This game snuck up on me. I met the chief developer a little while back at a local game showcase and his game was fun and he seemed like a cool guy, so I added it to my Steam wishlist, bought it on sale a few months later, and promptly forgot about it for over 2 years. Now, since I've recently had plenty of time to go through my Steam library (RIP my social life), I've rediscovered what a gem I've had hidden in my library for so long.
The single player campaign is a lot of fun, gradually introducing you to new characters, spells, and ways to fling yourself through the air like a delicate swan (or a crazed flamingo, if you're as bad at video games as I am). The plot is nothing to write home about, but the characters are charming and the worlds are interesting. The game explicitly encourages speedrunning with timers and shadows of your previous runs, and it grades your performance with a scoring system to grade your speed, energy collection, and bloodlust. I had to continually remind myself that in no way am I good enough at video games to attempt getting an S rank on each level, though that didn't stop me from trying on a few of them.
The multiplayer is also super fun! I played a few local multiplayer games with a friend online (thanks, Steam RemotePlay!) and it was like a cross between Smash Bros Melee and Super Meatboy on steroids. It's a heart-pounding, blink-and-you're-dead experience. You constantly have to be making choices between barreling towards your opponent, mashing buttons as fast as you can to rack up that sweet damage, or running off to grab a new spell (or, in certain modes, actually accomplish the game objective). The best part was that my time in the single-player campaign had prepared me pretty well for multiplayer, so I was able to consistently beat my friend even though I am bad at video games.
The bad news? It looks like development's stopped. It's a real shame, because I'd recommend this game to anyone for twenty, even thirty bucks if the single player campaign was complete and there was promise of continued support. Heck, I'd be first in line to buy it again if they released it on Switch. Unfortunately, it appears that will never be.
I still had a grand old time and will probably come back to this game now and again with some buddies. I would recommend it to anyone, just... maybe get it on sale.
8/10 accidental leaps into beds of angry cacti
