I initially overlooked this game seeing it as an Etrian Odyssey game with worse gameplay. However, after learning how to like mystery dungeon games, I came back to this title and really enjoyed playing it. Etrian Odyssey games have a fundemental amount of chill baked into them, and the mystery dungeon formula complements this well.

Then, a good ways into one of the game's dungeons, my party died. I did the only natural thing to do and restarted the game to load my previous save. I then learned how cruel/punishing the game is with its autosaves. Upon loading my game, I found that the game had removed all my items, money, and equipment that I had worked so hard to obtain. It was at this point that I realized the game's chill was a mere facade.

This was actually a terrifyingly, threateningly cruel game that I should be afraid of playing. The difficulty crept as optimized movement and party awareness became a requirement. Previous dungeons were farmed and re-farmed to replenish my supply of consumables that can only be obtained in dungeons which I desperately needed to survive wave upon wave of monster houses, large explosion traps, teleport traps, cursed items, and ailment after ailment.

...Then I learned how to break the game and it became chill again.

Silhouette Mirage gives player agency and player-controlled pacing in such a unique way that I haven't experienced in any other run'n'gun/shoot 'em up game. The mechanics of the game are equally straightforward and brain-bendy: face one direction to fire red bullets; face the other direction to fire blue bullets; red bullets beat blue enemies; blue bullets beat red enemies.

Its difficulty curve is deviously unfurled as you build comfort in its controls and learn the nuances of the continue system. You are naturally led to learn these nuances by seeking out all of the game's endings. You are motivated to seek out these endings due to the game's involved, Xenosagian, Sin&Punishmentesque narrative wrapped in an approachable Saturday morning cartoon veneer. The game is hilarious. And it makes no sense. What the heck is up with this game! It's pretty darn fun though.

"Maybe I can play through this area without losing as much health this time... Maybe I can fight this boss without using a continue... Maybe I should focus on reflecting more than attacking... I wonder if it's better to be right-facing blue rather than red here... "

These thoughts end up coming naturally in the subsequent playthroughs and help unpack the matryoshkian layers of difficulty to the point where a level of unasked-for mastery has now been obtained and a certain "why not" attitude has been taken upon in seeking out all that the game has to offer.

Also, the soundtrack is a real banger.

Cuphead is the perfect introduction to the shoot-em-up genre. The game is difficult but has some of the best tutorialization within the boss fights that makes for a smooth difficulty curve - with a few deliberate outliers. As long as you are open to having a good time with the game and learn from what each boss fight is trying to teach you (where to have your eyes/periphery focused, spatial positioning, etc.), Cuphead delivers a very rewarding experience that will give you the tools to not only master its own game, but you will be well-equipped to dive head first into the shoot-em-up/run-n-gun genre as a whole.

I do think there are some tools the game gives you that allow you to bypass what the game is trying to teach you entirely. This can make for some frustration and a disjointed difficulty curve if you were relying more on these tools in the early game. I believe that each boss was designed with the basic gun and movement options in mind (at least in the first two worlds). I would personally recommend sticking with these basic tools until you are feeling more confident with the game's mechanics. Then you can get weird with it.

The single-player mode is a very catered and balanced experience. Co-op is more difficult but somehow even more fun with the added chaos.