Laggy controls, poorly designed, obstruse money-grab. I initially felt good about this one because it retained some of the original grit and humor of Link's Awakening, but there is just so much poor design here. Inaccurate controls, ugly UI, boring bosses, had to look things up often because it's not clear what you're supposed to do even with the telephone hints and the owl hints and the 21st-century bumpers the designers feel the need to put up for the player.

This is a Nintendo game? They managed to make cutting grass and breaking pots unsatisfying. And they're charging $60 for this? Utter crap.

One of the coolest games I've ever played. Aside from options screens and the rare prompt, there is almost no text in this game. You piece together the story through visuals alone. You scan traces of the environment for what might've come before. It feels like you're a detective.

But it does get ultra-cryptic at times, and I can't say I feel motivated to explore every nook and cranny of this sometimes unforgiving map. Especially when the secrets are ridiculously well hidden―I don't want to hunt for hours just to find an additional key or shard. Some of the secrets felt unsatisfying since there's no dialogue or material reward. Oh look, an NPC in an alley. He makes a new type of grunt. Great.

Combat was slick, precise. Unlike other games of the genre, it feels like you actually need to use strategy in order not to die. Most of the time, you can't just run in and slash 'em up. You need to snipe, use cover; for bosses, you might need to bank your shots and alternate with your sword. It certainly adds layers, and even in a room that I've been in multiple times, I still enjoy busting up the enemies in new ways.

I appreciate how much this game leaves below the surface. To beat the main story, you don't need to unlock basically any secrets. But if you want to go deep, it's there.

I probably won't, personally.

I knew I was getting into a hard game when the first run & gun took me more than 30 tries. I was discouraged, but I just kept playing and now I consider myself pretty good at the game. I think I have just under 1000 deaths after just having completed the game. You can’t beat the art in Cuphead. So beautiful but at the same time sinister. It’s a cartoony world where everything wants to kill you. The game mechanics are pretty great too, although a lot of the upgrades are meh at best. I didn’t end up using half of them, but they all do have a purpose and suit a different play style. (Charge in particular, I have no idea how or why anyone would use that one.) The one complaint I have is that the overworld feels kind of lifeless. But with combat this nice, I don’t really care. Movement is so perfect and precise; parrying is incredibly satisfying. Honorable mention for the sound design and the soundtrack, which were flawless. (Notice in the credits that they hired a tap dancer). I would listen to the soundtrack by itself, but it was also integrated so seamlessly into the pause menus for an extra level of polish. The boss design was so rich and original. Djimmi was the most memorable boss for me in a game full of memorable bosses.