Why do I feel like this metroidvania doubled in charm after the first area, it really does not do it justice. It's like you put a lot of love and character into every zone, except the first one, I mean it's typical for a game in this genre to get better with the power-ups, but something about the level design, it was just not good for the first hour, both in terms of visuals and navigation. I would say every area after the town is a lot more fun to navigate, the backgrounds are better, and the enemy patterns are more enjoyable (on a side note, can you link me the soundtrack for the Castle, I really like it). I would say game has between 6 to 8 hours of content with a couple of endings, one of them has an entire hidden zone so you may want to find it. I thought the game was put together very well, many friendly features once you know how to utilize your tools and attacks, such as teleporting between waypoints, or the map that saves the areas of interest, making it easier to get the collectibles. Aside from collecting cats and chests for achievements, you can also grind some currency for a few upgrades in the town.
I would say the difficulty is balanced very well, it's not hard but you will definitely get a little bit of challenge, especially from some of the bosses - I think that Fish killed me more times than any boss in the Souls.
For me the platforming timing was on point, I like that you can bounce on enemies by spamming the attack, and keeping them in the air as well. I noticed some small but very nice design features, even just the attack range which makes it very easy to hit 2 enemies and not get clipped by the hitboxes - just feels very friendly when fighting regular enemies.
The game probably deserves a bit of criticism just for being too slow when introducing mobility tools, the double jump is one of the last power-ups, you could potentially delay the dash by an hour if you don't get lucky with cats, and by the time you unlock the smash, it won't be that useful. I think the idea is to unlock better platforming early on, so you could create more enjoyable levels.
[h1] Pros: [/h1]
(+) The game might feel very repetitive at first, but I think everything past the first zone is much better, and it only improves toward the end. The level design and the exploration were decent, once you get into the meat of the game.
(+) I actually really enjoyed the boss fights, all of them except the first one. I will admit they kind of frustrated me just because I didn't expect a difficulty spike, but I was soooo happy when that stupid fish went down. I earned that kill.
(+) I think you did some really smart quality of life features, like unlocking teleports, showing where you missed the collectibles, and even some combat features like generous range, bouncing, and balancing with the damage.
(+) Good achievement support, multiple endings, and some things to collect.
[h1] Feedback: [/h1]
[u] General [/u] - you should have TAB close the map as well, it's TAB>ESC by default. Maybe drop the health meter cost from 200 to 100, or make it 200+ some bonus.
[u] First zone [/u] - I think it's just poorly made when compared to other areas, visuals are boring, navigation is not fun, and the enemies are repetitive. Not sure if you want to maybe add more assets and substance to it, maybe some of those moving backgroudns as well.
[b] Overall Thoughts: 7/10 [/b]
Sadly, it's a metroidvania that feels very repetitive at first, but I think it gets much better after the first zone, if you give it a chance. I would say never underestimate putting that personality into the world design, you have it in most areas, but not all of them, and especially not the first area.
[code]For more niche, obscure and underrated games: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31294838-Hidden-Gem-Discovery/ [/code]
