all of the weapons feel like they have a place now
Metroid and Super Metroid are two of my favorite games of all time, so I keep on the lookout for interesting games in the "Metroidvania" category. I purchased sundered because it looked great, and was tagged as a metroidvania and I was not disappointed. One thing many metroidvania style games lack that I think is important in the genre is an atmosphere of terror and forboding. Sundered provides this in spades. Some other reviewers have complained about how enemy hordes will randomly spawn and they can't handle it. This, to me is an excellent feature of the game. Eshe's death is guaranteed several times throughout the game, and as she grows stronger the hordes actually become something the player wants to happen, to continue feeding her power. Another unique thing that the game offers is the choice to either embrace the eldritch powers offered by the lower gods, or resist the temptation. In most games both paths would offer similar or equivalent upgrades, but in Sundered many of the eldritch powers are unmatched in their usefulness. The temptation on a "Resist" playthrough to embrace the darkness for wall-climbing in particular is hard to resist. This is an excellent game, and my only complaint is that it has far fewer hidden secret items and areas than Super Metroid did. I wish there were more Sundered to play. I completed two full runs of the game and each took about sixteen hours.
