System: Windows PC
Rating: 74/100
Playtime: ~4 Hours

Initially drawn to Strayed Lights by the aesthetic, I'm glad to say that that held up throughout. The boss fights are also the standouts here, all of them unique with their own formulas, even including some perspective shifts. Unfortunately, the rest of the game felt shallow and didn't have much more to offer. The combat system was fun, but barebones, not evolving at all throughout the game. The enemy selection was also pretty limited. Eventually I got tired of seeing the same enemy and just ran passed to get to the next boss. The game is pretty short, which may have helped it not get too repetitive. For $25 it's a tough recommendation, but on sale or part of a bundle I'd definitely recommend it if the screenshots look interesting to you.

an asura's wrath without the substance to be an asura's wrath

this game takes a lot of inspiration from that one god capcom game, meaning that most of the cool stuff will be done in QTE and cutscenes, meanwhile youre playing simon says through the entire game, the combat is done through blocking correct colors to both give damage and heal damage but it gets boring so fast, not because its easy but because its the only thing you will do through the entire game, even if it short it will still feel like it drags.
there are some weird bugs like geometry clutching you, enemies throwing you off the map, fall death in like 1 feet from the floor because thats where the character is supposed to die (?)
my biggest grip is that in the cutscenes and QTE youre making 2 extra arms to fight a giant monkey, bodymorphing to match the strenght of a giant gorilla, fighting light with darkness while in game youre just matching colors at the right time, by god it gets dull.
because enemies are designed to always hit you unless you parry, you often see enemies do a quick 190 turn to hit you even if you used the dodge, there is an attack button but it does so little damage compared to defending the right color, it might as well only be there to remind you that parrying is the only thing you should go for in this game, at some point i just ran past enemies to get to the boss fight because all the enemies do is increase game lenght of something that already feeling dull.
it has visuals going for it i'll give it that, its a shame i didn't like it as i went on because it has some amazing designs, cute visuals and a nice non-vocal storytelling.
i specially love the design of the bosses and their attacks, its a shame all the fight revolves around is color matching parrying.

Short and sweet, although the length seems due to the combat, while very fun and rewarding, not having much depth to it. This feels almost like a prototype for this kind of combat, as it's pretty enjoyable, but everything else lacks meat on its bones.

There's little combat customization, the skill tree appears to be the solution but it's so small and the changes aren't drastic enough to warrant being called customization.

The story definitely existed, and while I enjoyed the moment-to-moment story beats of helping the siblings and overcoming their fears, the overarching narrative was vague and uninteresting.

The boss fights are where the game shines, very much akin to soulslike-designs, although much more forgiving. Predicting their patterns and parrying their hits is satisfying, and the addition of the trials mode makes mastering those fights a lot of fun. The challenge mode was a little too much for me, those purple attacks that must be dodged just throw me off too much, but I'm glad its an option for those that want even more out of the game. But again, because of the lack of combat depth, it's just about mastering the very simple system, rather than experimentation, which is somewhat disappointing.

It is a gorgeous game, the usage of color is great and I especially liked the illusory garden area. I also appreciate the spectacle of the fights mixed with this art style, it's exactly what I love about flashy action.

Overall, a good core gameplay loop, but needed way more depth in other areas to be really great.