Bone Appetit

Pretty fun game. Kind of nonsensical sense of humor, which I enjoyed even. Cool weapon variety, bosses are fun, there's different strategies to tackle them. Skelly is a cool protagonist. If you're looking for a short sweet indie metroidvania that doesn't take itself too seriously Bone Appetit is a good game satisfy your... appetite.

Neat lil' microvania with a lot of heart and surprising difficulty. A bit rough around the edges in some of the UI and stuffs, but anyone looking for a three hour diversion, look no further.

[b]In the interest of full disclosure: [/b] I was going to post this review a while back after talking with the developer on YouTube a bit, but sat on it because I wanted to actually finish the entire thing first. This is the review for the Vanilla Mode only. --- I won't lie, at first I was about to drop the game. The early game is brutal. I died a lot. In fact, I actually missed the first freaking sword initially because it required breaking most rules you see in Metroidvanias about going into dark places without a light. Enemies hit hard, the controls were stiff, and all around I was getting bodied by almost everything I ran into for one reason or another. But then something clicked. I still died a lot early on, and definitely died a lot during bosses, but after a few upgrades I started finding more health. I found new weapons. Even spending food on a shield was a massive improvement. That isn't new for a Metroidvania, but what hooked me was how nearly everything felt like a meaningful upgrade in its own right. Sure, you still have the mandatory life expansions, but the torch doubles as a makeshift weapon that obliterates some types of enemies while acting like a light source. The wands all have niche uses. The armor feels meaningful because of how much damage it negates. There's even very little overlap in what the items do, and I often found myself switching between most of them with a few exceptions because they offered new and unique ways to approach situations that other items didn't. And that carries over to the bosses as well. My first fight with the Templars was pretty brutal, but I found out the game gave me tools to even the odds. Other bosses have similar weaknesses, be they either blind spots you can exploit, or outright weaknesses to specific weapons that drastically reduce their threat. I might not have found all of the tricks out on my first run, but that brings me to my next point.... This game is pretty damn replayable even without Old School Mode. I didn't see it at first, but after thinking about it some more, I realized the map is pretty open to the point where you might be able to skip more than a few areas. You don't need everything to reach King Fatass, and I probably could've ended the game sooner if I wasn't fixated on exploring first. So for all of those reasons I already talked about, the game has my ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ respect. But, it's not flawless either. The map is the biggest offender by far, because while it does an ok job of pointing you towards the general area of a boss (which you have to opt into), it's not all that helpful in keeping check of where you have and haven't been. Which is a major setback to me in games like this. Then there's the writing. I wasn't expecting a serious plot, but the (often crude) jokes are a love it or hate it thing and can be almost cringe inducing at times. Again, not a major problem, but I can see where it turns people off. All in all, 9/10. It's a solid game all around, flaws aside.

Bone Appetit is part of my favorite play style. I had fun for hours on end. A beautiful work of pixel art and level design. I liked the soundtrack that matched a lot with the art in general. I recommend this game to everyone who has never played metroidvania as it is a great game for beginners. Reminded me of "Eternal Daughter". A downside to the gameplay. The controls setup is horrible and there is no way to customize the buttons. Also, some hitbox issues on stairs. In certain places the character curls up and neither jumps nor climbs the stairs. Something to think about when choosing gameplay in your next game. Congratulations on the work!

Great little pixel game with very zany humour and a large amount of play-ability. I kept refering to a youtube video to help get me through my first attempt which I have no shame about. There are a lot of little secrets to find and a good amount of upgrades to discover which will help you through! I will keep coming back to this one for a good while yet! x

[i]---see where this game landed on my metroidvania tier list beneath this review!---[/i] It's okay. It feels a lot like Castle in the Darkness. It's short, raw and lacking in production values and features (Like a good map). It's presumably an early first-go at a metroidvania. Like Castle in the darkness, there were things i liked, but ultimately, i just couldn't get into it like I could with other indie first-go metroidvania/zelda 2 type games (E.g. Elliots Quest, Treasure Adventure Game). I'm hoping the dev can create something bigger and better next time like the developer of castle did when they made Astalon, which is one of my favourites. There's a lot of better metroidvanias out there, so unless you're a diehard like me, i wouldn't recommend trying this one. ===================== [b]My Metroidvania Tier List[/b] [i] (excluding Metroid & Castlevania titles)[/i] ===================== [b]S Tier:[/b] Aeterna Noctis | Astalon: Tears of the Earth | Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom | Hollow Knight | Cathedral | [b]A Tier:[/b] Doomblade | Afterimage | Elderand | Ori and the Will of the Wisps | Environmental Station Alpha | Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights | Depths of Sanity | [b]B Tier:[/b] Blast Brigade | Alwa’s Legacy | Steamworld Dig 2 | Islets | Blasphemous | After Death | Pronty^ | Haak | Outbuddies DX | Mortal Manor | Escape From Tethys | Treasure Adventure Game | Chasm | Haiku, the Robot | Monster Sanctuary | Rabi-Ribi | Elliot Quest | [b]C Tier[i] (enjoyed playing)[/i]:[/b] Momodora: Reverie under the Moonlight | Ghost Song | Lone Fungus | Aggelos | Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night | Death’s Gambit: Afterlife | Catmaze | Omega Strike | Plague of Yamorn | Sheepo | Infernax | Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth | Carrion^ | Wuppo | Iconoclasts | Ato | [b]D Tier[i] (liked some things, but had issues)[/i]:[/b] Moonscars | Rusted Moss | The Messenger | Castle In The Darkness | Alwa’s Awakening | Pharaoh Rebirth | Yoku’s Island Express | Guacamelee! 2 | Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse | Shantae: Half-Genie Hero | Beholgar | Touhou Luna Nights | Headlander | Axiom Verge | Strider | Minoria | Souldiers | [b]Bone Appetit[/b] | The Witch & the 66 Mushrooms | Transiruby | Destroy Space Aliens | La-Mulana | Guacamelee! | 8Doors | Gato Roboto | Super Panda Adventures | [b]E Tier[i] (Didn’t like)[/i]:[/b] Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap | Rain World | Dandara | Vernal Edge | Blaster Master Zero | Medusa | Sundered | Salt & Sanctuary | Valdis Story | Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet | Chronicles of Teddy | B.I.O.T.A. | Shadow Complex | Grime | Timespinner | Rex Rocket | Phoenotopia: Awakening | Aquaria | Nyaruru Fishy Fight | Apotheon | Bad Pad | Lootbox Lyfe | Angel’s Gear | Fearmonium | Dust: An Elysian Tale | ====================