My thoughts (Review)

[Brain Dead]

Took me 17 hours to complete the game on Knight Difficulty.
Boy was that a ride. And not one that's over. The completionist within me won't let me leave those achievements unobtained.

TLDR
This game does not disappoint in any areas.
Story telling is slow to start off but perfectly paced by the end of it.
Combat is fast paced and unforgiving throughout the game. Just the way I like it.
The music works well though I did find that it just stopped playing during some encounters.
And the replay factor is certainly there.

Long version.

I'll start with the greatest point of contention with this game. The fixed camera angles outside of combat. Yeah. Okay. In some areas they made platforming a chore. But that's 2% of the time at most. The other 98% of the time, I honestly didn't notice the camera at all. It's dynamic when you're moving in tight spaces and it has a wide enough field of view to see what you need to see. Secrets especially.

Next up. I have to mention the challenges.
Yeah. Very Bayonetta inspired. And just as infuriating as well. Thankyou for digging up that memory devs. You did good. But the 2 hours I spent finishing the ones I found were worth it in the end. Upgrade materials are always welcome. And the ones I missed won't stay hidden for long.

As for gameplay. I can honestly say that this is one of my favourite combat systems in any action game. Fast paced dodge heavy combat that forces you to pay attention to everything on the screen and off the screen to stay ahead was a thrilling ride. Controlling both characters at once might have been a pain at first but once I got used to the timing of it, the only thing stopping me from finishing every encounter hitless was my own skill level.

Oh. And a note about weapons. The sword doesn't have any proficiency upgrades, it's damage is fixed from start to end. Which means that none of the enemies increase in difficulty later on. The game just throws different enemies at you and mixes them in with the rabble you've been fighting thus far.

Now, the art style is most certainly anime inspired. The large eyes, the black outline on objects and characters, the frozen crystals that looked like they were taken straight out of DMC. It was a beautiful game from start to finish. (Aside form the sewers though. No amount of detail or artistic influence can make a sewer look good.)

And for a game that takes place in a single city, the diversity of the level design and the wide areas of the battle arenas were a pleasant surprise as I got deeper into the game. And the way the option paths are so easy to miss makes exploration a worthwhile endeavour despite the linear nature of the game.

Oh. And let's not forget the bosses.
The first few are rough as you don't have the weapons they're week to yet or the skills needed to slow them down. But when they appear again as regular enemies later, you'll know what to do.

The later bosses were something else though. The mechanics behind their fights were sound. I never felt like I took a hit that I didn't deserve. Their designs were outstanding. The level of detail was top notch. Their scripting was on point. Never left themselves open unless I made an opening. Their arenas were always the right size and shape for the boss. Nowhere to hide or cheese them. You had to fight them head on. And the... boob physics and oddly upward facing camera angles were a thing... Okay. Someone must have been horny when designing that one.

Honestly, if I had to pick one thing that I didn't like about this game, it was that the sound effect added to Lute's voice occasionally made it hard to understand the first word she was saying. Her voice fades in an out like an echo. A few syllables get lost at times. But the subtitles sorted that. Maybe it can be patched. Who knows.

All in all. This is a AAA game from a very surprising source.
The developer is indie. Very indie. But this was stellar. And for the price, a bargain.

Thankyou very much for all your hard work devs.
And please, please, if you make a DLC or a second game, let us play as Sabre...

[soulstice_dostepycom]

It's a little rough around the edges, but the fact of the matter is, that it is fun. This company knows how to take criticism well. I am not sure about if DLC is planned for this game or if a sequel will be made unfortunately. Modus has other projects to work on.

[Zefar]

Couple of things that annoy me.

The later red flying creatures seems to have very large hitboxes when they do their dive attack.
They also like to move far away from you every time you get close.
So does the other new floating red enemy.
Then there was a blue boss with lightning that liked to stay away from me as well.

These fights just gets a bit annoying because even with the hammer they are not easily stunned. Ranged attacks doesn't really work due to bubble being too small.

Movement is a bit stiff. Specially jumping and dashing. I'm fine with jumping height being high but it's the part where you try to use in a battle where it gets a bit annoying.
DevilMayCry4 and 5 had Nero with his hand move and I know the whip has a move like that but I haven't found the whip useful enough to upgrade.

The movement could be smoothed out a bit more for better flow in movement.

Having your ultimate meter just go to the bottom after a single hit is also a bit too punishing imo. I have still activated it plenty of times but there are fights where I just get sidelined by something. I have upgraded defense for it quite a bit too.


Weapon upgrades costs a bit too much for what you get. When you get new weapons you'd need around probably 50 000 to max it out but even before you get around 30 000 you get a new weapon. Or you might focus on health upgrade instead and just stick with the sword and hammer. Less reasons to use the new weapons.
Lutes upgrade are somehow much more affordable.


But overall I'm still enjoying it.