Whew, it’s been an interesting ride. In my opinion, there’s a lot to praise about this game.

It’s a merge of old and new. The “old” part strongly resonates with a part of me. I’m a sucker for pixel graphics that have good animation. I’m a sucker for RPGs systems that aren’t overly complicated but still versatile enough to accommodate different playstyles. I’m a sucker for puzzles in general.

I liked the combat systems in particular, from the simple hack and slashing to the boss fights.

I liked the story. The “childish” humor. It’s a good change of pace once in a while. It’s still enough to get involved with the characters. Well, some of them. I have only some hesitation about the ending and some choices the characters made, but I get that they wanted to keep relationships simple and pure, without dragging it out with unnecessary drama. So they may feel kinda forced, but I get why they’re like that considering the general vibe of the game.

I liked a lot of the puzzles too. Nothing too complicated, but they posed a good challenge. Most of all, when I had to speedrun the temples because of the achievements (heh). I realize, though, that someone who doesn’t like puzzles, considering how many of them there are, could feel like they are too pervasive and overstay their welcome. On that note, the game has a good longevity and there’s a DLC too that gives closure to the story (I felt forced to get it when I completed the base game since I needed answers!). Some of the boss fights can be very tough (the DLC’s ones in particular). I state that as a positive point. It can be a good challenge if you’re into those kinds of things.

I recommend it.

As expected from a Freebird Games’ game, you have to deal with a romantic story where you’re expected to open your heart and feel. The usual witty storytelling where light and deep moments intertwine flawlessly, plus the delicate soundtrack, manage to achieve that.

If you’ve already played and appreciated their other games, you won’t be disappointed. If you don’t know them, well, you should fix that as soon as possible.

It felt quite rough at the start. The movements and the fights did not appear fluid at all, but it grew on me. I got used to the commands over time and once I unlocked most, if not all, of the dash/movement skills, I felt like the game unlocked its full potential. Since that very moment, delving into the platforming became really pleasant and I think I’ve encountered some of the hardest platforming challenges in my gaming “career”. On that note, I must say that some of the rotating flails sections were a bit too much even for me─I gave up on a handful of them.

The fights, instead, never really took off: they remained quite dull and lacked dynamism.

Overall, I liked it, and I think any metroidvania fan could appreciate it.

Oh, side note, for the completionists: the nightmare mode achievement (=beat the game without dying) is really really hard. I gave up just at the idea and didn’t even try.

It felt quite short, but it also felt that if it was any longer it would have become repetitive fast.

Graphically, it is nothing impressive and even the gameplay doesn’t particularly shine. The fights are pretty straightforward and maybe, aside for a single boss, there’s no particular mechanic to learn.

Still, I think it is overall passable. It’s not a bad game at all. In that sense I couldn’t point out a really bad thing about it even if I wanted to. That said, though, I can’t say I had particularly fun either.