[b]EDIT[/b]: I almost changed this to a negative review after reaching Ashram, the Stage 5 end-boss, i.e. the 10th boss in total.
The "git gud chorus" can sod off. This is something else: the chaining of two totally different bosses, no mid-save, you reach the 2nd damaged after many tries, and he slaughters you before you get any chance to train him and his completely distinct attacks.
I've needed [b]countless dozens[/b] of tries to get through Pirotess, the Stage 3 end-boss, and then got Beld the Stage 4 end-boss on my 2nd try.
I don't mind Pirotess that much; it's a constant onslaught of mid-hitting attacks that gives you [i]tiny[/i] reaction time, and that never takes a moment's breather. (the next endstage boss Beld, in contrast, has heavy-hitting attacks that give you [i]slightly more[/i] reaction time, which I had no issue with).
So yeah you [i]can[/i] "git gud" on Pirotess, because you constantly train her till you pass her.
But then you reach Ashram -- stage 5 of 6 -- and they pull this truly obnoxious stunt of giving you a 2nd back-to-back boss whom you [b]cannot train[/b] (like Pirotess) because you don't [b]get[/b] to train him until you pass the 1st boss, whom even after a dozen tries you pass one time out of three. You don't [b]get[/b] to "git gud".
I thoroughly dislike this. I'm giving up on finishing this game at 5/6 through it, and that left a bad taste.
I decided to not give it a thumbs-down because I realized [i]it simply and truly is that kind of game[/i].Even if it doesn't look so at the start. After basically giving up on Ashram, I went to check the guides and realized that to finish stage 6/6, you essentially [i]have to go through a back-to-back gauntlet of the entire set of the previous dozen bosses[/i] (which includes the two substantially different Ashrams)
It's... that kind of game. Everything else I said about the richness of pixel-art animations, it still stands. In sum, I don't regret having gone for it, on account of everything that preceded Ashram. Just be aware that if you buy it, doesn't mean you'll be finishing it.
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If you like both Metroidvanias and pixel art, then this game is a must.
The gameplay is very fluid, duly backed by fluid gorgeous pixel-art animations. The art was made by people who obviously love the craft.
It is a Symphony-of-the-Night kind of gameplay - very dynamic and based on backstep rather than block/parry. It starts off somewhat easier, but about a third of the way in it reaches a solid difficulty curve. Down the line, you should basically expect Hollow Knight difficulty, not Ori difficulty. (I am ~2/3 of the way in at the time of writing this)
Enemies in a room respawn on every entering/exiting the room (as opposed to every time you "bench") - which is a bit annoying in the present day, but that had indeed been the tradition. On the upside, there is not [i]so[/i] much "filler" in between the bosses, just about the right amount to properly train you for a bossfight. And there's quite a few bossfights...
The game bases itself on "Record of Lodoss War", apparently a foundational late-80s anime. Its main character was a young knight called Parn, and Deedlit was a fan-favourite character in his party. In this game, Deedlit is the titular elf and main character, suddenly transported to the strange world of the "Wonder Labyrinth", and trying to find Parn. In the labyrinth, she runs into many of the characters of the original anime, and some commenters say that the game may hold too many spoilers for the original anime's story. I haven't watched it, so I can't say, but it's likely that all those encounters will be more meaningful to someone who did watch. In any case, it stands its own ground as a wonderfully animated metroidvania, with fluid combat, ties to original animes aside.
Also kudos to the programmers who packed this abundance of graphics and animation into a ~280 MB download. There's so many games that look like it's 2003 and which [i]still[/i] manage to take up a 10 GB download, and then run jankily, that I had to commend them as well.
