I've played a decent amount of Metroidvanias, and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that this is the best one I have ever played. From top to bottom, it is just an absolute treat, and I am happy to be a participant in this Procession of Flagellants. Right of the bat, it's gorgeous. The visuals are based on that of Roman Catholicism and early 19th-century Spanish art, and it is oozing in visual splendour. Mixing horror with any other style can be difficult, but the game does it seamlessly. I mean, the first boss is literally a reference to The Pietà, how more Catholic can you get? Meanwhile, the more you learn and see about Roman Catholicism such as Holy Week in Spain, it adds so much depth to the incredible atmosphere and designs. Not only that, but the visuals are paired with genuinely interesting writing, both in subtext and text. Descriptions of items take a page from Dark Souls and give depth for those who desire it, as well as educating us on the value (or lack thereof) of the item. Dialogue is great, and while some people may complain about particular voice acting, I NEVER got to a point where I even considered turning off the voices, let alone actually have any specific examples worth mentioning. Some characters are stilted, but them being stilted works well with the world. The world itself is suffering from atrophy, so a lot of the voice acting being stiff actually works for me. Combat wise, it's great. There are a few bullshit enemies, but you get into enough of a rhythm where you learn what enemies to avoid and how to combat them when necessary. There's also a wide enough variety of abilities, skills and upgrades where you feel yourself becoming stronger. If I got angry when I died, very rarely would I get mad at the game, and that's a good sign. The worst examples are generally little game glitches. Finally, you prefer masochistic games, at the end of the game there are even extreme modes! It's just got it all.
The story, the most important part of a walking simulator like this, is absolutely awful. It may count as a spoiler but it's important to know if you're going to play the game, because at the end of the game the message the game wants you to have is "society was wrong for judging the relationship between this middle-aged man and this 16 year old girl". The mother blames the girl, the protagonist talks endlessly about how good a man her father was, and the entire game is trying to get you to conclude that these two were simply victims of circumstance, and not that the man old enough to be her father had a relationship that very likely began when she was 15, that eventually lead to her death, was very much in the wrong and there is *nothing* in the actual actions of the characters to suggest anything other than a middle-aged father taking advantage of a vulnerable girl.
Think the title says it all. The descriptions of people calling it a "spiritual successor to Gothic" is possibly one of the worst endorsements for a game I've ever seen, to the point where I don't even want to try playing Gothic if it's anything close to this travesty. The fact this game was actually made by a development team and not some dedicated single developer is astounding, because for how wide it is, it's incredibly shallow. The worst part is undoubtedly the combat. Not only is it stiff and janky, it's needlessly difficult in many areas, especially the beginning. The first hour of combat is almost identical to the 50th. The game also includes multiple escort missions, which TRULY shows the weakness of the combat, as you have to genuinely run IN ADVANCE of the character in order to trigger the enemies and attack them before the escort gets there, because the combat is SO POOR. It doesn't reward you for exploration, it almost makes it a necessity. It's almost incredible how the game forces you to trudge along for ages, only to happen upon a heavily overleveled enemy and have you die in two shots, only to reset you back half an hour for your effort. If the story was anything good, at least you'd have a reason to continue. Just look at the love Alpha Protocol has. But instead, we get some of the most boring and trite storytelling imaginable. Nothing truly original is present, it's all easy to understand the moment you hear it. There's no genuine mystery, no sense of amazement. It's got the writing of a mediocre MMO. Genuinely, I'd rather be playing Guild Wars 2 than this game, because that game not only engages you, but it unironically offers a more engaging combat experience. At this point, I should've just written a 5-star review for Guild Wars 2 and pasted it here, you'd get more out of it.
