Cave Story®+

This is the game that inspired Undertale. The entire premise of the game, the character designs, basically everything is the cup from which Undertale drank from. It's not quite as refined as it's successor -- it doesn't quite hit that level of deep lore and charecterization, but it is a brilliant game and truly a trailblazing title especially for an indie title in 2004 when it was released. I love this game!

A couple years ago, I made my own list of "top 10 best games released between 2010 and 2019." Cave Story+ was #6. Here was what I wrote to explain why: Cave Story is another game I'd heard about for a long time before I played it, but I didn't know very much about it...other than one important thing. With the boom in indie gaming in the 10s - and this isn't close to the last indie game on the list, so I certainly got in on that boom - people called Cave Story "the grandfather of indie gaming," a simple but great game made by one person. I also heard its gameplay described as "sort of a mix of Metroid and Contra," and that sounded good to me, so at some point earlier in the decade I finally picked up Cave Story+ and went to find out why everyone was still talking about Cave Story, let alone why they were talking about how great it was. It started out fun: Good platforming and shooting, catchy music, colorful and pretty graphics, and a lot of cute critters (plus one cute gynoid). Then, early on, I got stumped in one area and I was too stubborn (or stupid) to look up what I was supposed to do. I abandoned it for years. Then, feeling emboldened by overcoming another personal gaming challenge, I picked it up again and swallowed enough of my pride to look up a guide. I'm glad I did because once I got past that part, everything good about the game kept getting better, and even when I failed, I was having a blast. It says a lot about the quality of a game when, even if it's giving you a beating, you're still loving it. Getting the best ending...that was an accomplishment. I recommend this for anyone who wants to play a milestone in indie gaming and in gaming period. But also, don't feel ashamed to look up a guide here and there; some of the things in this game are hard to find, especially when it comes to getting the best ending.

I agree it's a great game : I used to play it (for free) for many hours and never had time to play it to the end (I have even less time now). That means many hours of fun. I loved the way as soon as you are comfortable with your character capabilities, but before you get bored with the pace of the game, you get a new ability to train. I loved the fact that your new abilities weren't one-shot (i.e. only useful once in the game) but would let you explore more areas you already explored before. I loved how it's easy to know where you are at all times, without having to rely on a map.

In terms of the game - it's genuinely great, could do with a difficulty option (mainly for the bosses which can be a chore) but overall it's an outstanding achievement and made a lot of people sit up and take indie development seriously. Everybody should play Cave Story at least once in their lives.