I picked this game up because of the positive reviews and almost cult like following. Unfortunately, it's just not that great. There are so many other better side scrollers out there. Dead Cells, Ori and the Blind Forest, or the 2.5d side scrolling parts of Nier: Automata. The graphics are not bad. The main character, enemies, and bosses are all fantastic quality, but the difference in texture quality between the characters and the environment is off-putting. Anti-aliasing feels broken. Even on cinematic settings and 4k resolution, the jaggies are visible and distracting during cinematics. I did not care about the story at all. It’s either awful fan service or an exploration into the narcissism of a second-rate writer. I found myself skipping through as much of the dialog as possible and banging my head on the desk when I saw an interaction prompt for NPCs. The drawn-out story and dialog only chips away from an otherwise unenjoyable experience. The controls are tight, but the game is just not that challenging. I see a lot of comparisons between this game and the heyday NES side scrollers. It's not a fair comparison. This is just not a good game.
