[h1]The Gameplay: [/h1]
Build a bunch of stuff, but with a solid gathering and combat mechanics. Your strength is entirely determined by your gear and there is no experience or skill tree that muddies that, instead you kill bosses to make progress on your character. So killing 2000 enemies only gets 2000 enemies worth of material, no strength or anything like that. But killing a boss will allow you to now craft better armor or refineries etc. It's an odd, but still very enjoyable gameplay loop.
[h1]The Story:[/h1]
It isn't really prominent, most of it is environmental story telling which does a good job here. It's not completely bare-bones and the bosses/enemies etc have a very thoughtful placement that tells a story of it's own. There is also your self-made story on how you go about this which is open ended. This is not my favorite style but again it got the job done and it hit the parts that mattered to make it enjoyable for me.
[h1]The Visuals:[/h1]
This game has a lot of confidence and charisma in their art. They know how to give you and your castle good drip. The attacks, the gestures, the style of the environment and enemies all are a delight for the eyes in a well done cartoonish style. Each area has it's own look and feel, and they look and feel great.
[h1]The Sound:[/h1]
This game had a big sound budget, and you can tell. It gets carries it hard, from the sound effects of combat to the music. which are all powerful in their own right. However the voice acting of each an every boss, or your character trumps all that. It really makes fighting each boss unique and anything you do that involves your character talking that much better.
[h1]The Experience:[/h1]
This game reminds me of Tribes of Midgard at first, which also had mechanics were just as weird. However, this game set itself apart with the theme and attention to detail on the small things. I found myself really loving this game whereas I couldn't wait to get off of Tribes. There was love and hella craft put into this game and then you add in the castlvania cross over too... oomf, so good. It's an easy recommend in my book and I can see myself playing it long after I already 100%ed it.
