The presentation is fantastic, with some of the nicest spritework I've seen in a while, a nice interface and a fantastic OST. The moment to moment gameplay is great fun and very addictive, trying to go through the courses in as few shots as possible and using the fun powers you get as consumables. It's very satisfying when you pull off a great shot and manage to ace the tricky ass courses the game has. Same goes for bosses, though I only fought one but I loved the feeling of a race against one of the game's charming characters, plus the music was 10/10.
But then it all honestly goes to shit for me due to the game's shoddy roguelike elements. There's a limited number of handcrafted courses that are randomly picked each run, which means that runs start to feel very samey as you start recognizing the courses. There's just very little variety between runs. Each run is also long as fuck due to lengthy levels, which makes failing feel like a complete waste of time since there's very little meta progression. Honestly, the roguelike element makes the game feel miserable to me, so I'm kinda calling it quits after having only beaten the first boss and seeing the kinda shit that awaits me in the next area.
It just would be sooo much better just not being a roguelike. Hell, a more traditional progression system could've potentially had even more replay value, such as by recording how many powers you used and how many shots you needed to beat a stage. Perfectionists would eat it up, trying to outdo themselves, but right now I can't imagine there's any replay value because it seems like a "once and done" game. So the roguelike elements just make the game too punishing without the usual pay off of having high replay value.
I dunno man, it frustrates me because the game is legitimately great except for this one "but", yet it's a massive "but" that ruins the game for me and makes me just decide to play something else. Would be a legit 10/10 for me if it weren't roguelike.
But then it all honestly goes to shit for me due to the game's shoddy roguelike elements. There's a limited number of handcrafted courses that are randomly picked each run, which means that runs start to feel very samey as you start recognizing the courses. There's just very little variety between runs. Each run is also long as fuck due to lengthy levels, which makes failing feel like a complete waste of time since there's very little meta progression. Honestly, the roguelike element makes the game feel miserable to me, so I'm kinda calling it quits after having only beaten the first boss and seeing the kinda shit that awaits me in the next area.
It just would be sooo much better just not being a roguelike. Hell, a more traditional progression system could've potentially had even more replay value, such as by recording how many powers you used and how many shots you needed to beat a stage. Perfectionists would eat it up, trying to outdo themselves, but right now I can't imagine there's any replay value because it seems like a "once and done" game. So the roguelike elements just make the game too punishing without the usual pay off of having high replay value.
I dunno man, it frustrates me because the game is legitimately great except for this one "but", yet it's a massive "but" that ruins the game for me and makes me just decide to play something else. Would be a legit 10/10 for me if it weren't roguelike.