Gastova: The Witches of Arkana

If Christina plays this game we all will, all hail the overlord.

Though originally pitched as Megaman + Wonder Boy, the latter influence has been pared down quite a bit. What emerged from early access is something like Megaman with experience levels and the kind of sprawling multidirectional level design often seen in 16-bit platformers. The music is great, the art is colorful and detailed throughout, and control is responsive and fluid. It takes a little bit to get going as the first couple of levels are pretty low-key, but once it picks up, it's a fun time. Although both you and your elemental skills gain experience levels, these aren't dramatically noticeable. The staves and outfits are more impactful. Staves are weapons with particular attack patterns and attached elements that drop from certain enemies; outfits are pieced together from seeds scattered around the world (these are the only remaining collectibles) and grant passive effects or upgrade certain staves. It's fun to work out the combinations and playstyles that work best for you, but the outfits themselves range in power from novel to game-changing. I found the one that boosts healing magic to be near-mandatory for the later boss fights, as getting hit on hard mode can cost a third to half of your health. The level design is where the game's development challenges are most evident. The world is divided up into discrete, plot-gated areas that once held more to collect than they do now, and you can see the empty nooks, ledges, and dead-ends where items used to be. The village hub, as well, doesn't play much of a role anymore, as there's not much reason to visit without the shop that was originally there. The developers are now considering winding back some of these changes post-release, giving the impression that they may not have total confidence in their vision, or are perhaps just too eager to please. There are MANY boss fights in this game, and they're generally fun, flashy, and creative, though difficulty can vary quite a bit. This is also where the game plays its favorite trick: the teleporting boss. Many if not most bosses will either blink in and out or hover out of reach of most weapons, and they especially enjoy teleporting directly on top of you. With the right elements and strategy, though, most can be eliminated fairly quickly. A few late-game bosses crossed into frustration for me - especially one in particular, a double boss fight with a limited vulnerability window whose randomized attacks often combined into patterns that I found virtually impossible to avoid. The final boss was also exhausting to fight, because if you lose to its second phase, you have to run back from the save point, fight the first phase again, and watch a fairly lengthy cutscene before you can try again. A retry checkpoint was sorely needed here. So, while not perfect, and not exactly how it was pitched six years ago on Kickstarter, it's a fun and pretty lengthy Megaman-like adventure. I think it's worth checking out.