Ender Christmas
One year after his famous visitation by the Three Christmas Ghosts, Ebeneezer Scrooge is getting ready for another holiday. But another spirit comes to him- and begs for his help. An industrialist called Caspar Malthus, scion of a rich family, is threatening the London's underclasses. A year ago, he also was given 3 visions- but something went wrong. Now, the spirits of restless London ask for Ebeneezer's help to turn Caspar away from evil.
The game is a fairly typical metroidvania. As Ebeneezer platforms around and smashes hostile ghosts and Malthus' thugs with his cane, he gains spirit energy, which can be used to call upon help of friendly spitits. Attacks are directional, and can still be blocked by shielded enemies, so timing matters. As you progress through the game, you meet with more spirits, most of whom offer you some fetch quest before joining you. Each one has a challenge ( kill X enemies with their attacks, or do Y total damage) which boost the effect of the skill. A few of these allow you to smash brittle walls, and help to access secret areas, but most are purely for combat.
The other type of friendly spirits boost Ebeneezer's traversal, allowing him to reach new areas. These ghosts are spread throughout the main areas, and require a completion of a task- that is, to make your way through a level. There's overall a decent amount of backtracking and exploration. The map is fairly basic, with rooms changing colour once you've found everything- except sometimes it could be a bit buggy and show a room as fully explored despite a hidden collectible, or show it as incomplete, despite finding everything. There's no “100% exploration” achievement, though, so this isn't a huge deal.
There's a decent amount of customization, as Ebeneezer can find a total of 8 weapons (5 canes and 3 spirit weapon variants) that can be alternated at will. Spirit weapons are necessary to fight some enemies with an aura shield. There's a very decent enemy variety, and the bestiary is very descriptive and well-written. Ebeneezer can also encounter the 3 Christmas Ghosts, each of which offers him a familiar-one for offense, one for healing and one for defense, and these can be alternated at will as well. The game also features almost 30 collectible “heirlooms”, 4 of which can be equipped at a time for additional bonuses. One is an item that points to weak and false walls, and another allows you to breath underwater and access additional areas; there's also a few that boost rare drops from enemies. Because, yes, the game has rudimentary “crafting”. In a sense that some of the merchant's purchases require items the enemies drop. And there are 2 ghosts, that can boost Ebeneezer's Health and Spirit gauge- but they require items dropped by the most powerful enemies. This can turn the endgame into a bit of a grind, since the enemies respawn each time you save, so you can farm a particular map until you get what you need for your upgrades.
Overall, the game is pretty, and the extra lore bits are well-written. The game handles well, although contact damage from enemies can be a bit annoying. Exploration and progression are decently-paced, although nothing exceptional. There's a couple of collectibles that are hidden off the main map that I had to consult a map for; but overall, it's an enjoyable experience.
