TLDR: This is really awesome! Much more than I expected personally, and I don't regret spending $40.00 on it. I came from this with no background in the Castlevania series either, so don't be dissuaded! I can't say that a game has made this much of a positive impression on me in a while. Hollow Knight comes to mind, but this game is even better than HK in some ways. The story, visuals, and music just make the experience so good. The game is so pleasing visually that it elevates it from being a good metroidvania to a very enthralling game. I still remember the "first impression" feeling from playing the first two levels, and I can't say that I've played many games that are that memorable. I felt like I found a little escape that I'd really enjoy sinking some time into for sure. I even felt moved by a moment in the story, and I haven't come to expect that at all from games. The mechanics are quite good. This game does not emphasize mechanics that much I feel, but it does reward good mechanics well enough. You will probably have several bossfights that take you a few tries for sure. That being said, the difficulty was very reasonable. I often like to zone out a bit and relax as I'm playing. For anyone who has played Curse of the Moon, I find this to be easier to play and not overly punishing. There is a hard mode for those who like a more punishing challenge though. (You officially unlock it after completing a playthrough, but not everyone seems to like this. You can unlock it early IIRC, but I won't post that here in case anyone does not want to be spoiled. The game also rewards you greatly for searching around and upgrading to better equipment. The crafting system is not perfect, but it's quite decent. I really enjoyed the process of exploring the castle, collecting items, and crafting. The crafting can be a bit tedious if you insist on not looking up locations for any ingredients through. Some can be obscure. Hoping for it to become a franchise! Bloodstained 2?
This game is too uncompromising for me to enjoy personally. I really want to play the game for its excellent atmosphere and variety. The world really feels enormous, beautiful, and fun to explore and hop around in. The problem is that the game takes many opportunities to make things difficult for the player. When you think of difficult, don't think of Dark Souls or Hollow Knight. When I read that this game was uncompromising, I thought that I had enjoyed games of the sort before. This is not the case at all though, as Rain World will punish you for making one small mistake by setting you back for what is, in my experience, a few to several minutes of gameplay. This includes foraging for randomly spawned food and avoiding randomly spawned enemies. This means that setbacks can beget additional setbacks when the dice roll is too far out of your favor. I have even spent an hour in an area a couple of times not being able to get past certain rooms, and the experience of looking for food again and again goes from fun to tiring. I don't want to give this game two stars since the world is really excellent, one of the most memorable explorable worlds in all of the platformers that I have played. At the same time, the amount of expereinces that are frustrating just far outweigh the impact of successfully exploring. Try this out if you think you'll enjoy an experience that punishing! If you will, I bet this may even be one of your top overall platformers. If they toned down the amount of enemies and lack of visibility in some areas, this would be an easy five stars from me. Overall verdict, try this out if you want to take a bit of a risk with your next purchase. If it were the perfect game for you, you'd probably be sad that there are not more like it. This game really feels like it goes against the grain, and I'm super impressed with what the devs did even though I ended up not liking it.
Return to Castle Wolfenstein has a good enough story, good shooting mechanics with a decent variety of weapons, and nicely paced gameplay. The game really rewards you for thinking about how you will deal with each time you encounter enemies. Don't get me wrong, it may not be one of the most strategic shooters out there, but it strikes a nice balance between letting you be slow and methodical while also rewarding mechanical skill. The game has a few stealthy sections that keep it from getting too monotonous as well. It's definitely one of my favorite shooters overall.
As a player who happened upon this game almost randomly in a youtube video, this was a great bit of fun. It takes you through one of three short stories depending on which class you choose. The mechanics are decent even if aiming feels a bit weird to do, and the world and story don't take themselves too seriously. I don't play top-down action games like this much, but I'm glad I went for it when I saw this game. It's worth it a full price, and extra worth it if you get it when it's on sale!
