Alwa's Awakening

Alwa's Awakening is a masterfully crafted 8-bit Metroidvania by people who really know what they are doing. They know how to get you excited about what's ahead, they know how to challenge you in fair ways, they know how to value your time and they know what feels satisfying in a game. They just know. There were several occasions when I literally made a "chef's kiss" motion in real life because of some design that felt particularly smooth. Everything from the level design to the three core spells and their interactions is just so well thought out and works perfectly together. What an absolute pleasure to play this game. + Well-placed checkpoints and warps, along with clever shortcuts and helpful NPC dialogue cut down on any needless backtracking + Progression is well paced to keep exploration exciting and rewarding. Instead of bloating the game with pointless upgrades, it focuses on a select few to make them all feel meaningful + Mechanics are taught in neat, natural ways without clunky text tutorials + Difficulty ramps up slowly over the course of several dungeons and bosses to a challenging finale without ever being unfair. Overcoming obstacles by forward thinking and smart usage of your abilities is actually one of the most satisfying parts of the game + The amazing soundtrack turns the exploration of Alwa into an absolute treat + Secrets always have a fair way of being found via suspicious room layouts or similar, turning their discovery into a fun little detective game of its own - The only flaw is the slightly unsatisfying ending that leaves the player on a bizarre plot twist cliffhanger that never gets explained But this little circumstance is easily forgivable in light of how amazing the game is. Alwa's Awakening manages to capture all the fun, charm and simplicity of a good old game without the unnecessary frustrating elements of a bygone era. If you like slower-paced Metroidvanias with puzzle platforming elements then this is the game for you!

Sorry devs, the mandatory use of hidden walls to progress without hints about it is a hard line for me as someone who gets lost in games a lot. I was enjoying myself until I got lost for an hour and a half trying to figure out how to progress. I can be patient with instant deaths and general difficulty, but if I have to look at a walkthrough for this type of game, there is a 100% chance I will drop it.

Alwa's Awakening is a metroidvania that attemps to recreate the feeling of old NES games, and it does so fantastically. The music and graphics are not only great on their own, but also look like something you'd find on a NES cartridge. The gameplay features a pretty good interconnected map that opens up to you as you collect itens and upgrades, and it really encourages exploration, so much so that you likely won't be able to progress past certain points if you're not willing to throroughly explore the map, so do keep that in mind if you're not a big fan of exploration, however I enjoyed it imensely. It is also hard, pretty hard, you'll die a lot, especially towards the end where your platforming skills will truly be put to the test. But it was a challenge I had lots of fun with. The story is pretty light, like the games it tries to emulate, the focus is mostly on the gameplay. The characters you find on your journey mostly just give you tips on what to do and where to go. There is a nice opening at the beginning explaining the story, again, much like old NES games, however the ending felt a little underwhelming. Even though I sort of get it now, considering how closely it resembles old games, the ending certainly was unexpected, and to me felt like it didn't receive as much attention as it should. But it's no big deal, the game was fun regardless. Linux compatibility: Basically flawless, only issue I had was that sometimes when chaning the resolution, the letters on the start menu would shift to the left of the screen, but usually went back to their proper place. No issues gameplay-wise.

Classic Nes-era platformer. Worked perfectly on Linux (Garuda). Gameplay involves some light puzzle-solving, using three spells and a melee hit. Some spell and item upgrades. This combo works together nicely. Nothing too complex, but provides sufficient variety to not make the game boring. The movement is tight, but a little slow -- but so are the enemies. Difficulty is occasionally challenging, but wouldn't categorize it as hard or anything. But all in all, it's by no means perfect, either. The plot is abysmal. I would have also hoped for deeper skill development. In other words, it gives some basic platformer/metroidvania elements, but leaves more to be desired. Something like Hollow Knight, Reventure, Teslagrad, Rogue Legacy or Valdis Story are still miles better. Would I recommend it? Yes, if you like retro platformers, then you won't be disappointed.

I received this product for free, and I'm not really a platformer fan so I wouldn't have played this game if I hadn't received it for free, but having now played through it I really enjoyed it. The atmosphere was charming and I liked the music, exploring the world and hunting for secrets were great, there were some fun puzzles, there were some difficult parts but I got through them and I generally enjoyed the challenge. I should note, I played most of the game with assist mode on, and I recommend playing that way. Basically, the game's default mode is when you die you get bumped back to the last bonfire. In the early game this is fine, and it creates some great tension where every point of damage you take is dire (you have 3 hit points) and it's such a relief when you see the next bonfire. But then the game starts introducing insta-death hazards, and at that point getting bumped back every time you miss a jump can get tedious. Assist mode lets you restart at the room you died in rather than at the last bonfire, you'd have to be a major masochist to to play the game 100% without assist mode. And the game's still fairly difficult even with assist mode enabled, bosses are still very challenging. As far as gameplay goes, if you've played a metroidvania before then you'll recognize this game. You go through areas, unlock shortcuts, find secrets, encounter dead ends, unlock powers, go back to previous areas with your new powers to discover new areas. There are three spells to unlock plus some upgrades and powerful items to acquire. The spells are the things you'll use most and they are: creating a block that can be jumped on and pushed around (helps with mobility and switch puzzles), creating a bubble that floats up and you can jump on it as a mobile platform, and shooting lightning bolts (very important for boss fights). Combat is mostly about evading enemy attacks and choosing the best moment to counterattack, so the mobility spells are also very important in combat.