Bard's Gold

Bard's Gold is an awesome 2d Metroidvania leaning rogue-lite game (More Castlevaniaish than Metroid). Took me 5-6 hours to beat and 10 hours to 100% achievements. Used a game controller to play. Difficulty is medium-hard with some parts being unfair. This game is really fun. Really really really fun. It looks simplistic on the outside but inside its gamy guts there's a lot to offer. Lots of enemies and traps, mildly unfair level designs that'll keep you on your toes, different weapons to buy, and everything is crawling with secret bits to find. When you lose a life, the level might pull a switch on you and leave you figuring out a new method to get to the door. The achievements are all doable with patience. And there are different modes to play, too! If you're looking for a 2d 'find the key, get to the door, die a few dozen times and curse at bats and spikes' game, Bard's Gold is where it's at. This is the sort of romp where you suck royally sorts of bad at the beginning then eventually get good and feel the success of a hard win. No fluff or useless junk, and everything is easy to figure out with enough playing. 101 ways to die, the Rogue Troubadour version. There are three things that bugged me: 1. The axe was a little too slow and leaves you at a disadvantage. Fun for challenge runs, less so for a straight play-through. 2. There is no way to pause between deaths on the last boss. He's hard and when you have 10 lives and have to repeat the whole battle over and over again you'll need room for a eye break. Everywhere else in the game you can pause it, but not for Lasty McBlastinface the fourth over there. 3. ... Was there a third? I got distracted by the nickname on the last complaint. Ffff.... Oh well. Maybe the first three bosses were easy. Or there wasn't enough toast. Make something up here. So yeah! 2d Metroidvania with rogue-lite elements on the levels. Very very fun. Lots of knives and slimey things. If you like this sort of candy, go get this game. Worth it. Promise.