Darxanadon

nice

Simple and fun little sidescroller. The jumping is a little floaty, but in a way I found really appealing. I found the music and sound effects rather pleasant. The enemies were a bit easy with a single exception for me, but I like the way they looked, and it was fun to fight them. I also enjoyed that the protagonist changed their appearance when you got gear upgrades. The game is very short if you were to compare it to a AAA title; Took about 3-4 hours for me to finish the game, and I like to meander, so you can probably finish in half that. This game has the soul I feel is typically lacking in many modern 2D games, which was honestly very refreshing. My only gripe was how underwhelming the scary intro demon was when I finally ran into it. The game made for a fun afternoon.

For $2 this game was awesome. Incredibly simple metroidvania in the art style of Faxanadu. Super cryptic early NES feel: no map, no item explanations, like 3 NPCs that give any kind of hint. Took me 2.8 hours to finish. The power increase from item upgrades was surprisingly satisfying for how simple it all was. Music is pretty good and silence was used effectively. Graphical change on your character as you equip new items is substantial. According to earlier reviews, seems there used to be awkward input buffering where inputs were lost, but this has been patched and fixed! The control felt good and hit boxes are fair. Only improvement I'd like to see is being able to swing your sword more than once in the air, but but that is a very minor gripe that didn't prevent me from winning.

The game is very brief. Don't expect a long difficult adventure like Castlevania II Simon's Quest. I didn't complete Zelda II or Faxanadu but I think this title is shorter. Anyway, you'll love its retro fantasy atmosphere, simple progression and powerups. Recommended for a chill nostalgic afternoon remembering the old days. Some slight control issues.

So, despite it being rough and sometimes a bit buggy, it's not actually a bad little Metroidvania once you get used to it. Buutt... Now that I've finished this game, has it added anything to my life? Enjoyment? Novelty? Challenge? Sense of wonder? Etc. No. It looks and plays like a beginner's coding project. The low cost doesn't even help it; there are better Metroidvanias for $1.

I liked it but the difficulty was mainly tied to the engine. Some of the hitboxes were a bit rough, however the gameplay was fun. I did enjoy the music a ton and the sprites were really nice to the eyes. I liked the story and I think it was short and sweet! A nice lil game that reminds me of LOZ 2.