[h3] TL;DR -[/h3]
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[*] [b][u]Overall 9.5/10.[/u][/b]
[*] Inventory arrangement aspect is simple but [i]can[/i] be built complex, definitely [b]not[/b] a headache or "50% of the game" but it is enjoyable and a great feature.
[*] [b]Item variety[/b] is great. The amount of items isn't insane but none of the items feel like fillers.
[*] [b]Build variety[/b] is just okay. [u]You can't run any build on any config, diff playstyle will need figuring what combo works for the build.[/u] Can't just roll 'this time I try fire' on the same setup and have it be as successful as previous which can be a plus (IMO, it is).
[*] [b]Weapon variety[/b] is decent, not overwhelming, no choice paralysis and upgrade system turns them into having completely different ways of use like its a new weapon, which is nice.
[*] [b]Enemy variety[/b] is very good. Again, not overwhelming, no missing out, repeated enough but not in any tiring way.
[*] [b]Story[/b] is sweet and charming, more non-spoiler elaboration added.
[*] The [b]difficulty[/b] scaling is kind of meh but to gamers preferring low to medium difficulty, it is great.
[*] The [b]visuals[/b] are absolute amazing, [b]10/10[/b].
[*] If you enjoyed [b]Dungreed[/b], buy with no questions asked.
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[h1]Full Review[/h1]
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Sephiria is really going to set a new standard for roguelike/lite games going from this point forward. The amount of depth that Team Horay pulled off with simple mechanics that build on top of each other and work together is exactly how it should be done.
From the get go, you're thrown in a village somewhat reminescent of Stardew Valley and such and you think "I guess we're going level to level in this village that's procedurally generated and killing mobs with builds", on the surface, that's close to the premise, but there's so much more to it.
You try to hit everything in the environment, and with a decent amount of interactable/breakable elements around, you kind of feel like there could be anything happen or maybe you could discover something like a hidden item. Although, I never found a hidden item or something in a bush I slashed, I still tried to break every box and slice through every bush hoping there could be something there. Just interacting with those things was highly satisfying.
The story starts off a bit generic sounding, you do your usual fallen world/dimension typical stuff, do your first few runs and unlock items. Get to know that you have to become powerful over time by a mandated defeat the first time but the story, at this point seeming generic, is delivered charmingly and gracefully through those elements still. All the animations and effects are wonderful, nothing is overworked or overwhelming, the balancing of story elements with the effects and game interactions are just right.
The overall visuals and artstyle are just amazing. I think TEAM HORAY and their pixel artist (I'm sorry, I don't remember the name from the credits) are really benchmark-setters for doing a pixel art game just right. The color palette and prioritization of where you need to add strong colors and where you keep the usual pastel-y palette is phenomenal. I really think that for people that usually don't like games in the pixel art aesthetic, Sephiria and Dungreed can be truly an exception in their library.
The combat, you truly can button mash your way if you wanted to or you could utilize the combos that come with your weapon and often change with upgrades. For e.g., I don't utilize parries or special attacks in combat very often with multiple enemies and staggered attacks from them and not knowing when I'll be invincible and when not, so I start with a weapon and then on upgrade I choose the option that completely removes the special attacks or makes it redundant than the spam attack. The fact that I can build like this and still enjoy the game is a testament to it being done right for the kind of gamers they're aiming the game towards.
Another note on combat, the way that the camera is angled in this game (the perspective/POV) would have made it genuinely annoying to fight enemies and evolve playstyles that aren't very button mashy. To get around this problem, they came up with a very good QoL type feature of attack projection on every enemy - big and small - that is present on the smallest and most unchallenging enemies and also on every mini boss and boss with extra highlights to indicate a higher damage risk than your average enemy. The one blemish on this is that it doesn't project enemies charging towards you. There's enemies that move like the ball in brick breaker where they 'reflect' on clashing with the wall and if you aren't really used to it or just tank it or dash it, positioning yourself in the moment of combat is actually kind of tricky. It isn't a major problem by any means because the quantity of such enemies and elite/boss units is sporadic and I don't think this necessarily even needs polishing out in a roguelite game where failure is intended.
Enemy variety is great with every type of level changing the kinds of enemies present in those. The amount of recycling done is very minimal. The attacks that enemies do build you up for elites and boss fights with the dodge patterns and such being shared with them, just magnified on the bosses and mini bosses. This isn't to say that it is a straight up recycle, the bosses do definitely have unique and more challenging attack patterns. The bosses and mini bosses also do themselves change every so often, you feel like it is related to real changes they're experiencing with regards to the story or changes that will happen later in the levels. I didn't notice such significant effects, nor did I expect to, but the feeling that it evoked, that it [i]could[/i] happen was a good sell, nonetheless.
The build is really the key, similar to Dungreed, there's the talent system, the weapons system and items system and it all works out harmoniously. The talent system, like with Dungreed, leaves you desiring more as it caps out after a certain point and you don't nearly have enough points to become indestructible, as much as I wanted to be. There's also a very good number of different characters/costumes you can be which adds to the effects that you'll have with your build. The complexity is distributed in chunks so even if you keep blindly running the same costume and talent point combo just with different weapons and items, you truly can do that and convert it into good or winning runs.
Something to aid the complex building system is the preset feature that you unlock, I ran one preset blind and finished the game in under 50 tries, that's including the game mandated retries/defeats, but if you wanted to, you could really geek out over all the specifics of your starting presets and save each for each type of playstyle that you want to test/run.
Coming back to the story, there's a lot of tangents, a lot of loose ends. Loose ends not in the sense of having unfinished or badly written storyline that bit off more than it could chew but loose ends that make you wonder about the whole thing as to what it could be. The visual storytelling lifts a lot of heavyweight in helping you imagine the whole world, the lore of how it all came to be very well and not only that but it relates to what happens in the game and story as you progress. I talked to every NPC always, every single one. And, every single one can be talked to. Which was amazing. Depending on the context, they change too.
Steam won't let me yap much more on this than I already have but I had a lot more to say, but the game is worth more than I could write about so just go ahead and buy it. Make sure to choose a good name for the story, the screenshot in Thank you for playing will be worth it. Story becomes very cute btw. Character design is amazing. Each pivotal character can have their own game and I would mf-n play it too!
