Recent reviews by Healcannon

Combat felt clunky to me. Dealing with mechanics like your temperature, hunger, thirst, etc while also being a souls-like felt like extra punishment rather than fun. Instead of just focusing on the fighting and the exploration you end up juggling too much to where it wasn't that fun for me. I gave it a decent try but I had to return it. Just didn't mesh with me knowing there are other games out there that can do open world better or souls-like better even if they aren't in the same game.

Shame this got abandoned. Bought it for 5 bucks and got 7 hours worth. Low level if pretty rough but as you get stronger you start to also figure out some of the better setups. It does seem like there are quite a few brokenly strong builds you could do though as well as some items. The EX attacks and dodges didn't really seem that useful to me though. Regular attacks, dodges, and parries were really enough for the most part.

I would have liked to see what the full game would have ended up like as well as had the other playable characters.

Went in blind and on hard mode. Probably took me twice as long than other people to really learn how the monster worked and beat my first playthrough. Really fun experience where learning how to move and what items you use really mattered. Way better than Soma, A Machine for Pigs, and especially Rebirth. I'd say its on par with the original Amnesia though they aren't the same sort of game to compare directly.

The ending was kinda lack luster and this idea you can really use multiple solutions for problems was not really true. Some barriers were in place that required specific items and not even TNT explosions could resolve them for you. So I always felt like that loading screen tip was misleading. Trying to figure out what worked on what puzzle was a big part of the barrier for really getting the ball rolling in progressing the game outside of finding and trying to explore new areas. You didn't know certain puzzle solving solutions were in the game and just thought maybe your method you tried just wasn't the right one out of many when it turns out there was only 1 way.

While some say that death didn't feel punishing, I feel like the fear in the game was because of the limited resources and how far you might push because your saving is limited. Initially I had a hard time learning how the monster worked while also progressing the exploration that often I would waste time to run back to save so progress wasn't lost on death. So it is a double edged sword to have the game setup that way. This also lead to 2 moments where either the monster was in the save room waiting for me already or entered it to kill me which were the scariest moments in the game.

It lost most of its scare early on but there was still plenty of ♥♥♥♥ your pants moments for the remaining hours. Would recommend.

Went in expecting horror. Came out learning about how to be expecting.

It is a step up and a step down from the other shantae games. The cards were a good chance. Having more ability to customize your gameplay is always good. The magic was pretty recycled from the other games. The map layouts felt a lot worse than the big changes in scenery we had in Pirates Curse and Half genie hero. Most of which just felt like sewers or recolored sewers. The movement was a lot better though but you were almost required to constantly dash as the maps felt so bloated. Most of your powers of movement not requiring dancing was a big plus and helped keep moving around a lot smoother.

Normally I 100% the game without guides before fighting the last boss but this game had more hidden objects than usual and going through every screen to scan or sometimes multiple times on the same screen in these massive maps was mind numbing. I got 91% completion when I ended the game. I might replay it at some point but my time played for money spent wasn't great. In the future I wish all of the areas had counters for the amount of hidden squids, nuggets, etc in an area so you don't have to create tedious gameplay to 100% it or feel bad for looking something up. Inflated hours played just searching for 1-2 last pieces isn't very fun nor is having to give up to use a guide but that depends on the person.

Shantae is always fun to control and the humor is great. Shes a cutie half genie but I feel like the negatives this time out ranked the positives. Still it was enjoyable overall but i'd wait for a sale.

I really love the cast of characters and all of the options you have for your party members. You can make your battles as complex or as simple as you wanted. The combat was really rough at first and I thought maybe this game wasn't for me but it really became way easier with time as I also improved with my own personal timings regardless.

The game generally felt incomplete though. A majority of my time spent was traveling back and forth between areas you already went to because the creators made us do it. Even if you wanted to explore most of the map like I did for bonus objects, that was really what your time sink became. Constantly just doing the same jump puzzles in an area over and over because the game doesn't have enough warps. Realizing the map makes it look like you can reach the other side from 1 spot until you learn you have to travel halfway across the map to get all the way around instead.

Having a big cast of side characters also has the issues of them having limited personalities. You really only get to hear a handful of the cast in actual voiced sequences. The story itself isn't anything amazing either.

Overall I had a fun time but as much as I want Shantae to finally be released in the game I dont really see myself replaying the game just for her. Wait for it to get cheaper and play through it once is your best bet. The colors and the combat were worth that.

Very short and very bland. It really brings nothing new to RPGs. I like nep nep a lot but it was barely enough to carry me through this game. The quests are basically all kill or fetch with only a handful even showing on the map where to go. The combat was super easy and it was simple to stack skills to make your characters OP. Once you got any sort of reduction in skill cost the game was brain dead. It isn't a good sign when you can fast forward the battles even during the boss ones without much fear. If you put Blanc as the leader of your party you will basically be invincible with her formation heal. My 28 hours was with a lot of exploring but I didn't do all of the post game quests either.

Nep 3 times harder than you Nepped before.

This game had 2 major problems that really made it hard for me to enjoy it. The first is the requirement to see every single animation 100x before you are allowed to do a new action. There is no clip to the end of the animation if you click again. This means any puzzle you are stuck on for an extended period of time is greatly enhanced by the sluggish pace of Lilly herself.

My second issue is the puzzles themselves. On puzzles I was stuck on it was largely due to the fact it was unclear what you are actually trying to solve. It is annoying to have a secondary aspect of the puzzle being figuring out why you are doing an action or what you are trying to get the machine to accomplish. The hint box isn't always helpful either. Sometimes a blimp on it means you can just move there. Other times it means you can just move there as well as click again to do another action once you are already in the same spot.

The game looked really pretty and the puzzles themselves were fun once you understood the goal of them. Maybe I am just bad at puzzle games but i'd like it a lot more if the objectives were more straight forward. I did manage to beat the entire thing while sadly only needing help for one of the first puzzles.

I went into this not expecting much. What I got instead was a delightful little mystery case without all the hassle of pixel finding. The characters were varied and enjoyable with some more memorable than others. The real joy of this game was how well it was setup as if it was a real case. Organized profiles on each character, evidence with all its new details laid out, challenges for grilling the suspects, and it all gets wrapped up in a manner that forces you to prove you understand what all the evidence stands for. The game itself is simplistic but with the voice acting, detective layout, and fun cast of characters it was all together an enjoyable experience. I would instantly but a sequel. I just wish this first one was a bit longer or had some more areas you could explore.