9 Years of Shadows strongest point is the instantly alluring style. Beautiful pixel art and during gameplay and cutscenes bring a unique world to life. Playing it is also really great with fluid motion and movement chains that combine your power seamlessly, it is a bit on the linear side though.
Metroidvanias have this sweet spot when you feel just lost enough to give you the sense of discovery and exploration, but not too lost that it is frustrating. I think this game doesn't quite reach the level of feeling lost that I would say is satisfying to explore, you'll mostly find roadblocks in a sector that you'll overcome with the power found in that sector, and move on to the next area.
Considering that, the game is still extremely compelling and the ideas here are just fresh enough to give you a great journey with a few surprises and amazing visuals.
Note: At release on PC the game crashed constantly, it is now at a mostly stable state. The dev team is still working on it and your experience may vary, but I could play and 100% it with mostly no problems at the moment.
Metroidvanias have this sweet spot when you feel just lost enough to give you the sense of discovery and exploration, but not too lost that it is frustrating. I think this game doesn't quite reach the level of feeling lost that I would say is satisfying to explore, you'll mostly find roadblocks in a sector that you'll overcome with the power found in that sector, and move on to the next area.
Considering that, the game is still extremely compelling and the ideas here are just fresh enough to give you a great journey with a few surprises and amazing visuals.
Note: At release on PC the game crashed constantly, it is now at a mostly stable state. The dev team is still working on it and your experience may vary, but I could play and 100% it with mostly no problems at the moment.