A fascinating Zelda-like/shmup game that, despite being really fun, struggles to have as much content as it wants to.
On its surface, a Zelda-like with shmup dungeons is a very interesting idea, and it is a fun time: the game features a pretty sizable overworld with tons of weapons and some upgrades, but it plays its hand far too early.
The real strength of this game is ease of play. Despite being an NES game, it's got a really good map, and its translation is very solid. As far as I can tell there's no penalty for death, and enemies LOVE to drop health for you (even bosses often shoot destroyable projectiles that can drop items for you). It does feel like a game from further into the future with how it prioritizes fun over weird insurmountable challenge that most NES games thrived on.
However, even if it's quite short, I feel like it can't offer you enougg, as it eventually becomes really formulaic. You go to a new area, find two corridors (double-digit and single-digit ones), where the latter has some sort of lock which you open thanks to the clue you receive somewhere nearby. Single-digit "corridors" are usually tougher but provide progression keys, while double-digits will usually contain power-ups.
The unfortunate part is that by mid-game you'll pretty much see everything the game has to offer. You'll get all the weapons (which, granted, you can upgrade by finding more copies) and will see most of the bosses. If it had 2-3 more zones I doubt I would've finished it, as by the end I was really getting bored: overworld became linear, started featuring enemies that were way too tanky, and rewards would usually contain consumables.
Still, it's a fun game to play for a few evenings, but I wish it was more varied as it loses its charm quite quickly.
On its surface, a Zelda-like with shmup dungeons is a very interesting idea, and it is a fun time: the game features a pretty sizable overworld with tons of weapons and some upgrades, but it plays its hand far too early.
The real strength of this game is ease of play. Despite being an NES game, it's got a really good map, and its translation is very solid. As far as I can tell there's no penalty for death, and enemies LOVE to drop health for you (even bosses often shoot destroyable projectiles that can drop items for you). It does feel like a game from further into the future with how it prioritizes fun over weird insurmountable challenge that most NES games thrived on.
However, even if it's quite short, I feel like it can't offer you enougg, as it eventually becomes really formulaic. You go to a new area, find two corridors (double-digit and single-digit ones), where the latter has some sort of lock which you open thanks to the clue you receive somewhere nearby. Single-digit "corridors" are usually tougher but provide progression keys, while double-digits will usually contain power-ups.
The unfortunate part is that by mid-game you'll pretty much see everything the game has to offer. You'll get all the weapons (which, granted, you can upgrade by finding more copies) and will see most of the bosses. If it had 2-3 more zones I doubt I would've finished it, as by the end I was really getting bored: overworld became linear, started featuring enemies that were way too tanky, and rewards would usually contain consumables.
Still, it's a fun game to play for a few evenings, but I wish it was more varied as it loses its charm quite quickly.