In terms of visual aesthetics, the game is exceptionally well-crafted. The pixel art is highly detailed, though I suspect there's some issues with the hurtbox in certain sprites and the hitbox of specific attacks. The animations are well-executed, and the lighting is particularly evocative, especially in some key scenes. I also appreciate the interconnectedness of the world; in this aspect, it truly embodies the metroidvania genre. Some of the power-ups, essential for smoother traversal, are cleverly concealed, and many areas crucial for progression remain inaccessible until obtaining these enhancements.
However, my overall assessment heavily leans towards the negative. The narrative is horribly fragmented, and the few moments of interaction with the party are excessively repetitive, failing to take any opportunity to develop the characters: the same two-three sketches are recycled each time, and these interactions can only be activated once after each boss fight. In this regard, the game somewhat reminded me of "In Stars and Time" but fell short of reaching the quality of its storytelling. I found the story itself unengaging, possibly due to the overly simplistic writing of the characters.
The level design is generally well-executed, yet some issues caught my attention. For instance, the arena of the second Gorgon makes it challenging for the boss to complete one of its combos, and a specific attack is trivialized by certain tiles that can always provide a very easy cover. Consequently, part of the boss fight becomes too simplistic due to the arena itself
Speaking of level design, I often found it frustrating, especially when combined with key placement. Keys are necessary to open numerous doors scattered throughout the map, and too many times I felt disoriented, unsure of where to find what I needed or where to proceed. The minimap, in this context, was confusing and lacked sufficient information. After playing for an hour or two, it's possible to purchase important items, including one that displays the location of still-locked doors on the map. However, this awareness rarely proved helpful for me; in fact, it often exacerbated the issue making me even more confused due to the lack of other infos
Let's delve into the shop-feature, where the developers seem to have drawn inspiration from roguelites. The game, however, never embraces that shape; instead, it introduces the somewhat bothersome idea of allowing the purchase of items and enhancements only after death. This proved irritating to me since death itself serves no purpose other than this. At most, it serves a narrative function, but I am confident that a more effective approach could have been devised. Admittedly, after a while, it becomes possible to purchase an item that opens the shop when standing in front of certain idols scattered on the map. Yet, in my opinion, these idols are too few, and the opportunity to do this comes too late.
At first, the boss fights seemed enjoyable, only to become entirely trivial once acquiring power-ups. For instance, one of the later humanoid bosses is completely annihilated by the ability to evade any of its attacks by hopping indefinitely on the side walls. None of his attacks can counter this, and the arena is entirely flat, restricting any creative reactions. While there's an option to disable one's own enhancements, I believe it's the developer's responsibility to bring challenge in a fight, rather than leaving this responsibility to the player
Another significant issue for me is that the game, for too many hours, fails to effectively integrate the individual party members' properties with environmental puzzles and their combat potentials. The warrior is utterly useless for two-thirds of the game, and I resorted to using him solely to cut vines (10 of them in 10 hours of gameplay, I think). I used the wizard a bit more, but he also suffered from being minimally useful in the early hours of the game. The archer, on the other hand, is overpowered from the start. Dealing excellent damage from a distance (remaining almost always safe), being able to climb walls (useful for both puzzles and combat, compared to the other two characters), and jumping slightly higher than the rest of the party. I had no reason to use the wizard and the warrior, this game really is not "Trine" at all. Moreover, only towards the conclusion we are introduced to some spectral enemies that can be damaged only by the wizard
The first half of the game was, therefore, frustrating especially due to the fact that the player HAS TO RETURN to a campfire EVERY TIME to switch characters – an inconvenient and displeasing aspect considering the lack of balance in the party. Finally, a bell is obtained, allowing the flexibility to change characters at will, making the game more dynamic and less methodical, albeit still not dynamic enough. To traverse the map, I still predominantly used the archer, deploying the other two exclusively to dispatch certain enemies more quickly. Furthermore, their power-ups were essentially useless to me. The wizard's gliding ability was never used to traverse the map, and the warrior's dash functioned similarly, proving also ineffective in combat.
Ah, and of course: fighting almost any of the bosses with the mage or the warrior is too damn difficult. Again, I used the archer almost everytime
However, my overall assessment heavily leans towards the negative. The narrative is horribly fragmented, and the few moments of interaction with the party are excessively repetitive, failing to take any opportunity to develop the characters: the same two-three sketches are recycled each time, and these interactions can only be activated once after each boss fight. In this regard, the game somewhat reminded me of "In Stars and Time" but fell short of reaching the quality of its storytelling. I found the story itself unengaging, possibly due to the overly simplistic writing of the characters.
The level design is generally well-executed, yet some issues caught my attention. For instance, the arena of the second Gorgon makes it challenging for the boss to complete one of its combos, and a specific attack is trivialized by certain tiles that can always provide a very easy cover. Consequently, part of the boss fight becomes too simplistic due to the arena itself
Speaking of level design, I often found it frustrating, especially when combined with key placement. Keys are necessary to open numerous doors scattered throughout the map, and too many times I felt disoriented, unsure of where to find what I needed or where to proceed. The minimap, in this context, was confusing and lacked sufficient information. After playing for an hour or two, it's possible to purchase important items, including one that displays the location of still-locked doors on the map. However, this awareness rarely proved helpful for me; in fact, it often exacerbated the issue making me even more confused due to the lack of other infos
Let's delve into the shop-feature, where the developers seem to have drawn inspiration from roguelites. The game, however, never embraces that shape; instead, it introduces the somewhat bothersome idea of allowing the purchase of items and enhancements only after death. This proved irritating to me since death itself serves no purpose other than this. At most, it serves a narrative function, but I am confident that a more effective approach could have been devised. Admittedly, after a while, it becomes possible to purchase an item that opens the shop when standing in front of certain idols scattered on the map. Yet, in my opinion, these idols are too few, and the opportunity to do this comes too late.
At first, the boss fights seemed enjoyable, only to become entirely trivial once acquiring power-ups. For instance, one of the later humanoid bosses is completely annihilated by the ability to evade any of its attacks by hopping indefinitely on the side walls. None of his attacks can counter this, and the arena is entirely flat, restricting any creative reactions. While there's an option to disable one's own enhancements, I believe it's the developer's responsibility to bring challenge in a fight, rather than leaving this responsibility to the player
Another significant issue for me is that the game, for too many hours, fails to effectively integrate the individual party members' properties with environmental puzzles and their combat potentials. The warrior is utterly useless for two-thirds of the game, and I resorted to using him solely to cut vines (10 of them in 10 hours of gameplay, I think). I used the wizard a bit more, but he also suffered from being minimally useful in the early hours of the game. The archer, on the other hand, is overpowered from the start. Dealing excellent damage from a distance (remaining almost always safe), being able to climb walls (useful for both puzzles and combat, compared to the other two characters), and jumping slightly higher than the rest of the party. I had no reason to use the wizard and the warrior, this game really is not "Trine" at all. Moreover, only towards the conclusion we are introduced to some spectral enemies that can be damaged only by the wizard
The first half of the game was, therefore, frustrating especially due to the fact that the player HAS TO RETURN to a campfire EVERY TIME to switch characters – an inconvenient and displeasing aspect considering the lack of balance in the party. Finally, a bell is obtained, allowing the flexibility to change characters at will, making the game more dynamic and less methodical, albeit still not dynamic enough. To traverse the map, I still predominantly used the archer, deploying the other two exclusively to dispatch certain enemies more quickly. Furthermore, their power-ups were essentially useless to me. The wizard's gliding ability was never used to traverse the map, and the warrior's dash functioned similarly, proving also ineffective in combat.
Ah, and of course: fighting almost any of the bosses with the mage or the warrior is too damn difficult. Again, I used the archer almost everytime