High Spirits

High Spirits is an action RPG similar to Hades or Sworn where you control a character who can brew different potions that translate to different weapon types like a ranged wand, sword, etc. Positives: - Cool character design which is supported by great 2d artwork. - Use of vibrant colors and lighting are attractive. - Potion brewing with ingredient refinement, etc. lends itself well to roguelite upgrades. Neutral - 3d models are servicable. Bad Unfortunately, the core combat needs some very significant work: -Jump/dodge feel floaty and not good. -Hit boxes don't feel really tight and obvious, which is really important in a game with a lot of projectiles. - Weapons don't feel really unique and powerful compared to some other similar games. There's an attempt at giving them unique identities but I don't think it hit the mark. - Boss design, at least early, feels a bit weak. I can't recommend the game as it stands now. With a few refinement passes, this might turn out to be an attractive and worthwhile entry into the subgenre, but as of now, the core gameplay loop needs some additional work. If you played, say, Hades II and this side by side, the contrast would be obvious in how strong the combat is. Best of luck to the developers. I'd recommend waiting for now, but after time has passed, players should see what improvements have been made and reevaluate.

Right off the rip, this is a beautiful game with some amazing art. The dialogue and story are very enjoyable as well. I found myself chuckling and smiling at a lot of the interactions between characters. The only rough part for me is the combat is a little tough, but I am an older gamer so most of the problem is on my end. I did have some trouble with some of the boss fights, but again I'm an older gamer and not as good at challenges like I was back in the NES days. I'm sure that with some adjustments, the dev team can make these feel really engaging with a comfortable increase in difficulty as we progress through the game. Looking beyond my limitations in combat, High Spirits is very engaging and I love changing magic on the fly. Sometimes I end up running around more during combat just so I can get more big spells going off. I really like the spell effects too. Circling back to the art, when you equip gear, your character reflects it on the field. I've enjoyed that in games and adds a great personal touch to your progress as you play through. All in all, the world is beautiful, and the characters are really enjoyable. Wizard Lizard MVP!!! lol I feel like this is an amazing start to a vast and beautiful world. I'm excited to see what this team does and to experience more of the High Spirits universe. <3

I like collecting the outfits and testing potion combos to find the best fit, usually go drunk mode and swap between them, then when not drunk I'll horde em for healing. Not that I usually hold onto them for long, it takes a bit to learn the attack ques but reasonably avoidable once you're expecting them, a few difficulty spikes with various bosses, but when skill fails there's always upgrading damage xD I made it to the arena and failed a few times before realizing I had more than enough mats to upgrade several things. Though I still ended up kiting the boss for my companions to damage lol, there's several that can be done that way but it's slow going vs just having them take care of ads and nuking the boss. Despite enjoying it so far, I can't help but throw in the typical pros and cons list xP Pros: I mostly play multiplayer and having a friend who has the same capability I do is nice, and they respawn on a timer which has totally made the game funner imo The portrait art looks great, and the posters are cool Dashing has the typical brief bit of invincibility other games give, but after jumping the extended air time gives a pretty large window to reposition, sometimes I just hop around to watch the bosses moves before going in for the kill. I enjoy most of the humorous bits in the story/encounters Drunk mode is fun It is a pretty chonky game, and not just if you're a hat collector, or side quest addict. Cons: It doesn't support my Switch controller, though most will probably prefer a playstation or xbox controller anyways Audio can feel repetitive, though part of that is probably how much time I've spent in the early zone Traveling between scenes can be a slog if you're focused on one objective and you're locked into one fight after another. Fast travel definitely cuts this down to a minor complaint, especially since the encounters are basically the side quests of the game, but it does make you wish you could just sneak past the enemies sometimes. I can't just long press skip and get through the whole dialog, I have to press it for every screen, it's not really an issue until you just realized you spam skipped yourself into the same dialog option and now you have to skip through it again more carefully. Sometimes I want to reread an option until I remember it and move on xP Despite the nitpicking I do indeed recommend the game, especially if you have a friend or two and a few controllers, the most fun I had with it was goofing off with my friends, though if you are alone the companion AI is pretty decent. I find it worth the buy and haven't nearly finished it yet.

Combat is entertaining and stressful (in a good way) with different styles of magic and a variety of enemies that can keep you on your toes if you aren’t careful! The colors used throughout the game are so pleasing that I sometimes stay in one spot just to take in the atmosphere and hurling around magic. There are little details that I enjoy like lights from outside windows and fires that illuminate the player when they are close enough. The interactions and conversations with characters have been so much fun I have a grin through much of the dialogue. I look forward to continuing further into the game and trying out the co-op with friends!