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EDIT (April 11, 2020):
After a few updates, the game is better but still doesn't feel all that gratifying to play. The balance is better and it's not so difficult to grind for those points to make your permanent upgrades--I am very happy about this because this significantly cuts down on the grind. (However, I accidentally purchased two upgrades that I didn't want by pressing the wrong button, and didn't grab the upgrade I wanted, and the grind is back on.) I still wish the game allows you to return to previous levels. It's definitely a cool concept to use enemies to attack each other instead of you having to deal with all of them. I do like the small areas where this is implemented. My button mapping still feels funny on the controller, that hasn't changed. The random text/dialogue capitalization is gone, thankfully, but the grammar errors still persist. Coin-purchased upgrades do not transition between levels, so if you collect coins to grind for increased damage, well, you are SoL on the next level. I definitely feel that to make a game that stands out in this genre of 2D platforming, the game needs to offer something new and fresh, and this just doesn't do that. My "Not Recommended" opinion stands. Kudos to the dev for listening to critique and trying to make the game better though.
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Original Review:
[i]The Curse of Zigoris[/i] is a side-scrolling action platformer that is decent in concept but [b]execution leaves much to be desired.[/b] I did not spend that much time on this game as the controller I am using has really strange button mappings (a bit different from what is intended) so the platforming felt strange having to press buttons I would normally use elsewhere.
But that's not the only reason why I cannot recommend this game, as it has a really strange progression system that [b]rewards heavy grinding and dying instead of moving through earlier stages quicker.[/b] Once I realized this, I am a bit farther in and now all of a sudden the grinding and farming I would have benefited from makes sense, but I am stuck and cannot go back.
That's right, once you get past a particular stage, that's it. There's no way as far as I can tell to go back to it. I cannot also start a new game. So I am stuck on a level with enemies that are pratically one-shotting me , but I have to hit each 3-4 times and not only do they have really short tells, their attacks are almost telescoping.
It's kind of fun when you are able to do a particular sequence well, but it's also more than frustrating to get stuck quickly thereafter because you didn't grind enough to give yourself some upgrade points to basically better overcome your enemies. There's a GIF on the store page of a sequence of attacking, deflecting something and then destroying a couple of enemies. Without the grind for the powerups, this is impossible to do.
In addition, really well hidden enemies that have little contrast against the background can just maul you for a few HP every couple of seconds and if you are not facing them and attacking, you can be expected to be sent to the beginning of the stage.
Back up a moment to where I was mentioning the grinding before. The increased power that you can buy in shops, your money collecting, and some unlockable "talents" are the combination of things that are permanent upgrades to your character. Unfortunately to unlock these, you have to make the purchases in the shops that show up and also upgrade your character at particular locations after killing enemies to go through the experience bar to earn your stat point.
I guess I just don't like the way the system is set up for you to [b]play until you hit a wall, then have to grind enough to get past it.[/b] Then until you hit the next wall, and then you have grind for a while to get past it again. The only way to not do this is by grinding in the beginning. But I am looking through all of the times you have to fill up the experience bar to make the upgrades, it just seems that you have to spend way too much time on it.
Something that bothered me include the fact that this game is English only but the [b]grammar is so awful.[/b] Random capitalizations everywhere, incomplete sentences, wrong verb tenses in literally every passage. And when you die, you have to click through the same pages for that level every single time. I know this doesn't affect gameplay much but part of the reason I play some silly platformers is because there's a story attached and it's fun to read through to see to the end, as cliche as they may be. But reading through this one I cringe every time, and it's every death.
So you wanted to know a little bit about the platforming parts of a platforming game? Well, it's [b]nothing to write home about.[/b] There is a decent amount of platforming and not too precise in terms of jumps. The enemies have a good variety of movement and attack patterns so you have to learn to deal with them. How satisfying is a good sequence of platforming, getting by the enemies and traps to reach the exist though? I already wrote about it above, it puts me back against a wall of having finished the last level too quickly and the arbitrary grind wall is before me again.
[b]Play at your own risk,[/b] I think I would advise my friends to play [i]Spelunky, Rogue Legacy, Hollow Knight, Dead Cells, Scourge Bringer, Horace, Spirits Abyss,[/i] and I am sure you can name some others if you are looking for a solid 2D action platformer instead.
[quote]I received the product for free. I did not receive any compensation to write this review. The opinions represented here are entirely my own and were not influenced in any way.[/quote]
