If videogames like Cuphead or Gunstar Heroes are called 'Run and Gun', Alisia Dragoon needs to be called a 'Walk and Gun'.

I see her going at the speed of sound on the title cards before every level, yet the moment they actually start, she just moves as if she were shopping at Target.

Not only that, but the developers had to make her even more stiff by having to press the D-pad twice in the direction you want to go, which more often than not will result in her not being able to react in time and getting hit.

This is also one of those games where everything and everyone can and will hit you; not only do you constantly have to look out for all sorts of hazards, but enemies will attack you before they appear on the screen, while they are on-screen, and even once they disappear from it.

The biggest issue for me, though, is that Alisia has a giant sprite, but enemy projectiles are microscopic; they just get you from all directions without you even noticing; it feels as if you were getting your health bar drained by invisible bacteria.

So, does this game have any redeeming qualities? Well, the music is nice, the graphics are cool, and the Japanese cover art is pretty. So, yeah, there's that.