It ain't quite DK level of greatness, but it is a really good platformer. Lots of secrets, mostly just tonics for cosmetic effect. You don't really need power ups as the game is pretty easy, aside from the Impossible lair, of course. I got 3 cons for it: - No Bosses, except Capital B like 4 times in the Lair - Too many factory levels - Impossible lair is really brutal Last level took me 5 tries to beat, but man, it was the first time in years when I threw down my controller in anger.
So, I expected a side-scrolling Hotline Miami and Katana Zero delivered on that. What I didn't expect, with so many 5 star reviews, is a 2-4 hour game. Like HM, K0 have some cryptic story, fluid engaging gameplay, cool art style and music, but beyond one story mode run there is little to nothing for you to do. Most of the levels feel the same and there are not that many of them. There are speedrun mode, harder difficulty and some secret swords, but that's just replaying the same ten levels over and over.
Well, that was a big dissapointment. What is good about this game? - Art style, visuals, music (also it just screams BUDGET TITLE the whole time). What is bad about this game? - The game. Gameplay loop is just awful. Braindead combat and way too much platforming. That's what everybody loved in Valkyrie Profile - platforming, right? If you want to do character quests you'll need to traverse maps 20 times over looking for random crap and it's a freaking lot of unnecessary platforming. In the first half of the game you may need healers and it takes like a three full party combos to take down one goddamn rat and in the second half you can pick whoever and destroy anybody. So, 23 hours for 100% and I didn't do all the character quests, because I don't want to comb the map yet again. All it gives you are some pictures in the credits. Overall it feels like a big waste of time and money. They should've just make it a visual novel instead, because the world is beautiful and the characters are charming, but a lot of it feels very underdeveloped.
So I really don't like to crap on games, especially indie games by small teams. But, if I'm being honest, Chasm wasn't that fun to play. Slow-ass grind with very rare item drops. A lot of verticality in maps, but not that much of traversal abilities. No post game feel of overpowering yourself. No fun weapons or magic either I forced myself through it to the end and I have no desire to repeat that, generated maps or not (doesn't change that much anyway). Bloodstaind costed me about 5 times more, but it's so much more fun to play.
This might be my favourite "Castlevania" game ever and among my top 3 Metroidvanias. I went in not knowing any controversy around it, with promised DLCs, characters and such, so I just focused on the gameplay. And it is amazing. I don't know man, I just love me some grind in my 'vanias. I love it when every enemy you slay means something - a little bit of exp, some money or even an item. And Bloodstained gives you a lot of reason to grind. And most importantly it is fun and not tedious. Previously I played Chasm and god damn that game was Castlevania done wrong, especially in comparison. I love metroidvanias, but rarely beat them twice. This game? Immediately went to New Game + and ran through it again. And again. All this grind pays off, you can build yourself like a monster and destroy everybody. It is nowhere perfect, of course not. Hundred of items, with like 10-20 being any good. Either too difficult or too easy. First area suck and can scare off people, like myself a year ago. But give it a chance and it will grow on you. TL;DR - It's superfun, buy it.
I am not an avid FPS gamer by any means, but I loved this game. It is pretty simple in it's design. Levels are short, secrets mostly hidden behind walls. Guns are classic, but great. Magic is useful, but not necessary. And melee build is totally viable, but maybe a bit hard to hit bosses with. As I said, I'm not a retro-fps guy, I hadn't clocked in hundreds of hours in Doom or something like that, but I beat PW on the first try, from start to finish on standart difficulty. Died maybe 6-7 times, starting on boss 3, but by the end of the game I had almost 15 lives left. Lives are found in secret areas and they are all over the place, just hug the walls, like Wolfenstein. So yeah, I had no problem with lives system or no quick saves. I mean, levels are like 5-10 minutes each, you don't need to save, you'll be ok. Bottom line, this game is pretty fun and pretty cheap, so it's a great deal. Oh, and the music is great too, OST included.
Well, Blasphemous is visually stunning, I'll give them that. Pixel art is gorgeous, music is great and voice over with sound is good. Nice Souls-vania gameplay, but with many many infuriatingly frustrating spikes and pit falls. I think it plays better than Death's Gambit, another pixel art 2D souls-vania, but Game Kitchen could borrow a few things from it (some weapon variety, bosses respawn in powered-up versions). What I really didn't like is huge amount of bugs. Nothing game breaking, but still, I can't remember the last time I've seen so many in one game. But most important question is: was it fun to play Blasphemous? Yes, yes it was. Finished it in a couple of days and I can't bring myself to finish Iconoclasts for months.
Gato Roboto is a cute little metroidvania. While it doesn't offer much for the veterans of such games, aside from the stellar gameplay, I think it is a perfect compact sized adventure for the people who wanted to try the genre, but was intimidated by huge maps, tons of secrets and backtracking and lots of hours needed to complete the game. Gato hits all the marks on the "good metroidvania" checklist, but you only need a couple of hours to 100% it. Visuals are nice, sound could be better, but, most importantly, gameplay is highly enjoyable. I finished the game in a couple of sittings and I wish there was more.
It is actually pretty good Metroidvania with a Devil May Cry-like combat. Map is not very big, but you have 4 different characters with 3 skill trees each plus multiple difficulty levels and arena mode. I've completed it 5 times and it's still fun.
Already own it, so I just copy my review: Wonderful game. Story is great and really feels like an "adventure". Puzzles are not too tough. For a game about dreams it doesn't really use moon logic, you can work out everything . The downside is that it's not all that technically impressive, with occasional crashes and stuttering. And a fair amount of backtracking in later chapters until quick travel becomes available. I really like the art style. Every screen is beatifully made. But I just wish there were more actual animation to it. The beginning may seem a little slow, but don't let it fool you, later chapters are crazy.
