What can I say? This is one of the greatest games ever made, to this day. It does something that most modern metroidvanias don't even do: gives you a sense of progression and makes you feel like you dominate the castle. The graphics are still some of the most beautiful that gaming has to offer, since it came out at the end of the 2D era of gaming. The aesthetic and soundtrack are extremely memorable, to the point where I think the 1700s drip is an integral part of my personality from having played this game at such a young age. The gameplay is stellar, though since it's made in 1997 not as smooth as something like Hollow Knight. This game does, however have some flaws: the leveling system introduces an issue where you're more or less underleveled for the upside down castle if you've played normally, and requires some grinding to beat enemies fairly if you don't want to use exploits, but other than that this is a great game. 10/10, go play it immediately.

Reviewed on Jan 18, 2024


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