My Spelunky experience is almost nothing, so I am mostly approaching this game with tunnel vision, even though it certainly gives that vibe, very similar format, just with a 2 character gimmick.
In short, I think this game is very enjoyable once you get comfortable with the characters and the map awareness, granted it requires some mechanical aptitude and multitasking, no matter what they say, it is definitely a little harder than most rogue-lites, but it has a certain allure and challenge that frankly, most games can't offer. The game is very playful and has a lot of hidden jokes, many active items, various risk vs reward elements, and just a lot of variety overall. In addition, you can lower and increase difficulty, resume from unlocked worlds, play co-op, versus, and compete on leaderboards.
If you are playing alone, you are controlling 2 characters and that just creates a bit of a learning curve, even just a muscle memory with the constant item switching, 8 hours in I still press the wrong buttons, granted, I think the game could perhaps have some features to limit what I want to automatically pick up - I am so tired of having an entire inventory of arrows and bananas. Ironically, they may want an accessible game, but realistically this game requires more attention and practice than just about any platformer out there, plus it's actually not all that noob friendly, like the game does not hold your hand, even during the easy stages, you can lose all your hearts very quickly. And honestly, props to game for not being easy, I think you are very much expected to bring some prior experience with the rogue-lites.
I thought the platforming controls were just about perfect, with a few nitpicks. The characters can work together with certain moves, in addition to some character-specific perks, and if you carry one character, you can't do the wall jumps, so it's a fine balance between exploration, mobility, and safety.
[h1] Pros: [/h1]
(+) I would say very challenging to learn despite having a very friendly look, lots of opportunities to flex and improve, barely any hand-holding, just a very uncompromising rogue-lite. And you can resume from different worlds once you unlock them, but even on the lowest difficulty, the game is reasonably difficult.
(+) I would say it has a lot of personality going for it, very funny, very interactive, lots of variety and jokes with the items, and many unexpected moments.
(+) For the most part, good platforming controls with some space for QOL, but I can overlook some smaller issues.
(+) Decent support for various features and achievements, co-op, difficulty modes, versus, leaderboards, and so on.
[h1] Feedback: [/h1]
[u] Nitpicks [/u] - the second boss telegraphing is very bad, I know you can just wait out for his weapon attack, but it's a beginner trap right now, even those bees are a pain in the butt cuz sometimes other sprites hide them. I would like you to speed up the drop animation a bit, so much of this game is me just sorting my inventory because I picked up a bunch of trash, is there no way to disable auto pick-up, I just don't want to pick up certain items at all.
[u] Character Mechanics [/u] - let me explain a situation, say I carry the second character right, I get hit in the water by a saw, they get separated and I scramble to figure out the controls, while both characters are in the middle of trap sprites, and as I pick up the character, they get hit again - it feels too frustrating in my opinion, you just get combo killed. Maybe if you carry a character they should just tank the hits. I would like to see the girl's jump hitbox slightly increased, I can't tell you how many times I feel like I am about to land on the enemy, but I miss it by 1 pixel. The throwing arc is a little too high, I am okay with the arc, but maybe make it a little less extreme.
[b] Overall Thoughts: very good (not rating, still have a lot of content left) [/b]
Now I don't know exactly how it compares to Spelunky in a long run, but it's a very fun stand-alone game anyway. It does take some practice with the character mechanics so if you don't like challenging games, it may not be for you. Very playful with a ton of content, I got a lot more than I paid for.
[code]Niche, obscure and underrated games: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31294838-Hidden-Gem-Discovery/ [/code]
