One of my favorite games of all time. Actually perfect, I believe. This game is so cool for so many reasons. To begin with, the gimmick--that not only do you die in one hit but so do the bosses--works so well. It's a neat spin on the usual die-in-one-hit difficulty we're used to in classically hard games. The game's main mechanic is incredibly fun, satisfying, and impressively works as the balance to this gimmick: you can only attack with a bow and singular arrow (the arrow can also be called telekinetically which, to not spoil anything, I'll just say is as useful if not more than shooting the arrow). This means that you have to wait for the right time, set up the right conditions, be in the right spot, and make the shot to get the kill. If you miss your shot, you need to collect your arrow while still avoiding the boss's attacks to get another chance. Since you can recall your arrow, you don't have to stop everything to get it either, allowing you to traverse the arena and still prepare for your next attempt as the arrow flies back to you. Each boss has a unique weakness that you need to find and attack to defeat them. It's a lot of fun playing with a new boss; learning their attacks, learning their weakness, and practicing them until you can exploit their weakness. Each boss leans into those three steps a different amount too, with some having an obvious giant eye to attack but being difficult to shoot, and others requiring careful planning to make them vulnerable. There's just so much variety and each boss is fun in their own unique way. There's not a single boss in this game that is boring. Legitimately. I mean technically there's a "boss" that's there for lore only, but besides that every single fight is simply a blast. All of these mechanics and design choices fit together so well!
There is one big big point of contention with everyone who's played this game though: the backtracking. This game contains a big beautiful map and scenery filled with...entrances to boss arenas. There's no enemies besides the bosses, and this map is just to look pretty and provide scale. It accomplishes both with tremendous success, but the checkpoints are placed in this map rather than at each boss arena, meaning every death you need to walk back to the boss. Most are 10-20 seconds away, some longer. All to enter the fight and die immediately. Not to mention there is a slow fade out on death too. This completely goes against the standard of these hard games to provide a difficult challenge but provide quick means to retry it. Doing so avoids frustration. For some weird reason, I just didn't mind. It's completely a valid criticism and I have no rebuttal, but it just didn't bother me to backtrack every death. Perhaps I enjoyed the weight of each attempt? Idk. Nonetheless, the world is beautiful and has bits of environmental storytelling. It made me feel like these were not just bosses but titans that have been undefeated for thousands of years. Speaking of, some of the titans are really really cool! I won't spoil them, but their existence alone gives a new perspective to your journey.
This game has some of those stupid achievements like "beat the entire game without getting hit" that are for a very small handful of people, those who have the same dedication and time commitment as a speedrunner, but for the first time I didn't think "Those weren't made for me." Instead, it felt like an opportunity to improve upon the strategies I already devised. Like sure I can beat any boss with enough attempts, but only one? Turns out it's identical to the process of beating the boss for the first time, but now you have the extra condition to prioritize consistency. Each boss's movements and attacks are completely deterministic given the same player inputs. Most importantly, minor deviations in player inputs only result in minor deviations in boss behavior, so you can plan your movements as closely as you think you can follow. It then creates that risk and reward system you can only find in video games. For example, one boss you can defeat in the first second, but you die if you're off by just a few frames, while a different strategy offers much more leeway, but the fight becomes more inconsistent. So yes, I did try to get those achievements, and after returning to this game every few years to pay my respects I finally got them all.
This review has been all over the place, but if any of this sounds interesting check out the demo, which has the first 3 bosses, and discover for yourself how great this game is.
