The Siege and the Sandfox

It started of good but the more you play the more bugs appear. Enemies stuck in random places. you get constantly spotted even thoe you are hidden. Instakill mechanics that have bad hitboxes. the same cutscene happening 3 times in a row. etc. its a pretty and interesting concept but there is just so much ducktape in the background that you are bound to get ♥♥♥♥♥♥ over by some weird bug during your playthrough.

Not sure about the negative reviews. Possibly due to an earlier state of the game? I think i'm around midgame and so far it's living up to my expectations. Beautiful pixel art, great map and sense of progression, great setting, awesome narration, not the most original plot maybe but who cares. Happy I got this despite the negative reviews. Only encountered 1-2 minor glitches so far.

Really interesting game and whilst I did enjoy my couple of hours at the beginning, I sadly cannot progress. I can concur with other reviewers, the game is riddled with bugs and my lack of progression has been tied to this. Getting killed and teleported to another area of the map without the necessary upgrades to escape is very problematic. If the game is fixed and I am able to replay without these issues, then I will change my review. Though in its current state, I cannot recommend this game.

broken and abandoned. it looks pretty but don't let that deceive you. can only hope dev returns to clean it up... there's potential here.

Lots of bugs. UNPLAYABLE. It would be a great game, very interesting and beautiful. Sadly, bugs started to appear during gameplay, until the point I can't progress anymore.

This is an enjoyable experience now. I'll state up front. I didn't play the game at launch and any dev who launches a buggy game deserves what they get. I skipped on it due to how everyone mentioned the bugs, but I had someone mention it recently and they said bugs weren't a problem so I gave it a shot and they're not. It's not bug-free, but I only really experienced one bug that hampered the experience during my playthrough, although it happened with some frequency and is not one that's good for a stealth game to have. Basically it is possible for enemies to get "stuck" and their alertness meter doesn't go down. This can be fixed by showing yourself to them and hiding again to jostle them free or reloading the checkpoint. It's not a good one, but I can't say it was particularly a problem for me either. I had some other issues with the game that wasn't bugs, for instance the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ gliding mechanic I've ever seen - and some instances of enemy placement (although that gripe is not unusual for stealth games). Ok, to the game itself. This is a no-combat MV, it's all stealth in the "ghost" style, AKA remaining undetected. It's not stealth until you get caught and it's not stealth to kill everyone in sight. There isn't even any bosses, including a final boss (which is a mistake many stealth games fall into, e. g. Aragami). You have one offensive move, where you can knock out *some* enemies if you catch them unaware, but even that can't be used all that frequently due to enemy placement - your goal here is to keep moving and remain undetected. As someone who enjoys 2D stealth games, I found the stealth to be incredibly good. It's probably on par with Mark of the Ninja, Gunpoint, and possibly Wildfire (probably not Wildfire). So how is it as an MV? It's actually pretty good. After a linear section the world opens up and there are at several points in the journey different locations you can explore in any order. The abilities are for the most part pretty unique here since they're focused on parkour and remaining undetected. There is however not much exploration to speak out outside of it being enjoyable to explore the world and make progress. There are no stat upgrades - you have 1 health, you get hit you die - there are collectibles where you'll get a bit of lore about the world and the order the Sandfox belongs to, but that's it. Platforming is a big part of the game so if you don't like that well be aware. It's not all that difficult or anything, but it is a big part. All in all, my verdict is this is an incredibly good game. As a fan of stealth games and MV's I'd give it probably on 8.5-9.0 and A-tier as an MV, despite the odd issue I have. Almost tempted to give it an S-tier ranking, but I really cannot because that one bug that remains, while I don't consider it a critical issue, it's still something that is something you have to navigate that you shouldn't have to.

I really enjoyed this game. It is buggy, as other reviews state, but I believe a lot of work has gone into fixing it. I never encountered any game breaking bugs, just things like stuck sprites and repeated audio. The story is told by a narrator who does a wonderful job and really is the highlight of the game, her performance is stellar and I looked forward to whenever she talked, barring the repeat dialogue mentioned above. Visually the game is excellent too, every new environment has a different feel, and the pixel art/16 bit style is diverse and beautiful. Gameplay wise, the platforming is technical and fluid but not difficult. Think pre-Ubisoft Prince of Persia. The main challenge comes from paying attention and figuring out where to go. Metroidvania games can be extremely demanding, but this is not one of them. It is frustrating to accidentally pass a point of no return in an already-cleared zone and be forced to run all the way through the one way platforming challenge for a second time. A lot of this could be resolved by implementing a "teleport to fast travel point" feature as seen in other MVs. Since this is a stealth focused game, progressing through a combat zone is generally a claustrophobic and slow process. A sort of fog of war covers areas of the screen which the player character sprite doesn't have line of sight of which adds tension in a visually satisfying and beautiful way. I definitely got spotted by carelessly opening a door without checking who was on the other side first. There are only six or so enemy types in the game, and you quickly get used to them. Again, this is not a difficult game. Finally, my complaints: The map really needs a key to show which coloured icon means which obstacle. Even after 11 hours with every ability unlocked, I was wondering which one was which. There is little optional exploration. You will basically visit 100% of the map by completing the story. It never triggered that "what if there's something good up there" feeling that other MVs have all over them. The ending is a one way trip through a very simple area. You have to manually back up your save game in order to return to the main palace. This is mentioned in the forums but I had already saved outside and there's no way back. I would cut the save points from the final area and make the player do it in one go. That way, reloading the save would put you back in the palace to finish up any missed achievements. Oh and it runs perfectly on the Steam Deck. Definitely a recommend from me!

This game feels like Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Thief: The Dark Project combined, there's even a narrator turning your actions into a story told long after the events. Gameplay-wise, it's both shadow-based stealth and platforming, which is a lot of fun Its reputation for being buggy is way overblown, there's the occasional goofiness but nothing game-breaking or that isn't fixed by reloading to any of the frequent checkpoints

The world building and the mood is great but too often, you reach a state of flow that ends up interrupted by bugs and glitches: Clipping through doors and walls, entity sprites inside walls just chilling there, enemy spotting you 3 screens away through multiple doors and walls. The music and the storytelling are great but every time you start to feel the immersion, a bug pulls you back to reality.

Clunky controls, loads of bugs, uninspired level design, there's not much to recommend about this one. Because of how the game works, any mistake either has you instantly die (which with the loading times and checkpoints means you'll be waiting a while) or have to run and hide and then wait for a while anyways. This leads to most of your time with this game being spent waiting and not having fun. And that's not getting into the situations where a guard's AI will bug and make progress impossible unless you reset. The devs released one patch and then dipped, so this is unlikely to change. Combine that with the level design ranging from bad to just ok and this isn't worth it, even on sale. Also that "never get spotted once" achievement is absolutely terrible achievement design and I'm shocked that anyone put the time in to accomplish it.