Nitrojet

I'll leave a narrow recommendation for this one despite the fact that i'm probably going to put it down here. I've defeated 3 bosses, found 1 traversal upgrade and seen plenty of biomes and feel as though I'm only scratching the surface of the game. This must be among the most obscure 'large' metroidvanias (Mortal Manor being another). Probably due to its lack of marketing and having a sizeable pricetag while graphically looking very ugly and basic. There's a lot of open, somewhat lifeless space in this game which undermines its otherwise grand size (And is why I'm probably going to stop playing). Exploration is perhaps more open-world than branching path; there were countless directions I could go when I stopped playing. You zip around the map very quickly (Be it horizontal or vertically) which compensates for this a bit. You will have numerous falls from high places however ..VERY HIGH places! which always caused me to groan and force a repeat of my climb back up. Anything you find on the map is hidden until you find one of the many items scattered about that will allow you to update the map (one time use per item). It's not like Hollow Knight where you find a cartographer and then have a biome revealed, it literally only updates what you have seen with your own eyes each time you find one of these items, which is.. odd. The map doesn't open centered on your player with adequate zoom. If you want to see where you are on the map, you're always forced to adjust it, which is a minor nuisance. Main objectives appear to be marked on the map but not healing spots. I'm calling them 'healing spots' rather than 'save points' because your progress appears to be saved even if you die, and it is very easy to heal yourself in this game, so perhaps it is less of an issue that these aren't marked. I did not check after quitting my game session (without tapping a healing spot) to see if my progress had been recorded though, so be careful! At first you might feel that the combat is pretty jank. Word of advice: [b]You are meant to avoid the enemies that are not bosses wherever possible rather than fight them.[/b] And if they see you, try to escape their line of sight and they will forget about you. You have an energy meter that powers your jetpack and can also be used to heal you. It's very easy to replenish this meter, you do so by digging/attacking the scenery. You'll find yourself constantly whacking at walls to keep this meter topped up. I managed to defeat the 3 boss encounters that I had on my first try. They were dangerous, but there are usually (not always!) walls around that I could dig into to replenish my health during the fight. The music is just piano with no accompaniment, which is not enough for me; It's too one-dimensional. NItrojet is a unique metroidvania and should probably have more eyes on it, I'm sure there are some players out there with more patience that will appreciate it more than I did. It impressed and kind of bored me at the same time o O

If you like metroidvanias with tricky platforming, MASSIVE exploration, combat with an insanely high chaotic power level, and having to master game mechanics that feel alien at first but eventually "click", this is the game for you! Genuinely one of the most unique, original games I have played in recent years [h3]IMPORTANT NOTE!! there is currently an issue me and others have experienced where the game starts with a blank screen. Pressing alt+enter twice always fixes it for me, so try that if it happens to you! (alt+enter switches between windowed and fullscreen mode)[/h3] This game is incredible, someday I want to write a more in-depth review about it (after I've completed it), but I've still explored a lot in both the original demo (I have 6.6 hours in it) and the full game, and so far it has been fantastic! (still have only killed 2 bosses and have around 80% of the map hidden so I still have a lot to see!)

So, I've finished the game. I tentatively recommend, but be aware of what you're getting into. The good: very unique game, enormous world, destruction! you really do get to rip your way through the world and it can feel awesome, some really epic boss fights, abilities feel unique with some pleasant natural synergising in how you play, interesting combat I haven't seen before, unique and interesting movement, speed!. There's a lot in this game that is awesome. However, there is just as much that hampers my enjoyment and brings the game down. If these things were different, this game could be a real treasure: -first off, it's not a pretty game. I won't mince words, I have pretty low standards when it comes to visual taste, but there's just not nearly enough detail in any asset of the game for it to enhance anything in playing it. -It is very buggy. My game must have crashed over 20 times. Usually it would be when there is too much going on, or if I'm digging blocks just too well or speeding along too fast. Luckily the game seems to save progress very well, aside from the tedious retreading to get back to a location, I don't think I've lost any progress. Also, since the open world areas work more like levels with places where you load into a different area, it is extremely easy and common to pass by the loading zone and accidently find yourself out of the bounds of the game and in the infinite open where you might as well reload at that point. A very strange thing to leave as is, considering how very fast movement and destruction are some of the main draws of the game. -Key abilities that make the game significantly more fun are obscure and hard to find. If you want a better time, here's what I would consider the most important one; the ability that lets you run fast, avoiding the biggest slog of hiking over acres of empty blocks, located in [spoiler] the express caves I'm pretty sure (blue on map, I'll let you find the area yourself though), towards the top left ish half of the area as unnassuming weird fire thing[/spoiler]. -Seriously, this game is extremely bad at communicating where you should go and can find key things. There is a marker system, but you may not even realize. It's 'I' on map to place and remove. Otherwise not even respawn lights get shown. I do not want this level of vast aimlessness in a game map this big and open, where gaining altitude is a small chore in its own right. -The story is not communicated clearly enough. There are lots of common implications in logs you find, but the gesturing is not enough to latch on to what is meant, especially as the bits of story you do find are so far apart so you wouldn't even be able to keep track of what you should be remembering in any one area. -I personally quite like the music, but I wish there was a lot more variety. -Some collectables are not explained. If there is some tiny note somewhere then I've missed it, because there are two for which I simply do not know what they do, the bottles and some weird flat one. Honestly if there wasn't such a unique goodness about this game and what it was trying to do, then this review would probably have opted to 'not recommended', but I appreciate what it's going for, and there has been so much I have enjoyed. It's just an extremely unpolished game, almost unfinished, and for that it can feel very rough like torn used sandpaper. **Ok, I thought I had finished the game, but that actual end was epic.

This game is fire. Graphics are spectacular! its a story that unravels as you travel thought this broken world, slowly putting together the parts of what happened. also you character is literal fire. whale

Honestly such a great game the story and art is amazing. The music is also on another level props to the creator. I would always recommend. A solid ten out of ten.