*WARNING*: This review will reflect how the first hour(s) of your game will feel like, as this is a first-impressions review. If you are willing to be deeply invested in this game and spend more time than I have, then ignore this review; this is for the casuals.
If you love games like Dead Cells, then this game is certainly for you. If you love roguelites, I'm pretty sure you would also like this game. The game starts very easy and predictable, and suddenly transitions to steep learning curves if you're ready for that.
I'm going to make this review simple:
What I like about this game:
- Simple combat system (highly reminiscent of Dead Cells, which has really good gameplay). While this game does feature weapon synergy, it does not heavily reward you for doing so, and it takes that pressure away.
- Gameplay versatility. There are three classes, melee, ranged, and magic, with each class having their own pros and cons. This allows a diverse set of playstyles you can try out in your runs.
- Enemy miniboss feel (every enemy is larger than you). It's basically impossible to be unaware of an enemy's presence with their towering sizes.
- Weak point system (making combat feel extremely satisfying). When your weapon hits the point marked with a dot, you will deal additional damage, and the effects just makes it so satisfying to do.
- Weapon synergies. As previously mentioned, you are not very heavily rewarded for doing so, but it exists, such as dual wield.
- Sophisticated UI. Compared to most indie games I've seen, this game's UI has been some of the cleanest ones. It gives a good idea of what the game may be like.
- Art. For a small team, this kind of art is impressive, and it's some I'd expect from a larger team.
- Weapons. The magic weapons, like the orbiting orbs and the blue orb that glides to where the player is feel so satisfying to use. The fact that melee weapons slow your fall makes every hit feel powerful.
- Cleanness. I have not encountered any bugs while playing. P.S. to the dev, your brother is a talented coder indeed.
What I wish I could enjoy more:
*for your information, I'm playing with the default difficulty settings*
- The learning curve. When you traverse to the second map, the game gets drastically more difficult, and you will be overwhelmed by enemies, and sometimes, you'll encounter scenarios where you are just absolutely unable to dodge or read the screen (perhaps it's because I'm bad, but I've been pretty skilled at similar, pretty hard games). Some of the enemies are just so fast that even with a fast reaction time, it's hard to see them coming. Some enemies feel too hard to be introduced as early as they are.
- The metroidvania-ness of this game; this game does not feel like a metroidvania, and the world feels less interesting to explore. It does not invoke a sense of curiosity when I am constantly sent back to the first map every time I die.
- The bosses. Unfortunately, the bosses do not feel impactful or interesting. They feel insignificant and forgettable, and not very special comparatively.
- Music. Perhaps more dynamic music could make the game take its players to various ends of the spectrum of emotions. I feel like I would be more invested in the game if the music felt enjoyable to listen to.
- Story - but I won't write much about this, because the story will likely unfold itself when the player explores the world more. So far, most of the NPCs feel cold, and the player does not feel special.
- Difficulty system. Putting it in the settings feels out of place. I'd much rather see a difficulty per save file, as how most of my favorite games, and most games for that matter, do.
- Controller input. The settings feel difficult to navigate with a controller.
- Achievements. Many of them can be achieved easily without even putting your mind to it; as a matter of fact, I have achieved more than 13 achievements just by doing regular stuff in the game.
- Knowledge. The game introduces many things at once in the beginning, and it makes it difficult to digest them to bits.
Overall, I think that this game is very polished. The game receives updates regularly, and I'm pretty sure that any issues with the game will be addressed sooner or later. This game has so much potential, especially as a dream game, and even though it's complete, I'm pretty sure that the devs can add more value to the game. I previously considered refunding the game, but I decided not to because I wanted to support the devs and see more of this game so that I can enjoy whatever point of the game may be interesting.
To be honest, I'm not the biggest fan of roguelikes, which made this game disappoint me in that aspect, but I can forgive this game because that was not in their control, and as long as the devs made exactly the game they wanted to make, I'm proud of them and I can recommend this game anyway.
Hope this helps, to both anyone considering buying this game, and the hardworking developers behind this game (I watch your YouTube btw). Here's an important note: PLAY THE DEMO BEFORE BUYING THE GAME. Make sure that this game really is for you before you decide to get the real deal.
