DROS

Disclaimer: I've bought the game during sales at -90% (for a bit over one buck), not the full price. This game is conceptually good and had the ingredients to be a classic but has some "jankiness" that prevents it from having a gold rank. I like the ability to play as two different characters (despite not being able to freely swap them as you have to combine the Dros with that knight to be able to move, it would've been more interesting to be able to play as him independantly for some puzzles requiring to move him then go back to the lever spot so that the platform carrying him would move). I also like the small story and lore (as much as in some levels there may be too much dialogues for a puzzle game almost to the point it feels more like a top down RPG or Action Adventure game a la Ys or Zelda). The combat system is a bit too simplistic (you have a guard and attack button) and you don't always think of using the new abilities as it consumes Prima (the game's "currency" to heal your character and a certain amount is required to get the gold rank on a level), the jumping is sometimes inconsistent as platforming is hard even with the drop shadow (at least in normal mode you can "die" as many times as you want) and I wish the stealth mechanic would feel more intuitive than having that "distance meter". The story is pretty decent but very classic (the alchemist controls the Dros species with a flute and the knight wants the bounty reward on top of the tower). In some way it almost feels like the dev wanted to make his own Cave Story (little critters get brainwashed to serve as the antagonist's army). Graphically it's fine (it could pass as a XBLA or Vita title) yet I wish the art style was closer to the 2D artworks with a good shading. It's easy to see what's happening on screen. If you still like puzzle platformers grab it for sale.