It's a short metroidvania that really aims to capture NES era nostalgia. Its systems are simple. No shops, no complex inventory or skills or charms or equipment, just a stick and three spells. There's quite a bit of exploration that's gated by only these three spells, and it's even possible to sequence break (though I haven't done it).
When this game lands, it's really fun. There are some really tight platforming areas that take some puzzle solving and dexterity to complete. Optional orbs are scattered around the world (which is decently fun to explore) and all they do is damage bosses at the beginning of fights so it doesn't feel bad to skip any, though some are hidden behind those clever puzzles and platforming areas and are just fun to get.
The combat is... serviceable? It's simple with only a short range attack, a long range spell, and a defensive spell, though in boss fights it does create some puzzle solving since spells share the same cooldown. Some bosses are laughably easy, while some have frustrating screen-filling attacks that you need to position perfectly to block/avoid. It's not anything super spectacular, but it's... okay.
The difficulty curve, punishing restarts, and infrequent save points are the most problematic parts of the game and where this game really slips. The nostalgia unfortunately includes difficulty, and there are areas in the middle of the game where all of a sudden you have a room that's just a wall. Without turning on assist mode (which lets you respawn in the same room instead of a save point 5 rooms back) the game gets incredibly frustrating sometimes. If you moved faster in general or if there was more room for mistakes (you have 3 hp for the entire game and most platforming mistakes are instant kills) it would be fine with save point only respawns, but as is it's just not fun.
Anyway, this is a nice bite sized treat if you like metroidvanias. I am looking forward to playing the sequel which moves to the 16-bit era aesthetic and with it hopefully some QoL improvements.
When this game lands, it's really fun. There are some really tight platforming areas that take some puzzle solving and dexterity to complete. Optional orbs are scattered around the world (which is decently fun to explore) and all they do is damage bosses at the beginning of fights so it doesn't feel bad to skip any, though some are hidden behind those clever puzzles and platforming areas and are just fun to get.
The combat is... serviceable? It's simple with only a short range attack, a long range spell, and a defensive spell, though in boss fights it does create some puzzle solving since spells share the same cooldown. Some bosses are laughably easy, while some have frustrating screen-filling attacks that you need to position perfectly to block/avoid. It's not anything super spectacular, but it's... okay.
The difficulty curve, punishing restarts, and infrequent save points are the most problematic parts of the game and where this game really slips. The nostalgia unfortunately includes difficulty, and there are areas in the middle of the game where all of a sudden you have a room that's just a wall. Without turning on assist mode (which lets you respawn in the same room instead of a save point 5 rooms back) the game gets incredibly frustrating sometimes. If you moved faster in general or if there was more room for mistakes (you have 3 hp for the entire game and most platforming mistakes are instant kills) it would be fine with save point only respawns, but as is it's just not fun.
Anyway, this is a nice bite sized treat if you like metroidvanias. I am looking forward to playing the sequel which moves to the 16-bit era aesthetic and with it hopefully some QoL improvements.