The goopy and slimy alien design of this game is a huge selling point - the sheer artistic creativity here is off the charts, and it gets really gross at some points. Very phallic and butthole-like things here. If the idea of exploring a completely original feeling world made up of organic and industrial matter in a Metroidvania fashion sounds good to you, definitely put this on your radar.
But there was a lot here that pushed me away despite only taking a few days to finish the main story. There are 2 endings, I think I got the "evil" one... but the game kind of forces you in that direction anyways, so they expect you to go back and try it all a second time to find a "nice" way of finishing things. I felt done by the end though, and satisfied with what I had ended with.
The exploration of the environment is exactly how you'd expect if you're familiar with the genre, and lots of those games have sprawling interconnected maps and systems that are easy to get lost in. Ultros was maybe the most lost I've felt playing a game like this. It's very big, and absolutely full of rooms and hallways that are a slog to run and jump through. They felt like unnecessary padding than anything. Something about this game made it feel like more of a chore than anything about halfway through, when I got lost and unaware of what my next objective was when I got stuck in an area. There's unlockable abilities after you complete a section/boss as per usual, but there's a slightly complicated gardening/seed system that the game kind of haphazardly explains to you. I'll admit, I wasn't using these seeds/plants to their full potential until I was almost done the game, and I think they did that on purpose - to show you, now that you've probably figured out how this shit actually works, go play the game a second time and do all the extra stuff. And one of the endgame things here is to connect all of the sprawling systems on the map. It just feels like too much work in the long run, I didn't really enjoy my time in this world and I was ready to get out.
That being said... I could see myself going back to this in a year or so and trying it again. So for now, 3 stars for a general feel of the game after completing - but there is stuff worth exploring here for lots of folks
But there was a lot here that pushed me away despite only taking a few days to finish the main story. There are 2 endings, I think I got the "evil" one... but the game kind of forces you in that direction anyways, so they expect you to go back and try it all a second time to find a "nice" way of finishing things. I felt done by the end though, and satisfied with what I had ended with.
The exploration of the environment is exactly how you'd expect if you're familiar with the genre, and lots of those games have sprawling interconnected maps and systems that are easy to get lost in. Ultros was maybe the most lost I've felt playing a game like this. It's very big, and absolutely full of rooms and hallways that are a slog to run and jump through. They felt like unnecessary padding than anything. Something about this game made it feel like more of a chore than anything about halfway through, when I got lost and unaware of what my next objective was when I got stuck in an area. There's unlockable abilities after you complete a section/boss as per usual, but there's a slightly complicated gardening/seed system that the game kind of haphazardly explains to you. I'll admit, I wasn't using these seeds/plants to their full potential until I was almost done the game, and I think they did that on purpose - to show you, now that you've probably figured out how this shit actually works, go play the game a second time and do all the extra stuff. And one of the endgame things here is to connect all of the sprawling systems on the map. It just feels like too much work in the long run, I didn't really enjoy my time in this world and I was ready to get out.
That being said... I could see myself going back to this in a year or so and trying it again. So for now, 3 stars for a general feel of the game after completing - but there is stuff worth exploring here for lots of folks