Enjoyable retro zelda-like game. It's more focused on combat than puzzles. I like the game very much because the game is beautiful. Bad point : the mobility is a bit an issue, you can swing the sword as fast as you can, but you can't move during that, and the sword range isn't great ; enemies on their side are fast, and have huge attack arcs, so it's a bit frustrating. Also, there's almost no enemy weakness exploit (aside from one monster) unlike other games of the genre, every enemy is choppable with the most basic sword. End game bosses feels more bullet hell like, but some items are so overpowered that it's doable even if mobility is a bit an issue. I played with all curses on by the way (= optionnal hard mode), so on a regular run, that's even less an issue. I would have liked a bit more focus on the lore, which is understandable but a light. Overall a good game that I recommend.
The game is enjoyable for a Jrpg fan, but there's no great charm to it because everything is so generic. Every tier 1 weapon have the same stat value for its stat, same for every tier 2, then tier 3... There are a few elemental and debuff weapon, but they are all tier 2. The world also has a generic shape (no spoiler, but it's not round). The skill list is 95% similar between each character. Even if you can explore each region in the order you want, it doesn't change much aside for which transport mean you get first (I unfortunately got warp last). There's numbered chest; which intice to backtrack but it's not worth it in the end (shop item at that point). One bad point : debuffs are super potent, rendering bosses a cakewalk in one ATK- cast. I didn't use ATK debuffs as soon as I understood that. There's one very good point : you can turn off combat, if you want to explore (insted of running away 100 times). I might try a low level run. I gave ir four stars because of that. Generic game, but okay enough to be enjoyable for a jrpg amateur.
I bought this game because I wanted to share the pressure of the character. I got it. This metroidvania has a fixed layout for key rooms and everything else that shifts, so it's fairly predictable, You swarmed with ennemies regularly, and with more and more until you die, so it's like a race to get to the next checkpoint. You can upgrade your character between runs. Combat feels good, a bit repetitive. you can play 4 plaryer coop localy... You have each a shield bar, but the health bar is shared, and you have a recall button to teleport to the 1st player. Very well done, I could play with my wife who is bad with platformers. Sundered 2 would be an auto buy for me. Resist or embrace the game !
Finished the game 3 times at least, with self imposed challenge. I do this only with games I really like. The story is decent, the characters have some depth, the combat is simple with few skills, yet I enjoyed it because of character customization, and the best : the scereny is awesome with an engaging soundtrack, I love it ! The worst part of the game ? You can't skip some dialogs, except the ones just before boss battle in case you lose.
I love this game. You can't button mash, you can't run all over to avoid the pressure of the fight, you have to react efficiently or you will take a hit. It's hard, but it's fair, and you don't have to push many buttons during during the fight : hit, block/cast, roll, change weapons, move. Learn, die, repeat, triumph, the beloved basics of video games. I play on ubuntu 22.04 and wine 9.0, it works flawslessly.
Not flawless, as the missions are a bit repetitive, but there's very few games where the balance is as carefully thought as this one. There are many equips to choose from, and almost everything can be comboed to a great effect (unless it's resisted), but it's 4 choices always (4 robots with 4 slots each + 4 team equip). The freedom this gives is great, while keeping the game simple to play. Totally worth the price.
The puzzle platformer in Greak is simple, there's almost no hard thinking, you won't get lost, except for the final dungeon. It's a casual game. The art and the music are the best part of the game: it tells a simple story, but in such a beautiful way, I love It ! The game is not long (6 hours to finish), but I find myself replaying it, doing casual speedruns. Puzzle aren't tedious, so it's fun actually to replay them in this way. The only real downside is controls, until you get the hang of them, it feels a bit clunky when pairing the characters.
The game if fun in itself, I would recommend it. I own it on steam too, but my GOG version has a bug : monsters don't drop dust. I can manage to win the game nonetheless, but it makes the game harder than it is already.
I played HLD for about 25 hours. Story : 4/5. There's no text for anything, but most things are understandable, a few stay totally cryptic. Art : 5/5. The game is beautiful for pixel art. I spent time staring at the environment Sound : 4/5. Mostly well done, a few tracks are irritating. Gameplay : 4/5. I had fun playing the game, which is challenging. Sometimes, it's frustrating, especially parts involving chain-dashing (once you purchase the upgrade) which is hard to do consistently, but all those parts are optional (absolutely no upgrades are needed to finish the game - I like to play it this way). So the main game is really fun, tediousness comes if you insist on getting 100%. Combat is fairly efficient, and I love the fact that you haven't any i-frames natively while dashing, you only can learn pattern and evade whatever is coming at you the best you can. Upgrading leads to more options, but can complicate the combat system : good luck not triggering by accident the "dash + attack" or "attack + dash" moves in the heat of a battle. The game auto-saves so, unfortunately, you can't rewind to test if the upgrade fits you or not. Worth to point out that there's a boss rush mode unlocked once you finish the game. The game works well on linux (ubuntu 20.04), I had only 2 or 3 crashes which didn't ruin progression as the game save often. Keyboard and controller remapping are updated now, no longer lagging behind the steam version, so it's entirely possible to play the way you like it (best for me : keyboard + mouse, dash on right click and directed by movement keys).
