Halchemist

12/14/25 UPDATE now that the early access content has been completed, will go over more technical aspects in the review. Overall really enjoyed my time and I appreciate the unique angle of the swap back and forth, good environments, and I particularly liked the sheep and cloud enemy designs. some bosses could use some tweaking, but there's some standouts that make good use of encouraging the back and forth swapping more often both for dodging and hitting enemies out of mecouri's reach. very much recommend trying the game out, Based on improvements in this from the demo a few months ago, the team is actively making improvements and will iron things out more too., already a good amount there and well worth the asking price, just be clear to read the early access message that this is 5/8ths of the areas, so the game does just kind of cut off after the 5th boss not a complete story like package by any means. going to get more into minor feedback like nitpicks for the sake of helping the early access work. - split dive costing 3 stamina really messed up a lot of my boss fighting flow and made me wish I didn't get the move till later or that the move could be unequipped, stamina is pretty precious for combo attacks in bosses and the when I'm trying to pogo off hitting a boss but accidentally hit down it does the split dive which both splits up the two and uses lot of stamina when I'm just intending to hit normally with a combo hit. - when using controller, it's common for a save point to prompt saving again when walking by it, not a big deal, though it's a bit sticky and can keep prompting it once or twice walking by it when using controller. - when you die and go back to save point, you get 4 stamina back, not all stamina back, but saving right at that point fills up the stamina back all the way, just kind of an odd choice of having to save again after a death to get back full stamina every death otherwise you go into a boss with 4. - the combo attack power difference sometimes didn't feel worth the risk of combining the two in a boss, as it's far more useful and safe keeping them semi far apart and swapping between them to dodge attacks, distract, etc. attacking without the combo does less of course, but it's often safer due to the swapping of characters also being a game of like hot potato with your hit box. I would combine them periodically of course, but I found myself liking to keep the two farther apart for dodging reasons more of the time. some bigger combo attack that used more stamina for like a bigger hit could help incentivize it more. - hit boxes can feel a bit tight at times, and with some of the boss enemy attacks feeling a bit more bullet spamming, it can feel like some hits just have to be tanked (hence why also keeping them split for hot potato of the hit box ends up a strong strategy) - currently economy has me swimming in extra gold, and not too much to use it on as is. great job so far, and I was impressed with how many different applications the swap function got used for and how much the game encourages more switching back and forth, gives this metroidvania more its own identity. ______________________________ Played through the previous demo and enjoyed it a lot, so getting a review in for early impressions now that the early access release is out. Already noticing several improvements and bug fixes in the game from the demo build. the switch back and forth mechanic takes a bit to get used to if you've played a lot of metroidvanias, but a lot of puzzle solving and boss mechanics are good at nudging and encouraging periodic swap back and forth between the two, and leads to some really inventive mechanics and boss attack patterns that make good use of the unique swap functions. While I kept all the difficulty slider options on the default middle option, I very much appreciate the variable difficulty options based around specific mechanics like more/less damage on hazards, recovery, health, amount of saves/checkpoints, etc, its more dynamic and transparent then the standard "easy normal hard" descriptions of difficulty. Controller support has greatly been improved since the demo and havent run into issues on it in the current build. vibes are great and distinct, enjoy what I've seen so far, just note that the swap tag back and forth has more a learning curve, but will lead to some rewarding payoffs once you get used to it. Will update the review once I get further in the game, but wanted to get a review in now since I didnt see other reviews in yet and wanted to comment on several of the features I appreciated a lot, can certainly tell this was a passion project and there's a lot to appreciate here with its own identity to the gameplay with the tag action.

Solid platforming and engaging dual-character mechanics make combat and puzzles enjoyable, but a dull map and painfully slow interaction delays significantly hurt the experience. You take on the role of Mercouri, a young alchemist who witnesses a ritual called soul shattering performed on her friend. He agrees to it willingly, acting on the orders of the Alchemist Council, but you are deeply unhappy with the decision. After encountering a massive hand golem in the dungeons, you decide to defy the council and bring your friend back to life by collecting the necessary pieces. Before starting the game, you can adjust four parameters related to difficulty. For example, you can negate trap damage or reveal the entire map from the beginning. This allows you to remove mechanics you find frustrating or tailor the experience to your preferences. These choices are not permanent, since you can lower the difficulty at any point during the game, but you cannot raise it again. Mercouri plays like a standard platforming hero. She can jump and immediately chain it into a double jump, and her basic attack is effective against most enemies. One of the most important mechanics comes into play when you attack while airborne. Doing so gives you a bounce, which is frequently used to gain extra height or to cross dangerous sections by chaining attacks across enemies or objects. Because the giant hand follows you everywhere, it can attack alongside you, provided it has stamina. Most of the time this is not strictly necessary, since the alchemist alone can handle common threats. To recover the hand’s stamina, you must switch control to it and defeat enemies directly. The hand can store up to four attacks (upgradable), but this limit rarely matters in puzzle situations, since there is usually something nearby that provides a free refill. Its attacks consist of wide swipes, and you can perform a dash attack by pressing a direction during an attack. One of the hand’s strongest abilities is free flight, which allows it to scout areas ahead. It can activate switches, but it cannot collect items, so Mercouri still needs to reach those places herself. To prevent you from bypassing entire levels by flying, there are force fields in place that stop the hand. Another key aspect of character switching is that the inactive character becomes invincible, letting you leave one behind without any risk. This mechanic is heavily used during boss fights. You can switch to the hand and fly away while Mercouri remains invincible during a dangerous attack pattern, and then swap back. Some boss attacks cannot be dodged normally, so proper positioning and timely switching are essential. Another useful trick is that Mercouri stays frozen in place when you switch away from her, even if she is midair. This is sometimes required for puzzles, such as holding her above a platform while the hand activates a switch that makes it visible. After the tutorial, you arrive in a central area from which you set out to collect the pieces. These objectives appear as icons on the map, which follows a metroidvania style but shows the exact layout of each area instead of using a grid. Despite this, you do not have full freedom in choosing your path. There is a specific order to follow, and trying to take a different route will always lead to an obstacle you cannot yet overcome. The map itself is minimal and does not display additional information. You are expected to use markers to note obstacles or places that require abilities you have not yet unlocked. For especially important locations, you can take screenshots directly in game, but you are limited in how many you can store and must delete old ones to make room for new images. With the default settings, the map does not update as soon as you enter a room. Instead, it only fills in when you rest at a save point. Resting heals you, allows you to save, and lets you buy health potions or equip seals. Potions slowly refill as you defeat enemies, restoring only one health point at a time. You cannot grind endlessly for this, since enemies only respawn when you rest, not when you move between screens. The same rule applies to money dropped by enemies. Some abilities are mandatory for progression, such as the hand’s power to grab specific objects or Mercouri’s ability to transform into a ball and roll through small passages. Seals, on the other hand, function more like optional perks. They are often hidden behind secret walls, challenging fights, or off the main path. You have a limited number of seal slots, so you must carefully choose which ones matter most to you. Seals are divided into three colors, and you can equip only one of each color at a time. The overall map is relatively boring compared to similar games and is quite straightforward. There are various environments with its own enemies and threats, but none of them are memorable. Each screen offers a familiar mix of platforming, enemies, and occasional rewards. These can include coin chests, seals, stamina upgrades for the hand, merchants selling items like potion pouches, or teachers who increase your attack power in exchange for money and collectibles. Unfortunately, those who enjoy full completion will be disappointed, since there is no counter showing how many secrets or treasures remain in a given area. Your main objectives are the pieces guarded by bosses. These bosses have several attack patterns and usually gain new variations once you remove parts of their health, but they are fair and manageable. Mastering character switching makes them much easier, and they do not feel like damage sponges. Overall, this is a solid addition to any platforming fan’s library. While it includes metroidvania elements, it does not quite capture the thrill of discovery that comes from stumbling upon hidden treasures. The gameplay itself is fine, but there is one particularly annoying issue that slightly undermines the experience. The game functions just fine, but there is a noticeable delay whenever you interact with objects or trigger cutscenes. These pauses can last several seconds, during which the character simply stands still. The first few times this happened, it felt like the game has frozen. This happens with every interaction, especially with collectibles. The worst place this happens is with the game’s quick travel. One collectible is tied to train stations, which unlock fast travel between regions, and later you get a whistle that lets you teleport to the main station from anywhere. But the delay with this mechanic is excruciatingly long; first when you interact with the train terminal, and then when you arrive to a new station, where you stand still for around a minute. Related to this issue, the hand sometimes drifts off screen during dialogue or cutscenes. Since the hand delivers all dialogue, you are prompted to advance the text without seeing the speech bubbles at all. Some rare cutscenes can be skipped, but the feature is actually pointless and never works for repetitive actions, resulting in stretches of inactivity whenever you trigger something.

재미있게 플레이하고 있습니다. 손으로 조작해서 퍼즐을 푸는 요소가 재미있어서 즐길 거리가 많았습니다. 다만 도중에 죽고 체크포인트로 돌아갔을 때 어디로 다시 가야 하는지 헤매는 경우가 있어서 어디로 진행하면 되는지 유도가 많으면 좋을 것 같았습니다. 개인적인 체감이지만 키보드로 조작할 때 생각한 동작보다 조금씩 덜 움직여서 답답할 때가 있었습니다.

[h2]前言[/h2] 最近一段时间除了之前的康斯坦斯，没有玩过其他类银，看到本作的商店页面感觉很有趣，就试了试。 [h2]游戏介绍[/h2] 《Halchemist》是一款以“炼金术士”为主题制作的类银河战士恶魔城游戏。玩家在游戏里面将会扮演少女墨丘利，为了复活死去的朋友哈德尔，寻找他破碎的灵魂潘盖尼姆，与韩多一起踏入了炼金术士建立的王国索菲亚蒂卡。 [h2]游戏玩法[/h2] 游戏在开局能够设置难度，即能够调节地图显示、存档点、生命值、陷阱伤害这四种，这点挺不错的，非常的自由，玩家能够根据自己的情况进行调节。游戏角色在初始的时候就解锁了二段跳，且那个蓝色巨手韩多也并不是摆设，大部分与机关的互动都与其有关。玩家能够单独操作巨手（自身变成球呆在原地，能够规避一些伤害），进行攻击，攻击能够积攒能量，能量则是双方二合一的时候，角色攻击，手也会跟着攻击。不过需要注意的是手不能够通过一些屏障、且不能够拾取金币。 游戏的地图非常简约，没有其他标识什么的，不过地图的各种机关设计的挺不错，像冰箱、吹风机、太阳等等。游戏内有传送点，不过数量较少，该跑的图还是少不了。我个人来说不错的点是游戏内的隐藏房间较为明显，即墙壁发光！ [h2]游戏缺点[/h2] 游戏最最最大的问题就是这个机翻，导致角色面板没有任何文字，且教程为英文，部分中文字幕会漏字，加粗等，十分影响观感。还有一点不知道是不是bug，在火车那个boss，我明明没有进入到固定区域，进入boss战，但是依然能够对它造成伤害。 [h2]总结[/h2] 游戏整体很有意思，美术以及地图设计算是有点，有点拉跨的则是boss战以及翻译，希望制作组能够好好打磨一下！ [quote] 闲暇时光，不妨试试游戏。 欢迎关注[url=store.steampowered.com/curator/45653622/] 闲暇時光鉴赏组 [/url] [/quote]

[h1]Halchemist[/h1] [h2]Oi！吃我一拳~[/h2] [h2]游戏推荐指数：★★★★★★★☆☆☆[/h2] [quote] 闲暇时光，不妨试试游戏。 欢迎关注[url=store.steampowered.com/curator/45653622/] 闲暇時光鉴赏组 [/url] [/quote] [h3]【游戏简介】[/h3] [b][olist] [*]游戏类型：2D横版类银河战士恶魔城动作冒险游戏 [*]游戏剧情简介：炼金术师的王国没落了，昔日的繁华强盛如今只剩下戈勒姆们盘踞游荡的身影。女主和手形戈勒姆一同坠入其中。为了复活友人，女主需要收集分散在王国各处的8块碎块。一人一手就这样开始了一段充满危机与困难的大冒险 [/olist][/b] [h3]【游戏玩法】[/h3] [u]本作是传统横版类银动作游戏的玩法[/u] [b][olist] [*]可在主角和手之间来回切换，未操作的角色即使被命中也不会受伤，有效利用该机制可以规避许多伤害，但需要一定时间来适应手感 [*]初始就拥有二段跳和蹬墙跳的能力好评 [*]需注意，游戏中没有冲刺能力，更注重于女主和手之间的灵活切换，这点可能会导致部分玩家难以接受 [/olist][/b] [h3]【其他部分】[/h3] [b][olist] [*]美术部分：美术真的加大分，个人非常喜欢这种稍微有些复古的画风。游戏整体配色也是经过打磨的，看起来很舒服，没有特别扎眼的部分 [*]音效部分：bgm和场景适配度很高，听起来很舒服；攻击和互动音效也没什么问题 [*]剧情部分：因为翻译问题并不能完全理解，目前来看整体偏王道的冒险故事 [*]游戏是否有汉化：是，但机翻痕迹非常严重，已经到了有些影响正常游玩的程度 [/olist][/b] [h3]【游戏优点】[/h3] [b][olist] [*]女主和手双线操作，相互配合解谜战斗的分工设计很有趣 [*]boss技能多样，打起来还算有交互感 [*]相当多的隐藏道路和道具收集品可供探索 [*]开局可以很大程度上自定义游戏难度，即使不擅长动作游戏和跳跳乐环节的玩家也能享受到游戏乐趣 [*]有云存档和成就功能 [/olist][/b] [h3]【游戏缺陷】[/h3] [b][olist] [*]翻译实在是太拉胯了，非常非常影响游戏体验 [*]个人觉得默认传送点数量还是偏少了，经典跑路环节有些折磨。建议自己游玩时稍微调多一些 [/olist][/b] [h3]【游戏总结】[/h3] 还算味道不错。除了翻译问题比较突出，其他部分中规中矩没有太大毒点，自定义难度有效降低了上手门槛。游戏目前仍处于EA版本，喜欢类银题材的玩家可以好价入手尝试一下

It's sooo good! The animation and visual design are stellar, the story is engaging,the puzzles are clever, and the combat is incredibly well designed. This is an under-the-radar gem that you should buy if you enjoy metroidvanias!

[u] 每隔100年就会诞生一位拥有潘杰尼姆的存在…… 潘杰尼姆是拥有巨大能量的以太。 能够创造任何生命，操控自然现象，并拥有将世界化为灰烬的力量。 但觊觎这种物质的虚空存在，塔纳托雷，也会苏醒。 ……当他感知到强大的能量波动时，就会苏醒并吞噬一切……[/u] [h2] 游戏简介 [/h2] 《Halchemist》是一款由Team Flask开发并发行的2D横版类银河恶魔城动作冒险游戏。眼看挚友的灵魂在面前遭到粉碎，为了复活灵魂四散的挚友哈德尔，少女炼金术师【梅尔库里】与友人铸造的魔像【汉德】踏上了结局未知的旅途。 [h2] 游戏介绍 [/h2] 在开始新游戏前我们可以进行游戏难度设置，大体可分为简单、普通、困难三档难度，而难度又可具体细分为寻路设定（即地图获取）、陷阱设定（不受伤害/受到伤害/受到伤害后无法用药水回复生命）、体力设定（自动回血/收到敌人伤害/敌人增伤）和探索设定（增加检查点/默认存档点/初始血量上限减少）。 有别于传统的类银游戏，本作中并无【冲刺】这一关键且最为常见的能力存在，要说类似的能力也只有汉德的冲刺攻击（距离非常短，有硬直）勉强能沾边。女主梅尔库里开局拥有二段跳，并且攻击命中的小怪会陷入受击硬直，所以即使没有冲刺跑图难度也并不高，难点主要在于陷阱、地形与机制。而boss战时无法冲刺则成了大问题——此时我们就要合理利用游戏中梅尔库里与汉德的[strike] 羁绊 [/strike]切换机制：我们可以在两个角色间切换进行操纵，未被操纵的角色不会受到攻击，因此在两个角色间抓准时机进行切换就能有效应对大部分攻击。不过，当角色分离时，伤害也会相应降低，如果想更有效率地进行战斗，则要求我们娴熟使用联合攻击（梅尔库里与汉德同时发起的攻击，伤害更高范围更大）。 [h2] 游戏总结 [/h2] 总的来说，《Halchemist》是一款玩法新颖的类银，但目前机翻的繁中与简中均存在文字缺失的问题，望早日修复。 [quote]欢迎前来关注「 [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45353266/] 𝗞𝗼𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗮𝗼🍁」 [/url] [u][b] 采撷旅途之叶，铭刻生命之诗[/b][/u][/quote]