Very mediocre metroidvania. Game's movement is significantly slower than the Strider series history and even slower than some other Metroidvanias. Combat is also very samey with little in the way of meaningful upgrades to ever change up how you're playing the game beyond the first hour. Even Metroid offers alternative weapon options or bosses that require you to figure out weaknesses whereas this game's bosses are designed like the myriad of bosses you could find in any western developed action game of the time. Presentation also sucks massively for what is a game with such a high concept world and for some god forsaken reason the devs thought this game needed recurring dialogue while playing that covers up the entire bottom fourth of the screen. The game is by all accounts competent, but did not have much going for it in 2014 and sure as fuck has even less going for it in 2022.

The in-game clock tells me I took 7 hours and 14 minutes to beat Strider, but I was playing it for longer if you count the times I left the PS4 on. I ended the game with 80.3% game completion; I got all the upgrades except for one energy refill I missed and all of the gear except for one Plasma Catapult variation. I collected a good portion of the Concept Art and various other small extras, as well.

Personally, I can definitely understand why people see this game as mid or even mediocre, but I had a fun time with it. It was one of the few Metroidvanias where I didn't feel stuck to the point where I needed a guide to know where I am supposed to be going or how to solve a puzzle, though that might say more about my small brain than anything. I enjoyed the climbing mechanic, it was fun being able to grab onto just about any surface and it made for some interesting to reach secrets. I feel that this game might have been better off being a regular hack and slash sidescroller, though; the Metroidvania elements are pretty cool, but I don't think the game would lose much by dropping them. There are various extras littered throughout the maps to incentivize exploration, such as Concept Art, Story Intel, and Costumes, but these felt more like filler to pad out the exploration aspect of the game than rewards I actually wanted to earn. I did enjoy using the costumes but that was just because I love cosmetics in any game.

Mechanically, the game is pretty solid. The controls are responsive, if not a little oversensitive since there were a few times my attacks were angled upwards because I slightly tilted the stick up. I will say that it did crash on me twice in one day, but it wasn't a big deal since turning the PS4 off and then trying later made it to where the issue never happened again. My only real complaints with the mechanics are the awkward controls for using Kunai once you unlock them. I felt like the Kunai sometimes went where I was moving and other times they didn't, I would have liked it better if the Kunai always were thrown where you were facing rather than you having to aim where you throw them with the right stick. I am only complaining about this because I used the Kunai a lot for boss fights and some locked doors require you use Kunai to open them temporarily. Speaking of which...

Bosses were honestly an absolute joke once I got some stamina upgrades. To be entirely fair, I was playing on normal difficulty since I rarely ever go hard mode in games, but you can just spam the super moves you get and bosses drop like flies. Phoenix Flight (if I'm remembering the name correctly) is the first stamina move you get and it wrecks bosses. In the late game, I just spammed the Explosive Kunai and it obliterated bosses easily, especially when paired with occasional use of Phoenix Flight. The most I died to bosses was twice, even the final boss was not very hard.

Overall my opinions on this game are pretty positive, though I did have my gripes with it. I don't plan on revisiting it again, but that's expected at this point since most games don't get me replaying them from the beginning.

After 8 long years, I finally have my first playthrough of STRIDER in the books. I bought this at launch, kept picking it up and putting it down over the years, tried starting new files, etc. etc. etc. and just nothing seemed to stick, but I can finally say after all this time that the game does kick more ass than my mind was letting on all this time.

Now I know this sounds a bit like I'm putting the game down at the jump, but it's far from an indictment of this game's ability to entertain; on the contrary, STRIDER wastes basically no time getting you on your feet and the pacing stays pretty much breakneck throughout. My final time clocked in just short of 5 hours, and even that was with some meandering for items and upgrades. Collectibles range from viewable pieces of concept art, world lore, and additional challenge stages to alternate color palette costumes for the titular Strider Hiryu and actual upgrades that help Hiryu more elegantly dispatch enemies en route to the next objective. It's a decent reason to spend time off-roading, so to speak, and the game will always ensure that players collect anything actually required to finish the critical path.

The moment to moment gameplay is a fast and intense affair, fairly balanced on Normal difficulty, though enemies don't vary much beyond a few main archetypes. It can be somewhat demanding on the hands, as it can require a lot of attack button presses, so I'd highly recommend a controller with a turbo setting for casual play (you will also need to charge your attacks from time to time by holding a button down, so keep that in mind) if you have access to one. It's definitely not as bestiary-focused as some of its genre peers and tends to focus on movement tech over actual combat, but there are a fair few encounters including some of the game's massive bosses to provide a challenge. This is further spiced up by a combat incentive that rewards players for not getting hit by bestowing Hiryu with immense power for a limited time. Visually, it holds up pretty well as a game from the PS3/360 era, with reasonably varied environments and some flashy effects. Music is mostly ambient, though there were some high-energy tracks that got me through some of the more grand set pieces toward the end of the game.

As a Metroidvania, unfortunately, STRIDER's a little bit linear -- most of the game's zones either require a key item obtained from the last area's boss or won't let you proceed without one from the current -- I'd like to see what kind of sequence breaking, if any, is possible but there is specific gating that seems to indicate that linear progression is required. It's not a terrible thing, I think Strider would much more strongly lend itself to speedruns than, say, randomizer content (a rabbit hole I'm currently gearing up to head down) but for anyone looking for the more variable content this one might not be for you.

Overall, STRIDER's pretty solid as an action game, and passable as a metroidvania-style game. Hiryu is such a badass character and it's honestly a little criminal Capcom hasn't set aside the time to get the guy in anything outside of MVC in the last near-decade, but this is a pretty solid game to sit on if any would be his last. I recommend it, even more so when it goes on sale on Steam (which it does fairly often). Kinda unbeatable at a price like $5 USD, but I'd say it's even worth it for the 20 or whatever it's usually offered at.

What an irritating game to play. Dreadful soundtrack when it remembers to play. Horrible scan line effect (?) over the screen that you can't turn off. Everything requires way too many hits. Gravity gimmick messes with your controls. Most annoying final boss I've ever played - that includes the one at the end of Axiom Verge. And just way too easy - neither you nor your enemies do anywhere near enough damage so the whole thing is just incredibly sloppy. Thankfully over in less than 4 hours. My wrist is aching from all the rapid pressing of the attack button you have to do.