Entwined is a game that claims to have artistic ambitions, but it fails to deliver on anything past the elevator pitch. The story of the game has to be explained to you and is far less as deep as it sounds. During its 90 minute runtime, it does not evolve or go anywhere, and it overall fails to deliver any emotion to the player. I think the template for this kind of game is pretty simple, even though there aren't real "characters" you could use the gameplay to demonstrate the characters becoming in sync for the first time, have them drift apart, and then reconnect at the end… but instead every one of the nine lives that these characters has is exactly the same and does not attempt to tell the story mechanically.

I feel bad coming down too hard on the gameplay, because there is a warning before starting it that the PS5 version is not optimized, and it’s best played on PS4. But it is imprecise and frustrating when you miss inputs. The game is a bit too long for one sitting to demand that the player constantly moves the sticks exactly, and in the later stages I started losing because my fingers were getting tired, rather than any sort of mechanical challenge. The challenges they do add feel bad, for example in life 8 you can’t forsee that it converges at green in advance because the orange and blue inputs are much bigger. The gameplay is repetitive and it’s not the type of game that you can improve upon. It ultimately feels like a less complex guitar hero or rhythm game but without music cues. The presentation still holds up 10 years later, but the game doesn’t have a compelling reason to stick with it.

For someone who grew up loving Metroid 2, this game scratches a similar itch. It translates the original Castlevania's gameplay to the Gameboy pretty well. I played this on the Switch emulator, where moving around feels smooth and having the ability to rewind is very nice. I can imagine on original hardware it is a much different experience -- the countdown clock, the dead ends, the way it would look without backlight, and the way enemies respawn just outside the small screen are punishing. But modern hardwar and rewind makes sometimes unfair fights more tolerable. This is not a game that's meant to be played in one shot like games are played today - you're supposed to be putting it down and coming back, finding secrets, and writing down passwords to come back later. But if you don't have time for that and are willing to bend the rules a bit for modern convenience, it can be a a very fun 90 minute adventure.

The first few zones are pretty easy, and if you use the powerups, you can get past most obstacles pretty easily. The game gets a little more abrasive as it goes and you'll take some unavoidable hits due to the screen size. The ropes are an understandable platforming downgrade from stairs, having it kill you immediately when you fall down is an unfortunate reminder of the times. Having secrets to discover is great, and I like the way they handle the upgrades. However the story, the appearance of Alucard, and the dialogue isn't much of anything so definitely don't play this game if you're looking for a story. But if you're looking for a game with good vibe to hang out with, you could do a lot worse than this one.

I just rolled credits, and knowing there are more secrets to wrap up after finishing the game, I am really excited to dig in even further. I was a little skeptical jumping in and wasn't really sure if I would want to thoroughly explore it all, but it won me over. It is very satisfying to discover new things in the areas you have been, new ways to use your tools, and your platforming persistence is rewarded. While it can get difficult it's surprisingly forgiving as long as you have patience.

It can’t be understated how great Animal Well’s art style, lighting, shaders, and visual composition fits together so well. The atmosphere is fantastic and I actually really appreciate just about everything this game to set the mood and tone. It feels as threatening, isolated, and alien as a Metroid game, but as you progress the unique aspects to the areas reveal themselves.

It's very hard to put down without thinking about the many unsolved threads you need to go back and tie up. Wonderful experience.