Razalhague
I disliked the combat, felt the story was simplistic and heavy-handed, and hated the chase sequences.
The saving grace is the bash ability. It's also pretty and the non-chase platforming is decent.
The saving grace is the bash ability. It's also pretty and the non-chase platforming is decent.
2020
This review contains spoilers
Overall it's a good game. There's a decent amount of things in here that I disliked to varying degrees, but I couldn't call any of them straight up bad, just a matter of taste.
Most notably, many of the areas were too gimmicky and linear for me, not much room for exploration.
Using orbs to unlock spell upgrades was an interesting experiment, but by the end of the game I'd come to resent the mechanic. Once I got to around 20 orbs and could see what all the upgrades were, they turned from a source of excitement into a hassle since I couldn't afford to have them all enabled at once. So when I saw a spot where I'd have to use them, I usually headed back to town, re-allocated orbs, and then come back to the spot. Another problem was that I often forgot about the upgrades because they didn't get the "here's a place with a bunch of challenges involving that power" treatment. Also, I ended up accidentally bypassing some puzzles/platforming sections with the upgrades.
The rechargeable abilities were pretty underwhelming, only the teleport felt like a proper ability that saw use outside of the one dungeon where I got it. I forgot the time-stop ability after finishing the dungeon where it was mandatory, and the spinning orbs ability I forgot immediately after getting it. I used the spike-protection ability the most, but it still felt unnecessary. Also, I was very annoyed that there were insta-kill spikes in the game that it didn't protect you from.
I think the game could've been a lot better if they'd just cut down the number of powers/upgrades and put more focus on the remaining ones. Also, I vastly prefer finding my abilities over purchasing them.
Most notably, many of the areas were too gimmicky and linear for me, not much room for exploration.
Using orbs to unlock spell upgrades was an interesting experiment, but by the end of the game I'd come to resent the mechanic. Once I got to around 20 orbs and could see what all the upgrades were, they turned from a source of excitement into a hassle since I couldn't afford to have them all enabled at once. So when I saw a spot where I'd have to use them, I usually headed back to town, re-allocated orbs, and then come back to the spot. Another problem was that I often forgot about the upgrades because they didn't get the "here's a place with a bunch of challenges involving that power" treatment. Also, I ended up accidentally bypassing some puzzles/platforming sections with the upgrades.
The rechargeable abilities were pretty underwhelming, only the teleport felt like a proper ability that saw use outside of the one dungeon where I got it. I forgot the time-stop ability after finishing the dungeon where it was mandatory, and the spinning orbs ability I forgot immediately after getting it. I used the spike-protection ability the most, but it still felt unnecessary. Also, I was very annoyed that there were insta-kill spikes in the game that it didn't protect you from.
I think the game could've been a lot better if they'd just cut down the number of powers/upgrades and put more focus on the remaining ones. Also, I vastly prefer finding my abilities over purchasing them.
A fun little co-op game. Biggest downside is that some levels were not well designed for three people.
2021
Amazing. Best enjoyed by going in blind.
2023
This review contains spoilers
Not as good as the first, but still a very good game. My biggest complaints are the linearity of the second half and the difficulty spike near the end.
I do like some changes to the first game, like no insta-kill pits or spikes, and better build variety. Each of the three weapons has a different play style, and I think there's more meaningful choices in the equippable items.
But some changes I do not like. I feel the new art style of the cinematics clashes with actual game's style. Exploration doesn't feel as good, particularly in the second half where entire areas just pop into existence once you're done with the previous area.
SPOILER WARNING from here onwards.
The atmosphere feels worse as well. In B1, I liked how the ways of the Miracle were mysterious and inexplicable. Things seem much more straightforward in B2. Take Anunciada for example. She fills a similar role to Deogracias, but where he was just a scholar afflicted by the Miracle, she is some sort of divine being. A divine being in a Blasphemous game, I expected there to be more to her, a connection to the Miracle perhaps, some hidden motives maybe. But nope, she's just a straight up good guy exposition machine. She just doesn't feel well integrated into the world.
Expanding on Eviterno The Difficulty Spike, I think the problem is that he invalidates too many playstyles. You can't riposte, a lot of prayers won't hit because he's too fast, a lot of attacks won't hit him without you getting hit in return. There just aren't that many viable strats against him, and I think this is a significant problem in a game that promotes build variety.
Comparing the two games might be a bit unfair as I didn't play B1 until it had already received all of its post-release content, while I played B2 at launch. But it doesn't seem like any post-release content for B2 would address my complaints.
Even though this review has been mostly about the negative aspects, I want to reiterate that I still liked the game a lot.
I do like some changes to the first game, like no insta-kill pits or spikes, and better build variety. Each of the three weapons has a different play style, and I think there's more meaningful choices in the equippable items.
But some changes I do not like. I feel the new art style of the cinematics clashes with actual game's style. Exploration doesn't feel as good, particularly in the second half where entire areas just pop into existence once you're done with the previous area.
SPOILER WARNING from here onwards.
The atmosphere feels worse as well. In B1, I liked how the ways of the Miracle were mysterious and inexplicable. Things seem much more straightforward in B2. Take Anunciada for example. She fills a similar role to Deogracias, but where he was just a scholar afflicted by the Miracle, she is some sort of divine being. A divine being in a Blasphemous game, I expected there to be more to her, a connection to the Miracle perhaps, some hidden motives maybe. But nope, she's just a straight up good guy exposition machine. She just doesn't feel well integrated into the world.
Expanding on Eviterno The Difficulty Spike, I think the problem is that he invalidates too many playstyles. You can't riposte, a lot of prayers won't hit because he's too fast, a lot of attacks won't hit him without you getting hit in return. There just aren't that many viable strats against him, and I think this is a significant problem in a game that promotes build variety.
Comparing the two games might be a bit unfair as I didn't play B1 until it had already received all of its post-release content, while I played B2 at launch. But it doesn't seem like any post-release content for B2 would address my complaints.
Even though this review has been mostly about the negative aspects, I want to reiterate that I still liked the game a lot.
2019
Overall I liked the game, biggest complaints are lack of map (had to draw one myself) and anticlimactic ending.
I enjoyed the gameplay and atmosphere a lot. The slow and methodical combat was nice and made me feel like learning to play Dark Souls for the first time. The stun mechanic was interesting.
The NG+ changes enemies, how rooms connect, and the order in which you get items. That last one in particular makes the replay worth the time, it does change how you approach things and made me use certain items that I didn't really use the first time around (force field and SMG).
I enjoyed the gameplay and atmosphere a lot. The slow and methodical combat was nice and made me feel like learning to play Dark Souls for the first time. The stun mechanic was interesting.
The NG+ changes enemies, how rooms connect, and the order in which you get items. That last one in particular makes the replay worth the time, it does change how you approach things and made me use certain items that I didn't really use the first time around (force field and SMG).
2022
Overall not bad, but nothing special either. My main criticism is that it lacks depth in combat, story, and level design.
I did quite like the bullet-hell bosses and the way re-attaching the islands opened access to new paths. But simultaneously I was disappointed because I had gotten the impression that the islands could be combined in multiple different ways, opening some routes and closing others.
Minor complaints: I didn't like the lack of healing. It seemed like your three options when you got an upgrade were random? Not a fan. Teleport arrow felt underutilized. Some of the late-game platforming challenges seemed to forget cloud arrow was a thing.
Also, fuck Snoot.
I did quite like the bullet-hell bosses and the way re-attaching the islands opened access to new paths. But simultaneously I was disappointed because I had gotten the impression that the islands could be combined in multiple different ways, opening some routes and closing others.
Minor complaints: I didn't like the lack of healing. It seemed like your three options when you got an upgrade were random? Not a fan. Teleport arrow felt underutilized. Some of the late-game platforming challenges seemed to forget cloud arrow was a thing.
Also, fuck Snoot.
2017
Warning: this is quite rambly and probably not useful as a review.
So, it's a bit hard to review a game after putting 600 hours into it.
The last 500 hours have been great, though that does also involve mods (randomizer in particular).
On one hand, I do remember having some negative feelings on my first playthrough, and I almost didn't bother with the true ending.
On the other hand, this was my first metroidvania in years and I wasn't prepared. I diminished my experience by looking things up on the internet and being put off from going into a certain important area and getting stuck and this wasn't really the game's fault.
It's not perfect, but it kept pulling me back to finish it, and to finish the true ending, and to try out mods, and to get 112% completion, and to do steel soul, and to get all achievements, and to do PoP, and to do some speedruns (107% under 5 hours with a route I designed myself).
Once I was done with the things I wanted to do in Hollow Knight, I tried to find other games like it, but at this point I was so in love with the game that all other games felt bad. Took me a while to recover from that, but the whole experience was absolutely worth it.
So yeah, it's my favourite game. It's amazing, but I'm gonna take away half a star because there are a couple legit problems with the game.
So, it's a bit hard to review a game after putting 600 hours into it.
The last 500 hours have been great, though that does also involve mods (randomizer in particular).
On one hand, I do remember having some negative feelings on my first playthrough, and I almost didn't bother with the true ending.
On the other hand, this was my first metroidvania in years and I wasn't prepared. I diminished my experience by looking things up on the internet and being put off from going into a certain important area and getting stuck and this wasn't really the game's fault.
It's not perfect, but it kept pulling me back to finish it, and to finish the true ending, and to try out mods, and to get 112% completion, and to do steel soul, and to get all achievements, and to do PoP, and to do some speedruns (107% under 5 hours with a route I designed myself).
Once I was done with the things I wanted to do in Hollow Knight, I tried to find other games like it, but at this point I was so in love with the game that all other games felt bad. Took me a while to recover from that, but the whole experience was absolutely worth it.
So yeah, it's my favourite game. It's amazing, but I'm gonna take away half a star because there are a couple legit problems with the game.
The feeling I get from this game is that no one wanted to say "no" to an idea. The result is an unfocused mess with a conflicting tone and too many features, all of them unpolished.
2002
I don't like the controls or the combat, but that is nothing new when it comes to me and Metroid games. But combine that with the handholding and linearity of this title, and I couldn't be arsed to finish.
2018
If you don't like going through all your options and optimizing your turn, you will get overwhelmed and lose. But damn, it feels so good when you do figure out a way to not only save that building, but also make the enemies take out each other. Every turn is like a puzzle.
2022
Lacks originality, but otherwise feels quite polished and high quality.