For a cutesy indie title that costed me less than 15 bucks, about the last thing I expected to say was that 12 hours in I don't think I'm anywhere near the finish line, and I love that. I'm still organically encountering new areas that look and feel very disctinct from one another, new enemy types, new skills, new roaming NPCs... This game has so much content to uncover I'm more than happy to lose myself in it and stumble my way through everything it has to offer—and that's pretty much the only way you are gonna get through it! After an introductory animated cutscene, you are off on your merry way and it's up to you where to go next from there on out. If you are a fan of linear storytelling and progression, this is not the game for you. If, however, you enjoy setting your own path; figuring out the way things work through experimentation; and piecing together the misteries behind a world and how it came to be the way it currently is; welcome home, my friend. Don't let the the adorable artstyle fool you though, this is not gonna be a cakewalk. This a 2D Metroidvania through and through, and with that comes the challenge and free-form pacing that characterizes the genre. You will encounter dozen and dozens of enemy types with their own particular behaviors; tons upgrades and skills to help you in combat or to traverse the enviroment; blocked doors and unrecheable passageways you will have to take mental note of, to come back to when you have the required key or skill; Bosses, and even some regular enemies, that can be brutal, but with a solid and rewarding gameplay, beating the toughest foes never fails to feel satisfying. As far as downsides go, the game has some abrupt framerate drops, I wish the soundtrack was more melodic than ambient, and savepoints could be more evenly distributed. It is a testament to how good the game is that despite these issues (the perfomance one being the biggest) I can still call this one of my favorites. Bravo, Team Cherry.
