On somewhat of a whim, I purchased this game about a week ago in a vague hope of re-living a bit of Metroidvania style nostalgia. I settled in for what I thought was going to be a short crack and found myself utterly engrossed until about 6am when my eyes gave out and I passed out dreaming of boss-fights. This is a beautiful game with clear art direction, engrossing and free-flowing combat (thanks to a mechanic called 'skill-cancels') and a sensible smorgasboard of RPG elements. It will not be obvious where you need to go, or how to solve puzzles or even how to beat different bosses (expect to die the first time you face most of the bosses), but you learn each time and feel like you're making progress. I made my first run-through of the game on hard and finished the game but it probably took me 20-25 tries on the final boss to finally get the bugger (at which point I did a victory lap of my house). Some of the reviews paint this game as being nigh impossible or that you need to be 110% perfect to get through on normal difficulty, and I don't find this problem at all, it's a good difficulty for gamers. A great game that is most of all rewarding - each victory feels like a huge accomplishment and a boss fight is actually something to be feared ... you know,.. like the good ol' days.
