Necrolepsy

(Disclosure: I am friends with the developer) Necrolepsy is a fun throwback to '90s action-platformers. The plot is straightforward: bounty hunter Lira must find and defeat a trio of necromancers to end a curse that makes her constantly suffer from nightmares that then come to life. In-game, this curse is represented by a timer which, upon reaching zero, makes all the enemies' attacks stronger while your attacks become weaker. Only by finding a place to stop and rest can you reset the timer and/or end the nightmare. While the characters and their interactions are hilarious, and even the tutorial messages are filled with self-referential humor, the best part of Necrolepsy is easily the combat. Momentum factors into your attacks, meaning you can knock enemies clear across the room, bunch them all together, and juggle them with your sword as you hack them to pieces. Combo attacks will make enemies drop more money and even restore a bit of health if you have a special amulet, which is crucial for surviving in the later stages. Initially, fights are a bit dull, but as you defeat more bosses and acquire more weapons, you soon become an unstoppable badass who can steamroll through an entire room of monsters in seconds. The campaign is only about 4 hours long and isn't too difficult, but if you're up for a challenge, there are options to alter certain game mechanics to keep things interesting. In addition, there are three extra game modes to test your combat prowess: a minigame where you try to get the longest combo possible, a boss rush that encourages speedrunning, and a gauntlet where you have to slog through 100 rooms of enemies in one go. On the other hand, the UI is pretty basic and the graphics are somewhat repetitive. A few minor glitches crop up here and there, though there are frequent patches to iron these out. Also, I feel like the nightmare mode could've been made more dangerous, perhaps by altering the terrain or changing enemy attack patterns. But considering this is the developer's first published game and almost entirely a solo project, I'm not too bothered by these issues, as it seems clear to me that entertaining gameplay was the primary goal here. And I've certainly enjoyed every minute of this game.

Good for a buck.

Sleep deprived and tomboy combined. Genuis!

This game is pretty damn good, good story, charming characters, really challenging game play, an ost that I don't even know how they made with like three people because it's just GREAT, and naturally good pixel art. Only complaint I have is that there is some bugs that need to be worked out, nothing game breaking but like for example I can open the map on the game over screen. Glad I checked this game out of which I found from Stolken's review Youtube channel which is also p good.

It's a fun (but short) action platformer with some nice exploration features.

A short sweet action adventure game that’s great to pick up and speed your way through in an evening. Necrolepsy, besides being the games name, is a curse that makes the victim constantly fall asleep, have nightmares and have those nightmares come to life. Our main protagonist, Lira a bounty hunter who suffers from said curse, is on a mission to rid herself of it. She must traverse 4 different areas and defeat the Necromancers who placed the curse on her in order to free herself. Armed with just her ax and crossbow she sets out to find the cure and cash in some bounties on the way. The game play is very similar to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. You traverse a multiple corridors fighting tough enemies and finding items to help you advance through the areas. There are a good number of items you can find that expand Lira’s move set. Items such as a clay-more for high attacks, Double Jump Stockings that allow her to jump twice, and even a spear she can throw and ride to reach far out of reach areas. Hidden is these different areas are secret upgrades for health, attack and the sleep timer. The main mechanic that sets the game apart from others like it is the games namesake Necrolepsy. A timer is counting down at all times during your adventure and once it hits zero the world changes to a darker version of itself with a more evil look and tougher enemies. This nightmare state can only be removed by praying at an angel statue where you can save and refill your HP. The timer can also be reset by sleeping in beds hidden in the game’s areas. The game has 4 areas each with a few bosses to overcome. Most of the games challenge comes from the bosses. They each have their own way of attacking as well as a way to intercept that attack to leave them open longer and deal more damage. A main goal in the boss fights if to complete them before your timer runs out, making them stronger and harder to deal with. The overall controls of the game feel fine but can be tightened up as the feel a bit too floaty and slippery. The hit boxes on some of the enemies can be very off at times making them more annoying to deal with. A small but annoying bug that I encountered was having enemy projectiles carry over from one area to another and hitting you once you think you escaped. The game also has instances of bad enemy placements, though not fatal on normal difficulty I can see it being a bigger problem on the more unforgiving ones. Some of the later games areas require more precise movements which I think the game lacks in. The parry mechanic as fun as it is to use, can be taken advantage of allowing to negate a lot of incoming enemy damage making boss fights way easier as all you have to do is cheese them with your parry. The game’s art style looks like something you’d see out of a flash game but it lends to the game’s charm. It really takes me back to the early newgrounds days of flash animation. The game also has some great midi tracks right out of the newgrounds era with a few of the giving me Castlevania and Donkey Kong Country vibes. Lira’s limited and stiff animations fit this whole flash game aesthetic well. The cut scenes that play between areas and before boss fights are done with this style too. Though the dialogue is a bit on the bad side, the expressive character portraits are great to look at and yet again remind me of the flash animated styles of the past. Backgrounds from each of the areas are very well done and give you a good feeling of the land. All of theses areas have an evil variant when you enter nightmare mode, like turing the painting of people in a mansion to demons or rivers of water into rivers of blood. The game is not over once your main journey is finished. The game has a few modes and extras available for you once you finish the main quest. If you felt the game was too easy your first go, try hard mode or if you want a more unforgiving time you can try Can’t Wake Up mode where you are constantly in a nightmare state with harder enemies and increased damage. To further your suffering you can play in Arcade mode where you are given lives and no chance to save and heal at angel statues. If you had a fun time with the bosses, you can face them all again in a boss rush mode.Tired of all that struggle, try to go for a high score in the beach ball mini game and go for the highest hit combos. Having most of the game made by one person is a very impressive feat. Though the game might look rough around the edges just know it’s a passion project that is still very entertaining and fun to play.

After some thinking and replaying, I realize that I just had to git gud. Game is fun. The dev's twitter is a ♥♥♥♥♥♥ riot. Cool dude.

Well designed, unique and overall fun! It has great music, pretty decent graphics and very enjoyable combat. There is also lots of repeatability with 3 difficulties and filters to add to change the experience or make it harder. Several modes to unlock too, like a Boss Rush mode, which is cool too! Definitely worth the price, but at least give the demo a try!

"Necrolepsy" is a somewhat quirky and goofy short 2D hack and slash / platforming metroidvania that feels a little unpolished at first glance, but has some nice ideas and fast gameplay. Yoou play the unhinged bounty huntress Lira to find a cure for a curse that makes her time quite literally limited. The premise and the presentation is cartoony and lax and while the levesl may feel a little empty it makes up for fast traversal. Also the spritework is quite good and progression feels intuitive. All in all a solid game for the asked price and a lot of additional content and challenges wait for all those who dig the movement and the juggle-combat mechanic.

Immaculate free flowing movement and combat mechanics that lie underneath a simplistic but enjoyable metroidvania