Alchemist's Castle

Jank. Feels more like dev project than an enjoyable game.

A very short and lightweight metroidvania where you play as the alchemist’s apprentice, uncovering bits of story through scattered journal entries while progressing through a small interconnected map. Your main tool is explosives, and you do unlock a few abilities over the roughly three-hour playtime, but they don’t really add much depth or meaningfully change how you approach the world. Exploration is straightforward, and while there is a final boss with some light puzzle elements, the encounter itself feels oddly simple and over quickly. The biggest issue is how shallow everything feels, from the abilities to the lore, which never really develops into anything memorable. It’s not bad for a very cheap, short experience, but it’s more of a brief diversion than a proper metroidvania.

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Alchemist's Castle is a decent metroidvania even for today's standard. The artwork is nice, level design is very retro, very reminiscent of the old 16-bit era of games. Character movement is decent and the overall story seems ok, although I haven't completed it. Most people won't recommend this game considering the genre is very convoluted with much better games, but it's perfect for a chill afternoon playthrough to kill some extra time as it seems really short. The design can be off-putting to someone as it's rather simplified and very barebone,, but it's just how this game is designed. If you have some spare time and you're looking to refresh your platforming skills this one might be right up your alley. 6.5/10

Alchemist Castle is a very short and sweet Metroidvania. I’m not sure if that’s what the developer intended, but the game doesn’t have much to say about itself. You play as the alchemist’s apprentice, uncovering the story by collecting journal entries. Your weapon is explosives, and you unlock new abilities over the roughly three hours of gameplay the game offers. The biggest drawback is its shallowness. The abilities that unlock later areas don’t add much depth, and the lore isn’t particularly compelling. There’s only one boss fight—the final boss. It’s a solid encounter with puzzle elements that you must overcome, but the alchemist goes down in just two hits, making the majority of the fight about figuring out how to reach him. Overall, it’s not a bad experience. For just $1, it provides around three hours of playtime to 100% complete.

这个游戏的弱点是画面不美观，但关卡设计和文笔都还不错。故事简单，但是不肤浅，有两个议题：第一，类似《玫瑰的名字》，记录了希腊罗马时期科学技术的典籍在基督教世界被视为异端。第二，父爱母爱的缺失将会影响到孩子的心理健康，这样的孩子容易心理扭曲、走极端。 虽然没中文但无关紧要，不论是单词还是句法都非常浅显易懂，高中生玩这个是没什么问题的。 以下是剧情观后感，剧透慎入。 [spoiler] 教会徒弟饿死师傅……这个结局不意外。 我一开始就觉得炼金术士人挺好的，如果真的有什么坏心就不会是把徒弟赶出城堡，而是直接杀掉了。同样，在早期拿到一页日志看到主角心里寻思着“我要拿魔法石变现”，我就对他印象不佳，觉得这个人非常功利。 什么样的人，就以为别人也这样。师傅都说了“我们不该独占魔法石，但是要是让世人知道它的存在也一样会引来祸患，要是落到坏人手里怎么办？”——很显然师傅是想销毁魔法石，主角却满脑子想着“师傅要独占魔法石”——这是因为他自己想独占魔法石，所以就以为别人也都这样。 但后期拿到24、25两页日志后我又对主角产生了怜悯，因为他幼年丧母，又一直得不到父亲的爱，想用魔法石换来名利的根本目的是希望父亲能认可自己。结果身为基督徒的父亲不仅不认可他，还六亲不认地把他带到村民面前批斗，说这是异端，要打死。主角对父亲彻底失望，这才黑化变成夜神月，要“建立一个更好的世界”。 魔法石这种东西本身不存在，但它可以象征希腊罗马时期的先进的科学技术。 男主本想用科技造福人类，但村民都愚昧而残忍，所以他憎恨这些人、想清除掉这些人也是情有可原。把一个“坏学徒”也写得让读者可以理解，不脸谱化、不非黑即白，这就是好的文笔。 [/spoiler]

A short and overall alright metroidvania, with decent artwork and animation.

《Alchemist's Castle》 2D平台动作游戏 游戏不支持中文 像素风格画面一般 steam指南有大佬的攻略 ——24.09.24

I completed this game in one 3 hour sitting. It's a really fun, quick metroidvania. The puzzles are well done, the difficulty is just right. The controls feel good. I have no complaints. It was well worth the money for an afternoon time killer. I look forward to seeing what other games come from Kabuk.

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