pretty good metroidvania. i like the way the upgrades are implemented, with a choice between 3 upgrades from a big pool of them that are still horizontal boosts with new things that you can do as opposed to solely numerical increases.
the art style is very nice, but the world doesn't really feel like a world as much as it feels like a collection of areas with willy-nilly branching paths. also, some of the new abilities that let you access new areas get so little usage and basically end up feeling like just a pseudo-key to access the next area as opposed to a pseudo-key that you can use everywhere with benefit. the way that the map interconnects more over time is neat, but it still doesn't make the level design reflect the world as much as i'd like. more unique landmarks and rooms would go a long way towards making the map even more enjoyable to traverse.
the game controls well, and i really enjoy how fast you can cruise around the map. it's a very nice trait to have in a metroidvania so you can backtrack even more efficiently with your new upgrades and improved skill. the combat is simple, but the boss patterns are cool. i played on the hardest difficulty, which increases damage taken and boss health while also changing up some boss attacks (more projectiles, etc) and it was a good experience throughout. that being said, even on hard mode, it is very easy to become incredibly overpowered very quickly if you are getting all of the upgrades and purchasing better equipment. there were definitely a couple of bosses near the end of the game that i killed so fast that i didn't even have the opportunity to see all of their attacks.
got 100% game completion, 100% map completion, and 100% steam achievements. boss rush was fun.
overall, a cute game. nothing too crazy, but i had a great time overall.
the art style is very nice, but the world doesn't really feel like a world as much as it feels like a collection of areas with willy-nilly branching paths. also, some of the new abilities that let you access new areas get so little usage and basically end up feeling like just a pseudo-key to access the next area as opposed to a pseudo-key that you can use everywhere with benefit. the way that the map interconnects more over time is neat, but it still doesn't make the level design reflect the world as much as i'd like. more unique landmarks and rooms would go a long way towards making the map even more enjoyable to traverse.
the game controls well, and i really enjoy how fast you can cruise around the map. it's a very nice trait to have in a metroidvania so you can backtrack even more efficiently with your new upgrades and improved skill. the combat is simple, but the boss patterns are cool. i played on the hardest difficulty, which increases damage taken and boss health while also changing up some boss attacks (more projectiles, etc) and it was a good experience throughout. that being said, even on hard mode, it is very easy to become incredibly overpowered very quickly if you are getting all of the upgrades and purchasing better equipment. there were definitely a couple of bosses near the end of the game that i killed so fast that i didn't even have the opportunity to see all of their attacks.
got 100% game completion, 100% map completion, and 100% steam achievements. boss rush was fun.
overall, a cute game. nothing too crazy, but i had a great time overall.