Afterimage

good game, nice art work

This game starts quite slow but after a while it becomes really fun. For my first metroidvania game that i completed from start to finish, it is so refreshing and now i know why many people like these type of games. They're satisfying af. The story also starts quite slow and the player just gets shoved in to the with no backstory in the beginning at all but i guess thats how many metroidvania is anyway. Story also gets quite good at mid-to-late game where you start to piece everything. Although yeah in the end it is quite abrupt. It could've been better though, i see the vision. The story overall is just okay to me. Its not too bad but not too good. I myself still gets attached to the characters tho for some reason XD Overall, a nice and fun experience. I wish there's an announcement of a sequel but from what i've seen in posts and rumors, its pretty much unlikely which is a damn shame. I'll miss you Renee and Ifree

할만한 메트로배니아 게임

挺不错的，画风挺好，内容也多

게임이 너무 밝아서 눈아픔

Es un buen juego, muy entretenido y por momentos me recuerda a castlevania, pero con las diferencias del personaje, me gusto mucho

This game is what I would consider a hidden gem because I had never heard of it before playing it. There is SO MUCH more love and care put into this compared to a lot of other indie Metroidvanias (not throwing shade at any game, just pointing it out) that it's ridiculous. Contrary to what most people seem to think, I actually think the weakest part is the start. The first few hours are just "okay" because of how limited you are, but you get upgrades relatively fast and the game opens up considerably. There are plenty of issues past that, but also a LOT of upsides. Overall, I would HIGHLY recommend this over almost any other Metroidvania on steam besides Hollow Knight games, which clearly inspired this game and even have an Easter egg here and probably the Ori ones. [h1][b]Gameplay[/b][/h1] The gameplay is relatively simple on paper, but you can do flashy stuff by canceling certain attacks into Skills. Animation cancelling is probably the most fun thing to do, letting you quickly dish out damage by chaining attacks and Skills. The problem is that Skills themselves do horrendous damage unless you build around Skill damage, and even then you're mostly relying on basic attacks. Magic is where I have a BIG gripe. Yes, it does a lot of damage, especially late-game, but you're stuck in place while casting and you CANNOT CAST IT IN THE AIR. This is massive because there are plenty of aerial enemies. Around 70% of the spells also feel straight-up unusable, making magic very feast-or-famine. The weapons, however, are fantastic. They are all unique and offer VERY different gameplay, so you're definitely going to find one or two you really like and stick with. [h1][b]Progression & Exploration[/b][/h1] This is where I'm torn because this is the bread and butter of a Metroidvania. The game is HUGE. Like, actually massive. Don't get deceived by the price tag. Even removing the long corridors where nothing happens and some empty vertical areas, this might be around Silksong's size in terms of map area. Add the verticality and it's definitely bigger. Is that necessarily good? I don't think so. Silksong uses its space much more efficiently. A lot of Afterimage's areas feel big just for the sake of being big rather than having interesting things surrounding them. Most are fine once you have the proper upgrades, though. The upgrade system is also weird because you can skip A LOT OF THEM. This can make areas feel poorly designed when the game expects X upgrade but you have Y instead. Super Jump is the biggest example. I got it so early that almost every other movement upgrade became pointless, and since it's technically a hidden upgrade, a lot of areas clearly weren't designed around you having it. Getting 100% of an area is also annoying because the game abuses hidden walls/floors. The secret radar helps, but it's inconsistent: sometimes the secret is immediately obvious, while other times it could be anywhere in your general direction. Bosses also don't count toward area completion, so you can have 20/20 and STILL be missing a boss. A lot of bosses are hidden too. I was level 99 when I finally found the last boss I needed for an Afterimage, so he just ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ exploded. I had already fought him in Trial of Souls earlier in my playthrough, but that's not really how you're intended to do it. I started doing Trial of Souls halfway through the game because I wanted the costumes you get from it, knowing that if I left it until the end I probably would've never gone back to the main game anyway. I'd definitely recommend leaving Trial of Souls until you've finished the game, though. Platforming is another feast-or-famine situation. It's very easy to break using air-stalling + dash + double-jump. Personally, I LOVED this because it rewarded me for cheesing my way into places I clearly wasn't intended to reach, but I can see why others would dislike it. The Claw also makes most vertical areas trivial, which makes Triple Jump feel extremely pointless. I mostly used it to get two Skills in a row with Dual Blades, which is busted IMO. And yes, this game has **10 endings**. **HOWEVER, I would say it's more like 4.** The first three are basically unmissable, and 9 of the endings can be obtained from the same spot. Then you have the three Ifreet endings, two 42 endings, the true ending involving Renee, and The Wall secret ending. Most of them are basically "What if?" scenarios, kind of like NieR, so it's nowhere near as overwhelming as "10 endings" makes it sound. [h1][b]Story[/b][/h1] I know this is where most of the complaints will go, and it's understandable. The story itself is actually pretty good. The problem is that the developers present it in a nonsensical way. You have to go WAY out of your way to piece everything together. Even after 100%ing the game, I had to watch a LORE VIDEO AFTER 100% THE GAME. I could understand Ifreet's and 42's stories on my own, but I still had tons of questions about Renee and the first three endings that I had to look up. Once everything is pieced together, the story is genuinely good, but the presentation is atrocious. It feels like one plot abruptly ends and another completely unrelated one starts without properly concluding the first. If you're looking for good storytelling, you're probably going to get frustrated. I'd recommend playing this for the gameplay, then watching a lore video if you find the characters interesting. It's not worth trying to piece everything together yourself. [h1][b]Side Content[/b][/h1] First, this game does NOT have a traditional "New Game+". What is called New Game+ is actually a separate mode where you play as 42 that plays out the story from her PoV in 10 small chapters. What it does have is Trial of Souls, basically the equivalent of Hall of Gods from Hollow Knight. You can fight every boss individually, with challenges requiring you to take no damage or stay below a certain number of hits. The layout of the hub is HORRENDOUS, though. A set of bosses souls in the hub are separated by a huge gap in the middle from the other for no reason, and the souls all look very similar, making them hard to distinguish. There are also two unique bosses, "Combinations" that work like Pantheons, and a huge boss gauntlet at the bottom. The latter takes forever and gives no reward, so I wouldn't recommend it unless you're bored or want the challenge. Overall, though, Trial of Souls is a great addition. Boss rush modes are always welcome in a Metroidvania, and this one also works as a training area where you can practice bosses without having to walk back to them. [b]TL;DR: Actually a very good, solid game that surprised me. I know this review probably makes it sound like I complained more than I praised, but I'm limited by Steam's character limit and had to focus on the things I had issues with. I assure you, this game has a LOT of upsides and is genuinely charming. It started slow, but eventually REALLY hooked me with its mechanics and exploration. I think it's absolutely worth it for any Metroidvania fan, especially if you're more of a Castlevania fan than a Metroid fan due to the stronger RPG mechanics. One of the few indie games that is truly worth its price.[/b]