I'm really starting to hate how I can just tell "Ah yes, this is a kickstarter game" the moment I encounter minibosses. Also the backer gallery was placed in the most obnoxious possible pace-breaking position.
Yes the pixel art is stunning, but the actual design of the game here is pretty average to sub-standard imo.
The health regen mechanic trivializes the bulk of the game until the very very end. I was at first willing to recommend this as a newbie friendly metroidvania, but the final boss difficulty spike is totally out of place with the rest of the game.
Also the game is badly written. The scene that supposedly explains the motivation behind why "the curse" was put in place? Total non-sequitur. Am I to believe the entire reason any of this shit happened is because some kid was upset by a painting? What am I not getting here? The scenes read like they were supposed to be revelations but they were incredibly flat "nothings". Characters make vague allusions to undisclosed bullshit and tell each other how they suddenly "understand" and then you're once again off to "wander" down the nearly linear pathways of Talos using your powerups in the exact order and locations that the developers have laid out. There's minimal exploration to be had, though thankfully player movement can feel pretty smooth so its not a total slog.
Sadly there's an entire backend to the campaign after you've acquired every ability (kinda) that does basically nothing to iterate upon 9 Years of Shadows' threadbare game design. This part is just needless padding that I suspect only exists because modern players throw a shitfit if games don't waste enough of their time to delude them into thinking they got their money's worth.
I was initially going to rate this 7/10, but the final sliver of the game sufficiently pissed me off to not do so. The game is fine, but I wanted Mahou Shoujo Super Metroid, not what feels like a middling action platformer with spritework that belongs in a better game. I can't be bothered go hunting for my remaining 6% completion.
The music is good though, I'll give'em that.
Yes the pixel art is stunning, but the actual design of the game here is pretty average to sub-standard imo.
The health regen mechanic trivializes the bulk of the game until the very very end. I was at first willing to recommend this as a newbie friendly metroidvania, but the final boss difficulty spike is totally out of place with the rest of the game.
Also the game is badly written. The scene that supposedly explains the motivation behind why "the curse" was put in place? Total non-sequitur. Am I to believe the entire reason any of this shit happened is because some kid was upset by a painting? What am I not getting here? The scenes read like they were supposed to be revelations but they were incredibly flat "nothings". Characters make vague allusions to undisclosed bullshit and tell each other how they suddenly "understand" and then you're once again off to "wander" down the nearly linear pathways of Talos using your powerups in the exact order and locations that the developers have laid out. There's minimal exploration to be had, though thankfully player movement can feel pretty smooth so its not a total slog.
Sadly there's an entire backend to the campaign after you've acquired every ability (kinda) that does basically nothing to iterate upon 9 Years of Shadows' threadbare game design. This part is just needless padding that I suspect only exists because modern players throw a shitfit if games don't waste enough of their time to delude them into thinking they got their money's worth.
I was initially going to rate this 7/10, but the final sliver of the game sufficiently pissed me off to not do so. The game is fine, but I wanted Mahou Shoujo Super Metroid, not what feels like a middling action platformer with spritework that belongs in a better game. I can't be bothered go hunting for my remaining 6% completion.
The music is good though, I'll give'em that.