Guacamelee years later still stands out in the seas that are the Metroidvania genre with integrating the platforming & combat so well and still evolve the challenge further as I unlock new abilities which the game pushes me to use in order to progress through the level design or boss fights, it makes the difficulty curve in this game as smooth as butters. Top it all with charming characters & stellar art direction, you have a game that I had a delightful time with.

It isn’t perfect though, I find the whole enemy shields thing to be obnoxious to deal with sometimes, especially when the game loves to make me fight wave after wave of enemies all at once. I also think the rewards are a mixed bag with purchasing cosmetics or leveling up my attack abilities being so underwhelming compared to finding pieces of stamina & heart or unlocking new abilities that the game makes me constantly use. My final minor gripe is the lack of enemy variety which makes combat just a little bit repetitive by the end of it.

Either way, these complaints are minor because I really had a wonderful time with Guacamelee and I strongly recommend it if you are looking for a decently challenging Metroidvania game.