Cuphead is a literal miracle in game design and it's surprising that it managed to stand out in 2017. With a year that was filled with ambitious titles including Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, Persona 5, PUBG, NieR: Automata, The Crash Bandicoot remakes and many more, Cuphead stood out as an indie darling with the love and care that's necessary to make a splash hit in the industry. While it did have the backing of Microsoft to really get its leg in the door, it was that original concept that really struck the company as a must-have title.

Obviously, the big detail about this game that stood out was difficulty. This game is not easy at all and was the first mainstream instance of game journalists being treated like a joke. Whether or not you have played the game, you know of this difficulty and sometimes it gets to you. There are some bosses that are not designed fairly at all, such as Dr Kahl's Robot or Sally Stageplay which just make you feel cheated out of victories at every corner. However, I have always been under the belief that the difficulty ties in well with the game's main theme of the 1930s.

As someone who absolutely loves history and animated cartoons, this game really struck a sweet spot as all themes, bosses, songs, attacks, dialogue come back to the 1930s. Bosses will take inspiration from everything in that time period, whether it's the rapid spike in urbanization, the beginning of spiritual beliefs outside of religion, or prohibitionist style debauchery. The art style all works beautifully and has the look of your average American cartoon of that time, with some of the backgrounds sneaking into the gameplay to add to the already immense difficulty. Music will break out into swing and jazz tones that immerse you in the world and the action. And that action will kick in hard, making you really feel the need to strategize.

All of the strategy to action loop makes it possible for anyone to beat the game with enough time. While I mentioned that the game is difficult, it rarely feels unfair, bar for my previous examples. Even your bout with King Dice or the Devil will make you wanna throw down your controller or keyboard, but you always want to come back just due to how addicting that gameplay is. Strategy is key, but so are your reflexes, and a good mix of the two lead to the most satisfying victories. While you can buy the best charms and weapons, your victories will always make you say "I did that!" and that's what makes a difficult game a good one.

So while Cuphead's difficulty may turn away more casual gamers, if you don't mind sinking in a good 20 hours and getting lost in the 1930s then this is definitely your game. I hope that time remembers this game as the action-packed sensation it stands as on it's own, and not just the "1930s-inspired Souls-like" because Cuphead deserves it's own place in gaming history.