I heard so many good things about this game but I have to say. I'm disappointed. the style is great even for someone who isn't nostalgic for 90's anime. the gameplay feels tight and snappy as well. The upgrades/levels are severely lacking though. I swear from stages 20-70 I didn't have a single unique experience or any challenge. Everything was so repetitive that when I started to die a couple times in the final world I didn't realize that the levels were generated differently for each life. It all felt the same.

I want to give this game a 5/5 so badly. I love the feel of combat and the atmosphere. The story is engaging and dark. The gear randomization is varied and exciting, the bosses are very well designed and interesting. There are some design decisions keeping me from loving this game though. The "fog of war" respawn system is really cool but that combined with the very limited travel options and lack of flexibility with stat building led to frustrating roadblocks for me. I was stuck at the Riven Twins for a while because I was underlevelled and had chosen a poor weapon. I couldn't backtrack to level or try to find better gear because nothing had respawned around my whisper at all. Going back to town just had underlevelled enemies everywhere. So I just beat my head against the boss with what I had until I beat it. I didn't feel accomplished or anything for this victory. I felt like I had been put into a corner with no good options because of these systems. I know I could have fully explored another area or something but I still felt limited by undercooked design elements in my opinion. Despite this I love this game and I'm excited to play more, I love the attention they're paying to feedback and I am confident that the final product will be a gem.