I am not really sure how to put this into words, what I experienced in this game makes no sense. And to be perfectly clear, I actually like this game, or at least, I am trying to like it, I think it gets significantly better after the first 3 areas, but just the polish issues all over the place, even the good moments can't be enjoyed for what they are. I should also note that I only paid a few $ for it when EA came out, the asking price for it is kinda silly in this condition.
For the first 60 minutes, it feels like the worst metroidvania I ever played, I mean it's like it has ZERO redeeming qualities, so at that point I am playing it sarcastically, I already accepted that this game will be an absolute disaster and I will play it, no matter where it takes me. But wait. Then the game got like 5 times better, and I am thinking to myself, okay so, somewhere 1/4th through the development of this game, you suddenly learned how to make a game, and the art got much better as well, but.......you didn't think that first chunk of the game would need a little work too, you realize it's so bad, no reasonable person would play it for 5 minutes, let alone 30 minutes, when somewhere 60+minutes plus, you actually started to make a decent game, not counting all the glitches and BS spike sections, which I will get to in a second.
Depending on where you are in this world, it's either the worst metroidvania you will ever play, or it's actually pretty decent, like the quality of this game is so all over the place, sometimes it's very ugly, sometimes it's very beautiful, sometimes it feels like the dev had no idea what he was doing, or it actually feels good, like original Metroid combined with Biomass good. Having said that, even though there are good moments later in the game, just the amount of glitches and softlocks make it impossible to leave a positive review.
I mean honestly dude, like after the first 3 areas, the level design is so much better, except for all of the spike mechanics, which are some of the worst-designed sections I have ever seen in a game; why are hitboxes so awful, did you test them because the character's jump will constantly overshoot the sections, like you could die 100 times doing the same spike section (true story, it happened, to me, more than once) I guess it does remind me pleasantly of Battletoads, but times change.
In the defense of all the people that will refund this game 5 minutes in (or not buy it in a first place), the movement does not make a good first impression, but at the same time, I feel like it seems fixable...ish. I mean I like that you have a slide, I like that you have a backflip that makes you move faster, but the timing on everything is a little off, maybe if you make it a bit more snappy, less delay on attacks, maybe more range on attacks as well by default, including the air attacks. The I-frames need to be more generous, I feel like I am eating 50% of the attacks that as far as my eyes are concerned, I actually dodged. As for the jumps, I kinda got used to it, I am sure most people won't like the timing, I don't know, maybe you should just find a good metrdovania and try to copy the timing, you can change it later, but at least start with good fundamentals - I mean I don't know, it's just a suggestion. Almost forgot, it really annoys me that I can't catch the ladders mid-air, or fight on them for that matter.
Here is a thing though, so I get to that blue area with the lasers, and you know what I am feeling, it really looks and feels a lot like Metroid, and some of the best indie games in this genre don't remind me of that, that very tunnel-like stage design, really takes me home, and for the most part, after those 3 initial areas, you more or less maintain that visual and level design quality. You gotta just, make the rest of the game like that you know, keep that consistency up, you don't want people feeling like the game can't decide how good it is. The mood of the game is all over the place, but sometimes I am getting some good vibes in the atmosphere.
[h1] Pros: [/h1]
(+) There are a lot of 'symptoms' of a good game starting around the 4th area, everything seems to improve, the art style, the enemies, the combat, the level design. Like, I started to get really good vibes from it, but it makes no difference if people won't play that far. I mean it seems like you know what you doing, but do you not see how random the quality in this game is, everything has to be at least as good as the first blue area with the laser in terms of level design and art, not just some* parts of the game. The game just really suffers from poor planning, like it feels you have to cut and replace some parts of this game so everything feels like a well-designed experience.
(+) Like everything else in this game, the atmosphere and the world feel is not consistent, but there are random places where the game gives really good Metroid and even Biomass vibes.
[h1] Feedback: [/h1]
[u] Level Design/Backgrounds [/u] - I personally think all of the surrounding areas, that includes the blue, the red, the navy blue, the purple, and the dark blue areas, look good. And the level design in those areas, aside from some frustrating mechanics with spikes, feels like what you would expect from a metroidvania. Now the first 3 areas, the town, the computer place, the ladder area and maybe the sewer, look terrible in comparison. I mean you really don't want to make that first impression on people, I get that as an indie dev you probably didn't want to go back to those, but you really got to elevate those areas to the same standards.
[u] Some poorly designed sections [/u] - the combination of jump hight with the hitboxes is all _____. It's just luck at that point, I literally have to do glitchy short jumps to navigate those. Maybe, remove all spikes from the game, look at the section and think, is it worth it for the player to be stuck for 1 hour here, if I put too many touchy spikes on both ends with the bad hitboxes and sensitive jump distance. I mean even after the update, it's still terrible. For the lasers, I don't really have a problem moving through them horizontally, but going down or up you most likely getting hit, it would help if you could hold down and look down.
[u] Movement timing [/u] - the I-frames need to be just slightly more generous, you getting clipped all the time, maybe like 20% longer. I think the delay between attacks by default should be smaller, I think it could be a really good idea to have a 3 melee combo instead of 2 by default, and make it faster with less delay, just 1-2-1, it might feel better (I know you can get attack speed upgrade). The jump attack should have a longer range, maybe 20%, wider too. The jumps are a touch too sensitive with the speed, I can't explain it, but, maybe do a little research, and see how other games do it - maybe it's a bit too sudden on the acceleration.
[u] Save points [/u] - Man, it feels like this game either gives you save points in places you don't need, or does not give them at all. Like, no save point next to all the upgrades, you have to go all the way to the right near the second boss. It's okay to challenge a player with navigation sometimes, but it just feels like the game does not care, oh well I guess this place does not need one.
[u] Technical issues [/u] - I would mention all the issues, but character limit.
[u] Energy Wepaons/Sub-skills [/u] - let me cycle sub-weapons*
[b] Overall Thoughts: 5/10 (also it's kinda broken)" [/b] I kinda run out of the character limit for final thoughts, reworks some of the early areas so they are as good as other areas, adjust those things that I mentioned, and I think you might have something. Needs months of work though.
[code]For more niche, obscure and underrated games: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31294838-Hidden-Gem-Discovery/ [/code]
