Welcome back Alex, I remember Powernaut VANGARDT from 2017, was a cool game but I never finished it because of the save system, and hey, nice to see you still making these, given they never got much of an audience. The game is a little hard Alex, who exactly are you trying to torture here, those 2 people? Actually "NES-hard", you really came through with this one, it felt like the entire game was an endless hazard, every time you get hit it feels like there is an insta death pit located conveniently next to you, it's like a double cheeseburger with Castlevania medusa heads and Ninja Gaiden knock back, thank you for such WoNdErFul memories. To give you credit though, it's not just that game is hard, but it's hard in a very faithful way, very much reminds me those classic platformers and their shortcomings, but this time it feels intentional.
I didn't like the game at first, some of the boss telegraphing felt too random, but as I kept pushing it kinda grew on me, and I was able to find correct strategies with some practice. Perhaps it's my fault being spoiled with modern games that are not as extreme, but I forgot some if these nuances you are trying to do in this game, the more I think about it, it feels like it's a very good tribute to games like Metroid, Castlevania, and MegaMan to a lesser extent, with a touch of Souls-Likes for some reason. My favorite Genesis/Nes game is actually BattleToads so I am not a complete stranger to a small challenge, just needed to get my lazy butt in shape for this one, I may have died once or twice in the chapel (well, closer to a 100)
Surprisingly there is a ton of content for a $3 game, it probably will take you at least 6 hours to finish it, and after you beat the game it will have new enemy types on a second playthrough, and even more challenge on additional runs, so essentially you have to replay the game over and over to see everything that it has to offer. I didn't notice a huge difficulty spike on the NG+, but like I said, some new enemies, and they seem to have a bit more HP, also I may have accidentally skipped the second ending so I am not sure if it was different from the first one. There is also some collection support, you can equip various effects and collect some dolls to open a gate.
It's not really a "metroidvania" but it does have that spider-web level design, as the dev said in the forum, it takes some inspiration from Souls series with the navigation, some areas can be completed out of order, and most of the world is connected by shortcuts. Indeed it has some souls-like features which feels weird to say for a platformer, but you will drop you currency on the floor, you can upgrade stats in the hub, and there is also some corruption system that you have to juggle.
[h1] Pros: [/h1]
(+) If I wrote this review around the 3 hour mark Alex, I probably would not say this, but having finished the game twice, I think you captured the level design and the feel of NES games really well, it's kinda BS hard, but I think you did a good job actually giving me a challenge, probably the hardest game I played in a few years for sure. There are a bunch of different biomes that have different feel to the exploration, and they all loop with one or two shortcuts, often with unique obstacles to overcome.
On that note, a small detail I liked, if you hit bosses with a stun they attack at a different rate, and some enemies will alternate between multiple attacks, which I thought was kinda neat for a simple game. The upgrades also don't power-creep the game that much, which is rare to see.
(+) For better or worse, there are a ton of interesting features in this game under the surface. Now, I am not entirety sure how I feel about them, it feels a little odd forcing the souls-like features into a retro platformer, but I guess it's something different. You can also upgrade a bunch of stats, equip different passives, as well as a couple of sub-weapons/tools.
(+) If you replay the game it will have several new enemies including higher upgrade caps. Kinda like a soft NewGame+.
(+) Actually a bit lengthy for $3, I would say 6+ hours if you playing casually.
[h1] Feedback [/h1]
[u] Some gameplay things [/u] - the charge really needs a sound effect, for charging and full charge. Also maybe make it faster with less damage, so it's more enjoyable to use, bro it takes like 5 seconds, I don't even want to use it most of the time. A little warning before you finish the game, yes or no would be nice. Like I know you can reduce status effect duration with stats, but man, those slows were freaking spooky, if you get hit by one you might as well be dead. My problem with corruption system is that you obviously will save money for upgrades, so essentially you always play with like half HP, maybe it should not be as severe. The boss that was spawning minions could use some adjustemnts, if you kill a limb it should take at least 4 seconds before it pops again, it's literally instant right now.
Not a huge fan of those human sound effects, really should find something better.
You know I was not sure if I liked the soundtrack at first, it felt a bit too home-brew for me, but as I kept playing I didn't mind it as much. Not sure if it was meant to be limited on purpose like an early ambiance chiptune, some of the later areas had better tracks I think. Probably could have been a little more varied but overall, it was fine.
[b] Overall Thoughts: 7/10 [/b]
I guess you really going for that very specific NES diehard audience, luckily that would be me, plus it's a little overwhelming at first, but if you manage to get going, I think it's a cool game with a very faithful retro level design, and it's hard in the same way the classic games are hard. Some of superficial features make it worse than it actually is, like those bad sound effects. I had to adjust to some of the game mechanics, feels a bit odd at first with the whole souls-like twist, but once I got a full picture, I kinda see where you going with this.
[code]Niche, obscure and underrated games: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31294838-Hidden-Gem-Discovery/ [/code]
