I wish that I have taken the game out of my backlog way sooner. From the first mission to the last one I was immersed into the world of the game to a level that even newer games lack. For a 13 year old game it feels like the graphics did not age at all. The details and npcs interactions are hilarious. Everyone should experience the game imo. It is an old classic that holds up beautifully.
This game is an absolute gem. It has an unique art style, with the journal sections being unique in presentation and how you interact with them. It is very respectful and emotional in regards to the story. Cannot say much else about it without going into spoilers, but trust that you will have a good experience if you like heartwarming and charming stories. I very much recommend it.
I really liked the art style from the beginning, but after finishing the game I can definitely say that the gameplay was well above my expectations. The witchery system has different skills to explore, the amulets are similar to rings in souls but the nice thing is you can swap them out on the fly. Which is really nice compared to some other metroidvanias where you need to rest at a checkpoint to do change your loadout. The spite bonuses and moon threat are a nice addition, and give you so much power. While moonhunger seems harsh at first, once you know the pattern of the enemies, the increased gain for bone dust is more than worth it. There are amulets that are very strong, but break on death, and despite never using such rare consumables in other games, it is very nice to do so in here. The bonuses are so worth it. For anyone who wants to play and is unsure what you get: get chain rock throw and friendly doppelganger. Max them out. For the amulets: get health on parry, greater martyress stone II for 20 glands, and the third is your preference.
For the first time, I've decided to write a review and tell everyone that If you are into exploration, and need something unique in terms of story and environments with a slavic background, this is a very good game. The artstyle feels right, it is unique, you have an open world, but it feels just compact enough with how fast you can travel and how much stuff you can do in it. The main and sidequests are good, with some dark undertones. It is a breath of fresh air in regards to open world games, and I fully recommend it for anyone who is interested in exploring, and experiencing something surreal. The devs have truly put their heart and soul into this game and it shows. For that they deserve to be praised. There are some things I don't like as is with any game, but that does not diminish the overall great experience that I had.
