Recent reviews by Jack Steele

Ok, where to start.
I added this game to my wish list very early on as a contender to Ritual of the Night like many others did.
Once the game was available I decided to buy it, and during my first 20 minutes of gameplay I noticed it was not the game I thought it was. there is not that much back tracking with powerups as you would expect in a metroidvania game, in fact... I wouldn't put this game in the metroidvania genre at all.
Now I know I sound negative up to this point but the, even if thegame was not what I expected it to be, it's a really nice game.
It's more of a sidescolling game that has the combat of a castlevania game. I would say it's a crossover between that genre and a 2d Hack'n'Slash. Each playthough is generated using preset tilesections, creating a somewhat diablo like level generation. The game is punishing, as oldschool games were, but this is a good thing for this type of game, each stage ends with a wait room where you can spend the gems you have earned to get stronger, thus making progression in the sense that the game get progressivly easier at the start, allowing you to get a little further a little faster every time, and that gives a small reward in it's own.

I've now spent about 5 hours in the game(about half of that on this account) and the controlls are getting easier to handle, my timing is getting better and I'm learning new tricks to make things easier. it really feels like when I was a kid and was getting better and further in games as I progressed.

I think the game would appeal both to metroidvania fans for it's combat and to fans of hack'n'slash for it's generated levels and progression mechanics.
The artstyle and graphics are beautiful and it has a masterful sound theme, both in music and in effects.
The english translation however is, well lets be kind and call it sub par. It's hard to really get taken in by the story, likely because the story it self will need some work n it during the early access time window, but the translation makes it even harder.

In short, I would say this is a really nice game to play when you have an hour or two over and I wouild gladly recomend it to other gamers, but do not expect a full metroidVania game in this package