9 Years of Shadows

very good metroidvania, fast paced and not very hard

This game is fun, but it has little variety in basic enemies. However, the bosses are excellent.

Starting off, I think this is a great game. The story line, good music, and great art makes it lovely. The different elemental mechanics made the game interesting. The different armors and small variations of attack style was unique. I personally liked the Poseidon armor. You can either swim swiftly or just run. The timings you have to learn and some prediction are needed. However, I just tend to hack and slash as fast as I could. As for the bosses, well --> See what boss do, damage boss as much as possible, dodge, attack, learn pattern?, dodge again, attack while dodging, chase the boss endlessly, and once the boss is as red as a beet, keep smacking the ever-loving life out of them. I do like how the health/shield works though. Don't really see elsewhere. Now, for some cons. Hugging the bear. It's not annoying to use, but sometimes it would not respond. You have to move slightly then click and hold again for it to work. Another is the armor change. Sometimes it lets you switch in one keystroke. Other times, you have to mash it. It is consistent most of the time, but every now and again, it just doesn't work. Also, running into any enemies is an almost guarantee loss of your entire shield pool. Plus, the final armor, I wish the running into enemies mechanic was applied to the other armors as well. Last but not least, the storyline. I wish there was more to the story. More background story, dialogues, conversations, or just more of her thoughts. I would have loved more dialogue when Europa goes in the elevator to get more out of her personality. Some conversation between Apino and Europa would have been nice too. I wanted to fall for Europa like I do other characters in other games. Don't get me wrong, I loved the game. I just really, really wanted to love the characters. I would give it a 5/5, but without those tiny specs of details pulling me in, I can't. Overall, I would say 4.4/5

the artstyle is basically anime but western style, music is good, but lots of mechanics are bad. movement is slow and not satisfying. it also has too many bugs

The game seems solid and entertaining, not difficult nor easy