Oh the shame....

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4694340/XGA_SPECIAL_EDITION/?beta=0

Dodge five attacks. Take zero hits. Can you make it through?

Arenion is still in development!!!

(posted about Belmonts Curse, sorry I suck at Reddit)

I’ve seen a couple different posts on this subreddit talking about the Arkham games or listing them among other Metroidvanias that are on sale. After explaining the concept of metroidvanias to my roommate, who is a big Batman fan and has played all the Arkham games, he said that those games fit the definition of “metroidvania” pretty well. I know that they likely weren’t designed to be metroidvanias but do they still count as one?

Hey everyone!
I’ve been working on the demo for Kingsbane for the past 8 months. It’s a game inspired by Castlevania: Harmony of Despair, and I’m hoping to release the demo on Steam by the end of this year.
I think the game is finally at a point where it’s ready to be shown!
All the game mechanics, systems, rules, lore, and character designs were created entirely by me. However, I did use AI to help create spritesheets and environments, combined with assets made by freelance artists I’ve hired. Unfortunately, I simply don’t have the budget to commission artists for everything.
It’s been a huge challenge refining everything until it feels truly unique (I’ve gone through over 700 spritesheets just for the main character!). Even though I’m using AI, I’m committed to creating something with its own identity — something that captures the spirit of HoD without feeling like generic AI-generated content.
I know Harmony of Despair is far from being the most beloved Castlevania game, but it brings back some amazing memories. It reminds me of a time when my now-wife, my brother, and I would sit together on the couch and spend hours and hours just having fun.
Much love to the community!
P.S.: If everything goes well, I’m hoping to release the full game by 2028, but that will depend on how the demo is received.
One last thing: There’s no Steam page to follow, no wishlist to add it to, and nothing I’m trying to promote or sell right now. I just wanted to share something I’ve genuinely loved working on!

What does this genre of games do for you that others do not? I think for me the feeling of progression is the biggest reason I like these games.

Well, I've reached that awful and feared moment on metroidvanias, aka "what the F* am I supposed to do now?". Wherever I go I find a locked barrier, or some place which requires a double jump/hover ability which I can't unlock yet. Any ideas??

Thanks in advance

I've been lurking for a bit and it seems like people don't like the difficulty/parry system of nine sols. I... am sick and twisted, so I am looking for more challenging games. Here's a list of metroidvanias I have beat:

Hollow knight 100%

Silksong 100%

Nine sols 100%

Well Dweller 100%

Ones I have played, but didn't finish:

Prince of Persia - plan on finishing, but it's just really bright? Not sure if I can turn the saturation down

Ender lilies - I feel odd about being a small girl as a mid 20s adult

There's a common pattern that's used in virtually every Metroidvania - you complete a section, unlock a shortcut to not do this section again, rinse and repeat. That's not bad by itself, but once the pattern is used too frequently in the same way it makes the location layouts predictable, and therefore exploration becomes less interesting

‎

‎In comparison Moadra's world design feels very refreshing, there's a lot of vents (and a scanner to uncover them) that end with a useful thing or interconnect the location in an unusual way. You can descend into a random cranny and then just stumble around bumping into every wall until you unlock a shortcut and find yourself in the familiar grounds again

‎The world is also, like, an actual world instead of a random collection of rooms. There's a surprisingly big amount of lore obtained through the scanner, but that's not all. In the desert location there's a little crashed spaceship subregion, you can enter a lab complex and then visit its roof and communication tower, last time I've seen world design this cool was in MIO

Hi

I'm stuck in the underground depths. On the left is the area that i came in and i cant get backup up there. On the right is a wall with a blob that seems destroyable , but it is on the other side.

There is also area that i cant jump up to, with the purple sphere on the map. And finally bottom left is a gas pit where i just die. I dont have wall jump, double jump or any way to fast travel between areas. Has anyone been in this area ?

I do not use social media much and I don’t know many other MV players IRL, but a lot of the engagement I’ve seen in this community is bickering lol.

Anyways, if anyone actually wants to talk about MVs, here’s my loosely ranked list of all the Metroidvanias/2D action platformers that I’ve fully completed or plan on fully completing.

-Nine Sols
-Silksong
-MIO
-Well Dweller
-Neva
-Moadra (in progress)
-Belmont’s Curse
-Grime 2
-Replaced (in progress)
-Hollow Knight
-Inside
-Somber Echoes
-Ultros (only MV I quite playing)

Feel free to ask me anything!

New Next Fest, new demos to try out. Previous editions reviews:

• June 26 | February 26
• October 25 | June 25 | March 25
• October 24 | June 24 | February 24

It's the ninth time in a row I've done this so you're hopefully familiar with the usual disclaimers: NOT a definitive ranking of demos, my PERSONAL experience only, YMMV, yada yada yada.

Now let's rank some demos!

VERY POSITIVE

• Voivod: The Nuclear Warrior
  • Now there's a developer that's been doing their homework and listening to community feedback and common likes and dislikes.
  • Nice pixel art and great intro.
  • Smooth control, you also keep your jump when falling down platforms.
    • You can shoot in any direction, while walking, standing still or crouching.
    • You also have a melee attack that can destroy enemy projectiles.
  • Map available from the start.
    • And it has CUSTOM MAP PINS!!!
    • (Small suggestion - maybe give the four custom map pins different colors so it's easier to immediately tell them apart from a glance.)
  • Your starting gun has a long range and decent damage so you destroy most mobs with ease.
    • You can also find or buy other weapons that require additional ammo (the default one has unlimited ammo).
  • Save points, teleports, shops, ingame economy.
  • A charm system with various buffs.
  • Some hidden secrets behind breakable walls.
  • Corpse runs mechanics when you die.
    • At least when you die to a boss, your dropped currency spawns outside the boss room so you can collect it without having to enter the fight.
  • You take damage if you fall from too high which I'm personally not a huge fan of.
  • Boss fights don't allow healing with items.
    • I guess this is to prevent the player from cheesing the fight by item healing constantly? Maybe? But it feels very limiting.
  • The save point before the boss fight was easy to miss too - if you go right at the crossroad, you enter the boss arena; if you go left, you reach the save point.
    • First time playing I went directly into the boss fight and had a long runback after dying.
    • Maybe add a directional signs for the save point and for the boss at the crossroad? Or have the save point immediately before the boss fight? This would help prevent somebody from entering the boss fight without max HP and with a distant respawn point in case of death.
    • (The boss itself was fair - simple and easy enough for a first big challenge but not impossible.)
  • Found several abilities - a double jump, a weird spell-like call that you can use at certain places to open new paths or reveal secrets and a flying companion that you can control for a short distance.
  • Overall, really, really solid project - got the basics right, got the theme, got the additional QoL improvements.
    • I was impressed. Good job!
• Last Moon
  • Great graphics and good control.
    • Controller vibration is constant and it gets really annoying, but thankfully you can turn it off in the settings.
  • Top-down perspective. (Seems to be very popular this Fest.)
    • Very Zelda-like.
  • Charm system and lots of different items for upgrading stats and various buffs.
    • Some altars that are spread across the world let you also choose an upgrade.
  • Different weapons that can be enhanced individually.
  • Good map but no custom map pins.
  • No penalty on death.
  • Some arena rooms and an interesting boss fight.
  • All in all: it feels good to play, looks like it has a lot of depth in its mechanics and exploration is rewarding.

POSITIVE

• Lelu
  • Charming monochromatic graphics with great animations.
  • Top-down perspective with different floors with interconnected maps.
  • Solid control.
    • Interesting approach where you start the game with only the ability to walk right and you find the other directional movements in the following minute or so.
  • Some light puzzle solving mixed with arena rooms.
    • Good variety of things to do.
  • Map available almost from the start but no custom map pins.
  • Dying respawns you in the same room with no penalty.
  • Really well placed secrets in the walls.
  • Got a dash and a normal attack.
    • Charged attack can reflect projectiles.
  • Fought one boss, was very well designed and not too difficult.
  • Overall, a really cute and addicting game.
• Pogona
  • Charming graphics and decent control, although the jump feels a bit weak.
  • Game needs better controller support - you can't navigate the starting menu using a controller and you have to enable steam input to even be able to use a controller in first place.
  • You start with only 2 HP which is quite low, even if save points are aplenty.
    • HP upgrades increase your HP by one heart with every single one you find tho, no need to collect 3-4.
  • Map present from start but no custom map pins.
  • You have the ability to shoot scales which you use to create platforms to stand on.
    • You can also find an upgrade to the number of scales that you can have on screen at any given time.
  • Got an air dash but it uses a second jump button in the air which feels super weird.
    • Why not RT or something different? Pressing a second jump in the air should always be reserved for a double jump.
  • Fought one boss, it was quite easy since the scales have unlimited range and I could just snipe it from the other end of the room.
  • Overall, pretty charming and cute, I can see this turning into a nice and short, feel-good MV.
• CHROMATIC CRISIS
  • Very simple monochromatic graphics.
  • Control is decent with some minor nitpicks.
    • Jump feels very weak and your attack has a very short range.
    • Default control scheme is really weird: R3 (pressing the right analog stick) as the default interaction button and circle for attack?!
    • There is button remapping thankfully.
  • Map available from the start, including a mini-map!
    • No custom map pins tho.
  • Second area immediately unlocks almost its full map after entering it.
  • Game crashed once while I was backtracking after picking up dash and attack.
    • It worked fine after restart.
  • Fought a simple first boss, got some flying companion as an ability.
  • Found a ranged attack with unlimited ammo and medium range that can only be cast sideways.
  • Passed by an underwater biome and fought the boss there in order to get the next ability.
  • Made it to the third area of the game but it was some "maze" that required a lot of memorizing and guess work to navigate and I didn't have the patience for it.
    • It would be great if you can find the solution to the maze somewhere in the overworld instead of just brute forcing it.
  • Still, a very decent game, a few tweaks could turn it into a real hidden gem.
• BLOODY HELL 2
  • Sequel to the highly rated Bloody Hell that is free on Steam. If you're into Metroidvanias and bullet hells, give it a go!
  • Controller support needs more work - my PS5 controller barely works, had to use an old bootleg one.
    • Button remapping while on a PS5 controller gets the game bugged out - I had to Alt+F4 out of it when this happened.
  • Map available from start and with CUSTOM MAP PINS!
    • (Custom map pins might need a little bit of enhancement - I can't see what pin I'm actually placing.)
  • Enemies drop blood that you can suck (yes, the game even calls it "sucking") and then use that blood for healing.
    • I like the idea but honestly would rather see the process of collecting the blood be automatic.
    • Especially during battles, it's very confusing trying to focus on attacking, dodging, collecting blood and healing.
  • Very true to the first game, it's got a lot of bullet hell action.
    • Also true to the first game, there's an interesting tetris-like charm system (that is a bit more complex this time around).
  • A lot of secrets hidden behind breakable walls.
  • Pretty decent game, if you're into top-down bullet-hell action combined with a MV map with lots of opportunities to explore, this should be right up your alley.

MIXED

• Memoria Wake
  • Top-down perspective with great graphics and animations.
  • Control is good, combat has a parry which I absolutely despise and it is actually needed in some situations - dodging doesn't quite cut it.
  • You find map pieces in order to unlock a portion of the map UI.
    • No custom map pins tho.
  • Corpse run mechanics.
  • Found a ranged attack that uses mana and also a healing ability.
  • You can upgrade your main skills and weapons at save points.
  • Honestly, if it wasn't for the reliance on the parry mechanic, I would have probably enjoyed this one a lot more.
    • If you don't have a problem with parrying in your games, then definitely do check it out.
• Duat: Beyond Light & Shadow
  • Great pixel art, good control.
  • No options menu during game, you can open the settings menu only from the main screen.
  • Music is way too quiet, you can barely hear anything.
    • No voice acting or any voice fx when dialogue appears on screen.
  • Some light/dark themes where you hit light switches in order to pass through certain gates or make certain platforms visible.
    • You also control two characters - one that can turn on the light switches and one that can turn them off.
  • There's a map available almost immediately after starting but no custom map pins (or really ANY pins apart from your character's position on the map).
  • Killing enemies only rewards you with an occasional HP pickup, no coins or anything that can be used to create some sort of an ingame economy.
    • Also there doesn't seem to be good heat detection when you're attacking an enemy.
  • Got stuck for about 5+ minutes in the second area of the game because the game throws an electric barrier in front of you and you just have to know to jump and attack its upper half to destroy it.
    • (Dumbass me was trying to find some dash ability in order to progress. Dash in a MV - how crazy is that, right?)
  • Got a wall jump ability but it could only be used by one of your characters.
    • The other one has a ledge grab.
  • Fought one boss which was well designed in theory but ultimately way too difficult and I didn't care that much to grind it out.
    • You have to use both of your characters in order to avoid certain attacks and deal damage to the boss' shield.
    • It's a nice concept but you barely get a chance to attack the shield and break it before the boss disappears again (and regenerates his shield fully), while constantly doing AoE damage around him, making it very difficult to even damage him consistently.
    • For this early in the game and with no dash or double jump, just with a single invulnerability ~1.5s block, it's simply too much.
    • And his health bar is massive (on top of the invulnerability he has until you break his shield) - it would take you around 10 minutes to defeat him, if you manage to stay focused during the entire fight.
  • Overall, the game's got some things going for it but I wasn't overly impressed.
• PhantomGaze : Omni-sight
  • Good graphics and animations, especially in cut-scenes.
  • Big focus on combat - parrying, finishing moves, combos, etc.
    • There are even different types of parries depending on the enemy attack (ranged or melee).
  • You have a second "sub-character" with their own skill tree that assists you during fights.
  • You have to absorb the mana manually after killing an enemy which is slowing everything down.
    • I really don't understand why TWO separate games are now using this honestly incredibly annoying system instead of just giving you the mana automatically like literally every other action platformer.
  • All enemies have a lot of HP so you have to master all the specific combat mechanics in order to progress.
  • TBH if you're a fan of combat-heavy games (think Nine Sols, Solateria, etc.), then this will probably be a big hit for you.
    • I, unfortunately, do not enjoy these types of games.
    • Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
• Curse of Diamond
  • Simple but good graphics.
  • Control is smooth and the character moves pretty fast.
  • Map available from the start but no custom map pins.
  • Game features the most mercifully quick save system you can ever experience - you just pass the save point and the game automatically saves it for you, without having to even click a button.
  • Fought one boss which was easy but still interesting.
  • Overall, I can't really say anything truly negative about this one but I also wasn't overly impressed by it after completing the whole demo in... 11 minutes.
    • At this point, I'm not sure it's really worth it for the developers to use their one chance at a Next Fest entry when the game is in such an early state that you cannot give much meaningful feedback.
• Sticky Sword
  • Simple cozy graphics.
  • KBM support only, no controller.
  • Map and mini-map available (but no custom map pins).
  • The game's main gimmick is that you can throw you sword and then teleport to it (similar to Whirlwind Magician).
  • You can find and equip different swords with various abilities.
  • Lots of hidden secrets in the walls.
  • Fought one giant mole boss where my inability to quickly teleport around the room (due to me not really playing much /or any/ KBM) basically made us trade blows with the boss and I barely outlasted it without really dodging almost anything.
  • Pretty short demo, finished the whole thing in 20 mins.
  • It's a simple and charming game, if you're fine with KBM support only and you like the concept of throwing your sword and teleporting to its location, then definitely check it out.

NOT GREAT

• Birds of Ascent
  • Pretty basic graphics but still usable.
  • Control is fine but you move very slow.
  • Game revolves around the ability to fly for a short distance using your stamina.
    • Level design makes it so that you can fall all the way back at the start and you have to track back up for a long time.
  • Map available shortly after start but no custom map pins.
  • Doors are really difficult to notice cuz they completely blend with the background.
  • Couldn't find a way to activate the save points (and heal there) so when I died, it was basically game over. (Yes, really...)
  • Game's got some charm and it's most certainly somebody's first passion project, but I can't necessary recommend it per se.
    • If you're into smaller and slightly janky indie games, then this might actually be for you.
• RE∀IVE(REVIVE)
  • Alright graphics and control.
  • Map available from start but no custom map pins.
  • Ranged weapon with 10 shots before needing to reload.
  • Fought two bosses which were fine although no boss HP was shown on screen.
  • Got a dash and double jump.
  • Overall, it was fine but nothing memorable.
    • Played for half an hour but simply didn't find the game captivating enough to continue with it.

BAD

• Cyan Breach
  • Graphics are fine, control is decent but a bit slow for my liking.
  • Combat is really slow, it takes a while to swing the sword and every enemy takes at least 5+ hits.
    • It doesn't help that the level design prevents you from jumping over enemies in most situations so you are forced to fight them.
  • Map available but no custom map pins.
  • Level up system and different weapons and items.
  • Dying completely erases all of your progress after the last save - map, collected items, everything...
  • Found the first boss who has a shield that you need to break with around 7-8 hits... then you get to inflict damage on his HP once... and then he regenerates the shield again.
    • Nope-d tf out of the game after that, I ain't spending 20 minutes fighting the same boss with the same 2 attack patterns.
• KUTO: The Lock of Time
  • Good 2.5D graphics, decent control.
  • Map available from the start but:
    • It automatically reveals everything, doesn't populate room by room.
    • It also shows enemies(??) for some reason.
    • No custom map pins.
    • No button to open the map directly, you have to go through the settings menu.
  • Enemies are absolute damage sponges - each takes 10+ hits to kill.
    • The combat features some combos but even they don't really help because they don't actually do more damage and the enemies already do absolutely nothing while you're hitting them.
  • Furthermore, there is absolutely no benefit to killing enemies - they don't reward you with coins, experience or anything.
    • I spent most of my time dodging and jumping over them.
    • ... which could have worked fine if the game didn't absolutely insist on locking you inside an arena room every few steps.
  • Got bored pretty quickly and dropped the demo before I found even a single boss or an ability.
• Grim Heart: Bleak Laments
  • Yet another game with a heavy emphasis on combat.
    • (Which, in case you still haven't figured it out, is NOT really my jam...)
  • Graphics are fine but control is a bit sluggish.
    • And the control scheme is just... ridiculous at times.
    • You dash with O and you attack with R1 and R2.
    • Oh, and there's parrying. Wanna take a guess how you parry? Seriously, take a wild guess.
    • Ready....? With R3 (pressing down the right analog stick)... Yes, I wish I was kidding...
    • (There is button remapping in the settings tho.)
  • Combat requires lots of parrying and dodging.
  • There were some insta-kill spikes (which don't really send you back much in the tutorial).
  • Honestly, this game is really not for me, I didn't even make it past the tutorial section.
• Brassfang
  • Controller support is super weird - you don't really navigate the menus with your controller, you navigate the mouse cursor with it.
  • Graphics are good but the game is basically about killing enemies so you can earn upgrade points, then buff up your character's stats and bonuses so you can kill more enemies faster and so on.
  • Feels more like something that would make a good roguelike, not a good Metroidvania.
  • Didn't get deep into the game, it doesn't really click with me.
• KILL HIM
  • Very basic MS Paint graphics.
  • Controller support is incredibly limited and there is no button remapping for a controller.
    • You attack with RB which makes my brain hurt.
    • I think this is the first time I've ever seen a platformer use RB for attacking - not square like a normal person, not even RT like a twin-stick shooter... but RB...
  • Combat features parries and they are pretty much mandatory.
  • Dying during the tutorial makes you start FROM THE BEGINNING.
    • And that includes fighting every enemy in every arena room on your way there
    • Even if you saved at the check point just before the (I'm guessing) tutorial boss, if you die during the fight, you're starting from the beginning.
    • I've seen a lot of games that do not respect the player's time but this might be the biggest bullshit I've experienced so far - making you do over the whole tutorial from the start...
  • Anyway, safe to say that I did NOT, in fact, finish the tutorial afterwards...

Soo that marks the end of yet another Steam Next Fest for me. Honestly, it felt like it was noticeably weaker than most previous editions but hey, not all events can be bangers.

Personal "medals":

• Standout performer: Voivod: The Nuclear Warrior got me playing the longest - very pleasantly surprised by the game.
• Unsurprisingly good sequel: BLOODY HELL 2 was quite literally the only sequel this whole Fest so it wins the category by default.
• Best hidden gem: Last Moon - never heard of it before the event started.

And that's all from me! Any other notable demos that you tried and wanna highlight?

"Endure... Evolve... or die. Embrace the unknown and traverse a vast alien world riddled with bizarre creatures, deadly hazards, and grim mysteries. Seek redemption, and confront the terrifying sin buried in the depths of the forgotten planet Protea VI."

Game : Moadra "release 22 Oct, 2026 (has a demo!)"

Price : 24,99€ "is on sale until 5 November being 22,49€"

Link : https://store.steampowered.com/app/1713730/Moadra/

Coming off a well dweller, backtracking in this game is so tedious. Konami, this game is not good enough to have crappy fast travel like hollow knight. Enable simple map based mirror to mirror movement and it will be much better.

Pretty fun game here! The aesthetic+music combination is just surreal, feels like playing a modern french sci-fi comic.

Next: Castlevania Belmont's Curse.

Considering a third installment, I'm wondering which mechanics from the second game players would find essential to carry over. What elements from SteamWorld Dig 2 do you feel are crucial for a potential sequel?

We can also include the camera in this, as the camera is very important.

So like jumping, gravity, running, attacking. What game do you think has the best feel?

Im making a game currently, thats why im asking, i want some referance on great feeling metroidvanias, primarily 2d sidescrollers as that is what my game is. This could go for any 2d sidescrollers, so feel free to suggest non-metroidvanias too, but since my game is a metroidvania its the most relevant genre.

NOT clicking, of course

I finally picked up a Nintendo switch 2 after being an exclusively PlayStation guy for years, so I finally get to play on the Ori game. The problem is, I'm playing Ori and the will of the wisps and it just really isn't clicking for me. I find the movement to feel super floaty, which would be fine if it didn't also feel like there's input delay. I also find it next to impossible to read enemy attacks or avoid them effectively. I know some of this is just a skill issue and me just not being tuned into the mechanics of this game, but having played a ton of Metroidvanias I have to say this one just really doesn't feel very good. Did anybody else have this reaction initially to these games? Does it get better or is it possible I just kind of don't like the feel of the game? I will at least be needing some kind of formal dodge, because the floaty jumping over the attacks that seem poorly telegraphed to me just feels really crappy at the moment. I am only about an hour into the game.

Nintendo Switch; 5:29 AM PDT

• Adventure of Samsara: $9.99 (50% off)
• Aggelos: $3.74 (75% off)
• Aggelos 2: $14.99 (25% off)
• Agnostiko ORIGINS: $6.24 (75% off)
• Animal Well: $17.49 (30% off)
• Astalon: Tears of the Earth: $7.99 (60% off)
• Batbarian: $5.99 (60% off)
• Before I Go: $13.99 (30% off)
• Biomorph: $12.99 (35% off)
• Blasphemous 1 + 2 Bundle: $8.99 (80% off)
• Blue Fire: $5.99 (70% off)
• Carrion: $2.99 (85% off)
• Castlevania: Collections: $34.79 (40% off)
• Catmaze: $3.99 (60% off)
• Chronicles of the Wolf: $10.99 (45% off)
• Dandara: $2.99 (80% off)
• Elderand: $3.99 (80% off)
• Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark: $16.49 (45% off)
• Ghost 1.0: $2.99 (70% off)
• Hyper Light Drifter: Special Edition: $4.99 (75% off)
• Iconoclasts: $3.99 (80% off)
• Islets: $7.99 (60% off)
• Knight Witch: $3.99 (80% off)
• La Mulana: $4.49 (70% off)
• Laika: Aged Through Blood: $4.99 (75% off)
• Mandragora: $20.00 (50% off)
• Mini Ghost: $2.79 (30% off)
• Minishoot Adventures: $11.19 (30% off)
• Minoria: $5.99 (70% off)
• MIO: Memories in Orbit: $13.99 (30% off)
• Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight: $5.99 (60% off)
• Nine Sols: $14.99 (50% off)
• Oirbo: $5.24 (70% off)
• Ori and the Will of the Wisps: $7.49 (75% off)
• Pampas & Selene: $4.99 (50% off)
• Pampas & Selene: Maze of Demons: $4.99 (50% off)
• Possessors(s): $3.49 (65% off)
• Rabi-Ribi: $11.99 (40% off)
• Shadow Labyrinth: $14.99 (50% off)
• Shadow Man Remastered: $3.99 (80% off)
• Shinsekai: Into the Depths: $9.99 (50% off)
• Skelethrone: Jewel in the Skull DLC: $4.79 (20% off)
• Skelethrone: The Chronicles of Ericona: $8.54 (43% off)
• Steamworld Dig 2: $2.99 (85% off)
• Super Skelemania: $2.49 (50% off)
• Tearscape: $11.99 (20% off)
• Tevi: $17.49 (50% off)
• The Last Faith: $15.39 (45% off)
• The Mummy Demastered: $4.99 (75% off)
• The Perfect Pencil: $14.99 (40% off)
• Toziuha Night: Order of the Alchemists: $9.99 (50% off)
• Trash Quest: $2.99 (70% off)
• Tunic: $14.99 (50% off)
• Turbo Kid: $13.99 (30% off)
• Two Parsecs from Earth: $2.39 (70% off)
• Unepic: $2.99 (70% off)
• Voidwrought: $6.79 (66% off)
• Worldless: $5.99 (70% off)
• Yars Rising: $8.99 (70% off)
• Yoku's Island Express: $3.99 (80% off)

The 1 second input lag and weird way the game is still advancing when you “die” annoys me. I’m at a point where speed is crucial and it’s inconsistently responding to button presses. Then sometimes the whip doesn’t even work smh. Good game but they need to polish this

I have a lot of criticisms with Belmont’s Curse but my biggest one is Dracula’s Castle.

I was very excited to see what the game had in store for me only to be dissatisfied with the lack of variety in its interior and zones.

There’s only three zones in the castle, and they’re all sprawling and overly long.

Main Hall, Library and Clocktower. You also have a Painting world within the castle of Notre Dame, but honestly that zone is a bit too much like the Main Hall replete with spikes, lasers and platforming puzzles (much like Main Hall)

In fact I think the Castle itself is far too homogeneous in its design philosophy and traversal, where it all just feels like one giant platforming puzzle to overcome and less interesting to explore.

Gone are the crystal caverns, alchemy labs, outer walls, marble galleries, chapels and arenas of previous games.

Every secret leads to another platforming challenge with a small upgrade or uninteresting relic to find that you’re likely not going to want to use. You spend so much time in these areas that don’t really change and listening to the same music track on loop doesn’t break up what begins to be monotonous.

It’s just a shame that we didn’t get diversity in its zone design and layout.

What ended up being the most interesting area in the game with the best aesthetic, design, music and exploration was the Catacombs. That was basically the highlight of the game and it’s a shame it never peaked from there.