Sundered®: Eldritch Edition

I was a little put off at first by the sometimes uninteresting generated rooms and I worried that the overwhelming enemy waves would be a death-grind until you had earned enough meta progression points to be able to weather them. Thankfully neither one is a core gameplay element and after the first boss fight I was hooked. The Metroidvania skill progressions are very evenly doled out and keep the game fresh and interesting. Each one lets you access areas you couldn't before, as expected, but also lets you selectively ignore the would-be grindy parts of the level you just conquered. The inevitable backtracking always increased in pace and never became a slog. The combat is one of the best parts of the game. Your character upgrades are helpful, as expected, but the game also constantly pushes you to do better as a player -- more combos, better timing, better use of abilities until they become ingrained (and often essential for the challenges in the next section). If you enjoyed the combo-heavy, dogee-heavy aspects of the combat in Guacamelee you'll definitely enjoy this too. (To set expectations, this game doesn't really have the same tricky platforming as well though.) The story, art, setting, and ambiance are all fantastic. I was totally invested in the dark and gloomy setting and my character. A few tense areas (and every boss fight) got me legitimately worked up.

This game is beautifully animated, controls well, and has a fairly interesting story. It is lacking in level design, and that's really one of the most important features in a side-scrolling action-adventure game. It's the reason games like Metroid and Hollow Knight are so well-received. This game features procedurally generated level design. Levels follow the same basic layout from playthrough to playthrough, but the actual contents of rooms shift each time you die. The devs spin this as a feature but it really comes across more as a quick-fix answer to level design. Exploring the game doesn't yield the same rewarding experience as a game with set level design. That said, I do think this game is fun. The bosses are colossal and challenging. I played it through twice, there are multiple endings. I just could do without the random levels where the variety doesn't mean much. If you can look past this as well, you'll find a game that may be worth your time.

More mind your business.

The game is good if slow at first when you don't have abilities. The final boss, however, is badly designed.

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