Don't go into this expecting something like the Silent Hill 2 remake; this is a very different beast. For one while it's not as scary but it is way more suspenseful & high stress. The enemies, Orphans, are inspired by Dead Space's Necromorphs but instead of adapting to limb loss, they absorb their dead to evolve into stronger variants. So after every fight there's a lingering sense of dread, because you know when you come through an arena again there might another encounter & those enemies will use the old ones to evolve. Unless you burn the bodies, which adds resource management because you might need the burning fuel to access a secret or the resources may be better spent on ammo or healing items. Gameplay wise it's a basic shooter at the core, no frills & reminds me of third person shooters before Gears Of War set the standard. It works & is fine, but I just wish there was some kind of dodge or dash! That's the one thing I wish Bloober brought over from the SH2 remake; the combat dodge. Without it combat can be more stressful than it needs to be. Bloober have done a bloody good job with Cronos, it's a unique beast & while it's not a, debatably, modern classic their SH2 remake it's more than deserving of a buy.
This is a really relaxing platformer, its no Hollow Knight or Castlevania but it is a creative reinterpretation of the 1980 original. The sound design to the, admittedly disappointingly basic, visuals evokes a sense of early scifi & fantasy that's fitting considering the game's connection to the original Adventure. The biggest issues I have would be the slow start n stop nature of the combat & some technical issues. Like the sound effect for the parry attack won't play or that the GoG version has issues running on the steamdeck. Don't go into this expecting Silksong, expect something more forgiving, chill & unapologetically retro.
Yeah the platforming for this can be rather slow it's by no means unresponsive. It all works with the use of the chains that once imprisoned you now acting as both a whip & a way to interact with the environment is a creative breath of fresh air & executed well. I'm not familiar with the first Ice Palace title but from what I've looked up it plays like another title I'm not familiar with, Ghosts N Goblins, so making this sequel more in line with Castlevania was a good move to bring in more people. Just don't go in expecting usual Metroidvania. This has taken inspiration from the earlier, & much more linear, Castlevania titles like Simon's Quest, Dracula's Curse & Bloodlines with combat having some decent depth to it. The platforming can also feel clunky like in those early platformers to but not terrible. This is worth getting but so long as you keep your expectations in check then you'll have balls of fun with it.
Second time I bought this. First time was on SWITCH, now on GoG to test it out on my steamdeck. Runs great with a stable framerate on the deck, & once once you go high end graphics with this game you just cant go back to the SWITCH version. That stuff aside. Beautifully atmospheric, investigative gameplay is addictive & about getting your brain thinking rather than just shooting up people, lacquered in love & authenticity to Lovecraft's work with connections to multiple stories, great story & plenty of content so you're getting your money's worth. On the downside the game slows to a crawl when you're stumped, investigating clues tends to follow the same steps of deliberate trial & error until you match the correct evidence, sanity mechanic is weak & borders on being pointless, the visual presentation can obscure the game world during certain points & the side content alot of the time ends up being weak busy work like kill X of Y instead of being fun smaller mysteries to investigate. I pray this gets a sequel in the future! In the meantime I got their remake of Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened to tide me over.
