Dewdrop Dynasty

What an Amazing Metroidvania game! The combat and bosses are absolutely peak and the music is Really Good. Would Recommend.

There's a lot here that feels pretty competently done for an action-platforming game, but as a metroidvania, this game falls short in so many ways. I have to address the camera first and foremost because it simply tracks the player and doesn't assist you with any kind of look-ahead. That means when you're falling down or platforming upwards, you can only see a short distance above or below you which makes for some very frustrating blind jumps at points. Most of the platforming in this game feels good except for this problem. The second big issue is the map design. It's very large, maybe too big for its own good. Traversing it takes time, and while normally a larger map in a metroidvania translates to more shortcuts and secrets, here that is not the case. There are simply too many rooms connecting other rooms that offer very little in the way of secrets or enemies. They may as well be corridors. There is a fast travel system available later which helps, however even then you'll find yourself walking quite a bit between the available travel points. There are some secrets to be found in the larger rooms, but I didn't find them to be very satisfying. You will mostly find tickets that can be redeemed for currency (which can be farmed relatively easily), and every few tickets you redeem will earn you a larger upgrade to health or ammo. There is the occasional health upgrade you can find, but I suspect veterans of the genre will hardly notice if they have extra health or not. The difficulty of the game is not very demanding, and even as someone who is only okay at video games, I don't think I would have noticed if I only got a quarter of the possible upgrades. The enemy and boss design is okay, nothing bad, but nothing to write home about either. They are mostly frustrating because you'll encounter many enemies that take 5 or 6 extra hits to die than you might expect. This leaves you feeling like your weapon is under-powered, but you won't find any direct weapon upgrades outside of the mod system. The system is a tetris-like grid that lets you change your weapon slightly, but nothing dramatic. You can slightly increase your range, bullet speed, add a small critical hit chance, burning effect, etc. They're helpful upgrades, and I do like the puzzle element they introduce to weapon customization. However, because you have to pick and choose, you won't be able to have some of the very basic upgrades that make shooting feel much better alongside some of the other upgrades, like ammo count or the single damage upgrade (the range upgrade never left my grid, for instance). As for the other abilities and upgrades you will find, some of them are pretty neat ideas, but not all of them will see much use beyond functioning as keys. You unlock a crawling ability eventually, but it really only allows you to access new areas. It isn't used for any puzzle elements a la Samus' morphball, and it also doesn't shrink your hitbox as far as I can tell. Similarly, there's a pocket watch that lets you stop time briefly, which could make for some interesting platforming sections, but it's really just used as a key to allow you access to new areas. As far as I know, the time stop doesn't affect any enemies either, so you won't use it to dodge attacks or get free hits. I did find myself using the dash item and flamethrower item consistently. The dash is a very generous directional dodge that gives you i-frames, which is an additional dodge on top of your basic dodge-roll. The flamethrower allows you to hover, and you can use it outright ignore a few boss attacks, including during the final boss. There's also the dynamite, which is mostly used for opening up new areas, but it can (technically) be used as a weapon. It's awkward to throw and make sure it lands near an enemy, then you have to shoot it to detonate it or hope the enemy doesn't walk away before the fuse finishes, and even then it doesn't do that much damage (it can hurt you though). I used it a few times and then mostly forgot about it. All in all, someone has clearly put a lot of time and passion into crafting a world with a certain aesthetic, but when it comes to getting lost and playing in that world, the emptiness of it becomes too apparent to ignore. I'll be very interested to see what this developer creates next, but unfortunately I can't recommend this game to fans of metroidvanias. For players looking for an action platformer with some very light metroidvania elements, this isn't a bad choice at a discount, maybe.

I really wanted to play and like this game, but it's just not good in its current state. My main issue is that the game just feels really unfair and the controls feel unresponsive. Every time I try to turn using the controllers joystick it just snaps me back to the direction I was facing originally. Dodge roll also doesn't register like 50% of the time and I am left wondering how I got hit even tho I pressed dodge well in time. Shooting feels weird and you can't change the keybinds on the controller. Many enemies also feel incredibly unfair. Respect to the dev for dropping the price, but the game feels way too unresponsive and frustrating for me. I hope these issues will be fixed in the future so that I can finally enjoy this otherwise wonderful game but now I am considering a refund due to all these problems.

saved my marriage. thank you.

Tudo o que um Metroidvania poderia oferecer com muita qualidade, Puzzles, Chefes e fases com dificuldades elevadas ou básica, jogabilidade divertida, diversificada e criativa, além de ser totalmente personalizada Uma coisa única do jogo é sua lore sendo apresentada de forma cativante e carismática, o mesmo seus personagens ( Se me permitem: É muito parecido com Undertale nesse requisito, PRICIPALMENTE OS GTÁFICOS! ) Reclamação única: A tradução em português está bugada no momento, somente as opções e configurações do jogo estão traduzidas realmente

A fun and engaging metroidvania, which while not reinventing the wheel does every aspect well enough that you don't need it to have done so

After a bit of a delayed launch hiccup, it's here and it's glorious!

It's pretty good