ocean? Beats me! But it's there! It's a game that feels lovingly homebrew, if nothing else. I enjoyed my time with it overall, despite the issues. And ultimately 100% is far from required for a good time, there are some things you can still use the HP system to brute-force certain challenges that don't require getting past a Full-HP gate. Just simply put, I prefer it when "Ultra-Hard" games in the same flavor of this like Meatboy or Celeste, I'd much rather have generous checkpointing to keep me from getting bored of segments I've already played.
These extra-hard platforming bits also feel really lacking in terms of rewards. Sometimes you'll get something worthwhile like an entire optional power-up, but most of the time you're trying to get through Hurtbox Hell without taking a single hit of damage just for an extension of 10 max HP. By lategame, this hardly means anything when 10 HP is 1/12th of a hit. These Don't-Take-Damage challenges taking on another layer of frustration when ghosts can randomly turn up in most rooms you enter, including these platforming challenges, where they can just swiftly ruin a good run.
That said, its style is really charming and it's a game that's far from afraid of being unexplainably obtuse in terms of aesthetics. Why is there a white abstract void in the middle of the ocean? Beats me! But it's there! It's a game that feels lovingly homebrew, if nothing else. I enjoyed my time with it overall, despite the issues. And ultimately 100% is far from required for a good time, there are some things you can still use the HP system to brute-force certain challenges that don't require getting past a Full-HP gate. Just simply put, I prefer it when "Ultra-Hard" games in the same flavor of this like Meatboy or Celeste, I'd much rather have generous checkpointing to keep me from getting bored of segments I've already played.