The first two hours of this were a BLAST. I rarely play Metroidvanias, but this was some of the most viscerally satisfying gameplay I can remember enjoying with the genre. The difficulty curve was perfect, losing felt like winning as studying boss patterns and beating my head against the timing felt like it took nearly zero effort.
But there are caveats:
- Game-changing abilities should almost never be locked behind secret walls players have infinitesimal chances of finding without a guide. I rarely play Metroidvanias; I don't know if this is a common genre trope, but I hate it. Fortunately, I stumbled upon most of them of my own accord, but man...
- One warp point per stage means backtracking quickly turns into a bloody slog. Items unlocked by future skills are daftly sandwiched by some of the most challenging parts of the stages, turning the whole backtracking process into headache-inducing tedium. And then I find those same secret passages have even more content gatekept by more future skills, so I have to run the same wretched routes three or four more times because I don't remember what color of door was there the first time and mistakenly believe it's now accessible, or the end of a passage that demanded unlocking double jump has a crate I can't bypass until I get crate-breaking knives. Infuriating.
The bosses are insane and awesome, and, in typical Touhou fashion, the OST fucking rules.
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I dont care about Touhou at all, its actually a source of cringe to see all the fan service in this game, but its a really solid metroidvania none the less. Its quite linear in its design, you only need to come back to unlock static upgrades like Super Metroid, and there isnt a lot of interconnectivity between its 6 main areas. What it does well however is the combat and platforming. The game has a time stopping gimmick, and you gain mana by closely dodging enemy projectiles. What this results is a highly challenging combat system that has a high skilled system. Likewise the platforming sections are inventing and do nice twists around the time stopping mechanic.
Visually its animations are great, and the soundtrack is enjoyable upbeat electronic music.
Its a short game, but the fact that it leaves me wanting for more is a testimony to its quality. A gem if you will, that is only a few steps from greatness (namely a more interconnected map and more weapon variety).
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