Faerie Afterlight

I really wanted to like Faerie Afterlight, and it saddens me to give it a bad review, but this is a pretty expensive game for what you end up getting, as most of the game felt near unplayable to me. I've tried to get into it twice, but both felt pretty disappointing. I will begin from the positives and say that the game is very beautiful and has some gorgeous environments. The best thing the game does is by far the art direction. The bosses and the npcs looked really pretty and unique as well, and everything fit into the overall visuals of the game. I also enjoyed switching between swimming and floating modes, a mechanic that could have been better utilized but was much smoother compared to most of the others. That is, however, where the pros sadly end. The bosses, while beautiful, weren't particularly well designed, as they didn't really do much other than make you wait for their attacks to be over so you can get a couple of hits and then wait again. The player character felt really bad to use, with janky movement, confusing controls, and a pretty slow attack, which really didn't help with fighting anything. For most of the game I felt lost and confused, and pretty unmotivated to press forward. The areas, again while beautiful, are empty, they give you nothing to do or explore besides finding a way to get to the boss and then the next area, which, like other reviewers have said, shows a complete lack of understanding what a metroidvania is. And though I don't have anything against the story, it is dragged down by the rest of the game, which makes me not care much for how it will play out in the end. I'd usually say I'll eventually give this game a third try, but honestly the more time has passed the less I want to go back to it. I'm sorry, but I can't recommend trying this game out, as its beautiful visuals do nothing to fix the fact that playing it just doesn't feel fun.