Afterimage

I really tried to give this a shot since it was highly recommended to me, but it's getting harder and harder. The two biggest problems with this game is that it's incredibly easy and the maps are way to big. Those two things together mean it is a tedious slog to get through. Almost every single boss can be beaten on your first attempt, and the only ones that might be more challenging are when you're deliberately sequence breaking to find bosses that are outside of the intended route. Even then, I've yet to see anything that took more than three attempts to beat. I find myself constantly getting fatigued with every new area. I feel like the maps are about twice as big as they should be, most of it is filler where you're fighting the same three enemies over and over and over again. The numerous collectables peppered through each map are almost always uninteresting loot that you never need to use. I absolutely hate that you need to rest at a checkpoint for it to become a fast-travel location, just discovering it is not enough. Most of the time you're traversing the same paths over and over again to collect things, so I have to choose between resting immediately at any new checkpoint I find (thus respawning enemies, making the tedious slog even worse) or accidentally forgetting to come back to it later and rest (thus not having a fast-travel location that I can use). I can't overstate how terrible this is, how angry it makes me every time I happen to find another checkpoint. I should be able to fast-travel to any checkpoint that I have touched, even if I haven't rested there. The upgrade system also seems to actively discourage using it. You need to use finite resources to upgrade, but even if you max out a weapon it's still worse than the next tier of weapon that you might find. So there's really no point in upgrading anything, you're better off just exploring to find a better weapon. Those are just the most obvious flaws in this game, there are many more. For these reasons. I can't recommend it.

I like metroidvanias, and so I enjoyed this game, but it is noticeably unpolished and shallow. It feels like it tried to blend rpg mechanics with metroidvania mechanics, which is a good concept, but the devs did not think about how to make those mechanics mesh, which made the lack of polish more visible. For example, you can get weapons as item drops from enemies, but there is no weapon durability, so you never need a duplicate of a weapon. You have a lot of health and there is a level system and skill tree, so bosses rarely take multiple attempts, and you barely have to be good at the movement to defeat them, you don't even really need to learn their patterns if you are a high enough level and have healing potions. There is a magic system, but no explanation for what the spells do, so all you have to go off of is the spell's name, and seeing what happens when you cast it, which can be confusing when some of the spells are buffs/debuffs. You also cannot cast spells if not standing on the ground, which you again have to figure out for yourself. The map is very big, which makes exploring it fun, but at the same time it is so expansive it is easy to get lost, and I had multiple occasions of not knowing the route forward due to poor signposting, and had to scour an area to figure out where to go next. There are quests, but again, poor signposting lead to me getting an ending of a game and not even realizing it until the credits rolled. Overall, while I enjoyed this game, I enjoyed it despite it's flaws, and it is definitely not worth full price of 25 dollars. Buy it when it comes on sale, if you don't have anything better to play.

I was going to finish this game properly, but the more of it I play the more I realise it is simply way, way too big. Every single area is over-inflated in size with platforming and enemy placement that just don't make it nothing but tedious. This is not even including the usual metroidvania foray of searching for secrets and hidden paths. Afterimage has all the ingredients of a solid game, it just doesn't offer the player any level of convenience or challenge to justify the egregious amount of time required to play it. Add on top an obtusely communicated story with unbeknownst character's names being dropped constantly like we should recognise them, I was constantly asking myself the full suite of who, why, where, what, and when should I have known/care about any of this? Also, while most of the music in this is rather nice, there are a handful of tracks which emit an extended high-pitched, tinnitus-inducing whistle/whine which does nothing but leave my ears ringing and wanting to leave the area. But, of course, the area takes over an hour to clear so I have to mute the game upon entering certain areas which is really frustrating. As for why I stopped when I did, I stumbled into a very abrupt ending: I pressed a button and a boss teleported in. I beat the boss on the first try. Then the boss just said actually no, and I lost in a cutscene. Got thrown back to the main menu. Who was that? Why could they just win anyway? What could I have done to avoid it? Where should I have gone instead? I don't know. It doesn't matter now.

很稀烂的游戏，很难说是一款令人满意的类银。 先说优点吧，相比其他类银，rpg要素多一点，技能也比较多，美术有点特点，boss很多，地图很大，一周目就能全成就。我觉得这游戏很突出的一个优点是整个地图都是连贯的，并没有任何的房间切换，值得肯定。 然后就是无数的缺点了，首先我觉得制作组毫无诚意的一点是，在地图里塞满了不知道是什么人留下的箴言，就像魂游那种，很大一部分是和游戏内容相关的，还有一些完全莫名其妙的话，我根本不知道这些话的意义何在，就是那种现实里的人留下的类似于彩蛋的话，但是和补充剧情的箴言混在一起，从外表上完全看不出来。就诸如早睡早起或者一些莫名其妙的人生大道理，然后下面写着谁留下的这句话。我作为一个玩家完全不知道这句话为什么要在这里，这个人到底是谁，但是它们就是突兀地出现在了游戏里。我不知道这是开发者还是赞助者或者是别的什么，总之非常出戏与破坏沉浸感，实在是摸不到头脑。你真想搞这种东西单独设置一个彩蛋房间不好吗？非要散落在世界各地，破坏游戏体验。其次，这游戏的影塔有点废案区域，有就有吧，那个区域和正常游玩区域离得很近，近就近吧，好巧不巧，这游戏有个探测附近收集物的装备，你戴上了附近有可收集的道具会响，而刚好废案区域有些没用的金币堆。只要你一走过去探测仪就会响，我真的不理解，类银很大一部分乐趣就在于全收集，这种东西你要么离远点，要么可收集，我都通关了你告诉我那是废案？要不是上网查了查我一辈子也想不到这么逆天的操作。那个地方卡bug倒是也能去，就是要卡bug在地图外面飞，我觉得这已经脱离正常游玩的范畴了。就这两点让我感觉制作组非常不用心。 然后就是些稀松平常的缺点了，地图没什么设计，难度有点太低了，心渊看似很自由实则由于等级限制成长被限制的死死的，东西掉到刺上很难捡，遇到了一次boss完全不动被活活打死的bug，boss战场地大部分偏小。技能实在是个fw的东西，很少能见到一个技能前后摇长并且伤害低，并且手柄搓出来有点难度，有点像血污的感觉，大部分技能毫无存在感。武器之间也极不平衡，太刀无脑吸血，射程几乎有半个屏幕，还有弹反，纯纯碾压其他武器的游戏体验。宝箱看起来多，很多东西都太fw了，前面那种辣鸡武器，木头武器，黑木武器，铁武器，每种各六把，这就就要你开18个无用的箱子了，真的无语。然后有的地方贴图还不咋样，并不是很贴合，在天空殿尤为明显，眼看着刺的判定范围和实际范围不一样。游戏里出现的各种弹幕，也十分恶意，非常喜欢追踪、扩散、自爆、滞留，好在游戏难度不高，没造成很大困扰。有的解密也很抽象，比如王城等钟表，你说是致敬我也无话可说。还有“前有悲伤”，谁玩谁知道。 我本人是全收集了的，所有区域，红树沙漠很抽象，显示55个实际有56个收集品，真的无语了，制作组不用心到一个地步了，我还是全收集了发现自己还差一把武器才发现这地方实际上不止55个收集品。有些东西藏得实在太阴了，包括但不限于，隐藏下平台，隐藏黑冲门，隐藏滑铲，所以你看到一个死路，基本上需要先砍砍，然后滑铲一下，然后闪避一下，真的太恶心了。有的地方风向仪找到了，你也差不多知道位置，光找地方进去，都不好找。其次，游戏里充斥着各种毫无必要的隐藏道路，就明明大伙都知道那里有个路，非要隐藏一下，有点为藏而藏的感觉。 总结，制作组设计水平真的不过关，而且非常不用心。

the game is really beautiful but i cannot recommend it to others. the story is just incomprehensible, the maps are way too big, the dialogue is nonsense likely due to poor translation, load times are annoying long when going into inventory/fast travels/menus, map completion conditions are vague and unintuitive, and there are bugged achievements. many of the systems in the game are redundant because combat is simplistic and too easy. you don't need to use potions, the myriad of weapon options you have don't really matter because you can just spam attack for every boss, and the talent tree is so pointless when most directions give duplicates. it's a really beautiful piece of art but a very poor game, 3/10 experience

ここでの評価は割れているみたいですが、自分は普通に良作だと思います。 自分はノーマルで遊びました。このモードですとボス戦はよほどレベル差がない限りは攻撃連打してるだけで勝てるバランスでしたが、自分はボス倒せなくてそこから先に進めないよりはこっちのほうがストレスなくて良いやと思ってしまいました。 マップは広くて探索のしがいがあり、新しいアクションが増えると行ける範囲がさらに広がってその先で入手できるアイテムも増えていくのでマップを埋めていくのがなかなか楽しかったです。

I love this game. It is definitely not perfect, but it is a joy to play. Looking back, my favorite aspect is how large it is. There are basically no loading screens, so you really feel like you are exploring a single, massive, interconnected world and discovering its secrets. The art is very pretty, in its own style. In addition, there are 6 weapon types that each have some their own move set and very cool combos, providing plenty of variety and complexity to the combat. The downsides: the story is not super compelling, partly due to a mediocre translation, but I didn't have much trouble following it, either. The movement isn't as tight as HK, Silksong, and Constance (e.g., the wall jump is slightly clunky), but I like the dash and [spoiler]triple jump[/spoiler], and everything involving the character's attacks is pretty spot-on.

Pros: Absolutely massive world, fun level and weapon progression, gorgeous aesthetic, phenomenal soundtrack, loads of unique enemies, smooth combat, smooth and fun movement with good sequence-breaking tech, good fast travel options, intense boss fights, a handful of puzzles, and loads of cool obstacle courses. Cons: Bad quest tracking, no explanation for some game mechanics (see: equippable afterimages), and confusing story progression. I think this game is one of the best examples of a metroidvania, and even has a few not-so-subtle nods to SotN that I appreciated. Each of the areas feel large, but as you play you come across more and more, and the entire world just opens up. Each zone has a single fast-travel point to move between them, but you can also get consumable items to teleport instantly to any checkpoint, so backtracking is not at all frustrating. Most of the exploration is gated by enemy levels more than locked doors or new tech that nudges you in the right direction. There is so much verticality, and great movement, with beautifully hand-drawn backgrounds that rival Ori's, and a number of different weapon types with lots of combat ability progression, and a number of unique weapon abilities. I am thoroughly impressed by this title. It is easily worth the full price.

He jugado 2 veces este juego de inicio a fin y la verdad me gustaron muchas cosas en general, creo que se pudieron refinar mejor el tema de exploracion de los objetos faltantes en el late game porque al ser un mapa tan morbido pues hace mas complicado explorar secciones especificas aun con el mecanisno que nos dan para encontrar items faltantes y un rango de deteccion corta. Visualmente se siente genial. Tiene una historia muy amplia, quizas se pudo cerrar mejor algunas cosas en el true ending porque deja cosas un poco dudosas. La parte mecanica de peleas y tal me parecen chulo, quizas me faltaba mas builds para opciones de magia por encima de armas pero lejos de eso esta muy cool el juego. Si eres un jugador que tiene mucho cariño a juegos clasicos de castlevania creo que afterimage es una opcion muy solida a ello porque la exploracion y sus opciones de combate son muy amplias.

This game is not perfect. Its story is confusing, quest pacing all over the place, it have some rough difficulty spikes and dubious boss designes. So much weapons and items that you dont care about 90% of them. That being said it kept me behind monitor until I saw all endings and done all achievments. I almost never do all achievments. I commend it.