Timespinner

I'm amazed that nobody mentioned the hidden RPG aspects of this game. You can choose between 16 different weapons (orbs) that completely change your combat style and level up individually. Also the player has RPG stats that affect combat and can be affected by the character's level and equip-able armor. Additionally a customizable familiar companion helps you during combat in its own way (which also levels up). Lastly, there are multiple endings based on the player's choice. Having said that, the cons are: -The time-stopping ability was underwhelming. -For a game so focused on its RPG customization, It's disappointing that the character's appearance doesn't change when changing armor. -Hard mode unlocked only after finishing the game on normal mode. TL:DR amazing game with hidden RPG depths which fit its metroidvania theme ,also, killer soundtrack.

It's a very average metroidvania with a very good 16-bit art style. The writing is very cringe worthy and brings the whole experience down for me personally, in other words, it's immersion breaking. You have world alterting events happening in the game's world and all the characters are concered with is talking about their s3x life and s3xual identity throughout the game. Yes, it's one of those. If I knew about the quality of the writing and the hugecringe factor, I would have never bought this game. I definitely won't be buying the sequel.

A classic metroidvania, it takes some of the best mechanics from games like Order of Ecclesia, and even makes improvements over some of them. It adds the time travel mechanic. You can travel between the past and the present and changing things in the past, changes history. Reminds me of Oracle of Ages (Zelda for GBC) for example. It's incredibly well done in the level design department, and I even love the monsters. However, it has a few problems. 1. The story is weak. The first time I read Eragon I liked it but I felt something was wrong: I had already read it somewhere. That story took everything from other very well known and better stories. This game does the same thing. There's nothing original in this story, you feel like you have already played it. That's it, if you are not a kid or very inexperienced. Which is ok, I would gladly 100% recommend this game to any kid. If you are young, if you don't know what I am talking about when I mention Order of Ecclesia or Oracle of ages, then this is your game. 2. The story is cringe. Yeah, it touches the previous point but I had to point it out again. I rolled my eyes a few times. Again, teens are gonna love this ^^ 3. The difficulty is BROKEN. This is more serious. The way the weapons level up makes impossible to use more than one type of weapon reliably, because if you use more than that, the exp will divide and they will stay weak. To be stronger, you have to focus on ONE weapon, the other become useless very fast, which is a HUUUGE disappointment. There are a lot of cool weapons I barely could try because of how weak they were. In the same topic, the strong attack DESTROYS EVERYTHING. You can rush the game by using ether potions and spam that attack. Seriously, in normal difficulty you are invincible. 4. Finally, the game is too short. Really. It's like one area in a Castlevania game. --------- I recommend the game, it's enjoyable, but the budget was small and it shows. Great ideas, but limited resources.

Combat runs smooth and is really fun. I loved the variety of weapons available. Exploration was good, although it could have used better verticality. Most of the game takes place within 5 frames of the y-axis. That being said, what is there is wonderfully animated, and pulls you into the world nicely. Solid Metroidvania style. Unfortunately, the story is basically just a hamfisted anti-cis browbeating. HeteroFascism BAD; LGBT+ GOOD. Imagine Aria of Sorrow, but everyone only talks about how gay they are.

Overall: Decent action metroidvania. The map is a bit small, combat is pretty simple and the story is pretty uninteresting. Mostly fails to live up to potential. I would be very interested in a bigger sequel, though. Game play: It’s a metroidvania, but the map is simply too small. There’s technically two, but they’re both the ‘same’ map, just in different time periods. This amounts to both maps being similar in structure with some minor changes in most cases and just one major change (a fortress vs a castle) based on the time period. It’s also very horizontal. As a result the exploration is very linear. It wasn’t hard to find where I needed to go next without needing to explore. The combat has this really neat idea where you can equip two orbs, that could each do something different, but since they have different ranges and speeds I always found it better to equip the same in both slots. The game does let you have up to 3 load outs that can be swapped instantly so it does allow some customization. Visuals: The pixel graphics are beautiful and the protagonist’s animations are particularly well done. Even when combat begins the particle effects don’t obstruct your view while attacks still look distinct. Evading and inflicting damage relies more on skill than trying to parse out what can and can’t be seen. The backgrounds aren’t obtrusive and I never didn’t know where I can’t jump or move to. Very importation for platformers. Presention: Small options like weapon load outs and in game logs/achievement viewing is availble and appreciated. A tutorial is provided as part of the narrative and it's quick, unobtrusive and can be skipped. It's nice when devs understand the simple pleasures. It would have been nice if harder difficulties were available from the start. It was a pretty easy game, overall. Story: More narrative focused than most metroidvanias. The story is pretty good, but, predictable and mostly forgettable.