The game amazed me on all levels. The combat feels great, the movement is slick, the enemies are varied and force you to adapt to their mechanics. and you have a massive arsenal all with alternatives modes to top it off. Battles range from close-quarters battles in tight spaces, to enclosed arenas, to massive open area swarming with enemies, the game keeps mix and matching battlefields so you never grow dull from cruising through the levels. Every single weapon has its strengths and ammunition is abundant, so you never really run out of any ammo. You can use whatever you want, or keep switching mid-battle depending on your needs. Game is also not that hard, through my whole 6-8 hours playthrough, I only died twice in battle, playing on the 3rd difficulty from all 5 available. The lack of saves was not felt at all, but you have to judge your skill level beforehand. If you're more of a casual player, don't shy from picking the easiest difficulty, the only 2 factors modified are enemy damage and projectiles speed. The amount of enemies stay the same, so the game can still pose a challenge. And I personally really enjoyed the lack of manual and autosaves. All the levels are short, but packed, 15-25 minutes is the average for a level. You don't get punished that much for having to restart it, and limited lives increase the enjoyment of battle when the stakes are higher. And the game gives you extra lives that are auto-consumed on death, you only restart a level once you run out of them, and some levels I finished with 6 of them without consuming one (but do keep in mind they don't transfer to next levels). To top it off, the music and visuals, from atmosphere to the art direction, are not something you'd normally encounter in a fast-paced retro shooter. The set-pieces are breathtaking, tons of work was put to make you LOOK at what you're witnessing and experiencing, and there's lots of sight to appreciate. The music adds a lot to battles, it utilizes very unusual noises, but the overall tone with the aggressiveness of beats keeps your blood pumping. The developer put additional details to make sure the music scales through the level, going faster depending on the size of the battle, or slower when you're supposed to take in the atmosphere and visuals. And there's a surprising amount of lore, with clues scattered around the level, and after finishing the game, a full bestiary that ties all the lore together and explains what happens in detail. Lots of neat details. My only 2 negatives points would be, firstly, the lack of feedback from getting hit. Whenever you take damage, there's barely anything to notify you about it. Some more feedback would be better, like your screen shaking a little or your health bar flashing red and tweaking. Most of the time you won't expect to die and consume your extra-life until it happens and you think "Huh, so I was getting hit a lot". Second negative are death pits. The game, especially later on, has death pits. You fall in you die, end of story. Or consume the extra life. This is slightly too punishing, especially since you want to make full use of the movements system, but sometimes it can be way too risky or you fall off by accident. Simply punishing you with some damage for falling away should be enough. Nonetheless, I can't recommend it enough, it's a stellar experience, for cheap, not too long to overstay its welcome but with enough content to keep you satisfied.
