I've played through this game twice, and it's easily one of my favorite games now. It's extremely pretty, the gameplay is fluid and tough, and the platforming is superb. I don't normally get into games like this but this is a great exception.

It's metroidvania, which means it's about exploring and finding secrets as well as back-tracking through previously unlocked areas to get to new ones (with new found powers). Right out of the gate it told me exactly where I'll be going throughout the game, and it did a nice job of letting me go back through areas to find stuff I missed the first time. You can't re-explore dungeons, however, so try to get everything done in them before you finish them. Part of the fun actually came from exploring areas that I had already been to, because the new powers did a great job of making me think of new ways to traverse areas and get through obstacles.

The platforming is very fluid and fun. I quickly unlocked wall jumping and double jumping, and the game has a heavy focus on movement instead of attacking. The main attack is a lock-on, which removes the need to aim at targets while jumping around. This does not make the game any easier however, it simply makes the focus on more on movement instead of shooting ability. Enemies were pinpoint accurate and quick, and many of them killed me instantly. My ability to do damage while weaving between them and avoiding projectiles was the deciding factor in getting through.

The save system is another thing I love. It's a nice compromise between saving anywhere and having to use saves sparingly. Save points can be created by holding B on the gamepad, and they use 1 energy cell. The first energy cell regenerates slowly over time, but saving too much can be detrimental to playing. Especially since certain doors and other actions use energy cells as well. At first I forgot to save a lot, which lead to some frustration when I had to repeat longish sections of the game that I knew I could have saved after. It quickly taught me to save pretty often though, and after the first major area it became a non-issue. It was fun to place save points in the perfect spot so that I could quickly retry an obstacle over and over until I nailed it perfectly, in a similar fashion to games like Super Meat Boy which let you restart after dying near instantly.

The gameplay is the main draw for me, but the art style, music, and story (albeit simple) was icing on the cake. It's definitely one of those games where I wanted to own the soundtrack, and I have a folder of screenshots from some of my favorite moments in the game. The game opens with a powerful scene that tries right away to tug at your heart strings, but the rest of the story is uplifting and really ties everything together. I also really appreciated the way the characters were written - simple, but well done.

I've played through this game twice, and it's easily one of my favorite games now. It's extremely pretty, the gameplay is fluid and tough, and the platforming is superb. I don't normally get into games like this but this is a great exception. It's metroidvania, which means it's about exploring and finding secrets as well as back-tracking through previously unlocked areas to get to new ones (with new found powers). Right out of the gate it told me exactly where I'll be going throughout the game, and it did a nice job of letting me go back through areas to find stuff I missed the first time. You can't re-explore dungeons, however, so try to get everything done in them before you finish them. Part of the fun actually came from exploring areas that I had already been to, because the new powers did a great job of making me think of new ways to traverse areas and get through obstacles. The platforming is very fluid and fun. I quickly unlocked wall jumping and double jumping, and the game has a heavy focus on movement instead of attacking. The main attack is a lock-on, which removes the need to aim at targets while jumping around. This does not make the game any easier however, it simply makes the focus on more on movement instead of shooting ability. Enemies were pinpoint accurate and quick, and many of them killed me instantly. My ability to do damage while weaving between them and avoiding projectiles was the deciding factor in getting through. The save system is another thing I love. It's a nice compromise between saving anywhere and having to use saves sparingly. Save points can be created by holding B on the gamepad, and they use 1 energy cell. The first energy cell regenerates slowly over time, but saving too much can be detrimental to playing. Especially since certain doors and other actions use energy cells as well. At first I forgot to save a lot, which lead to some frustration when I had to repeat longish sections of the game that I knew I could have saved after. It quickly taught me to save pretty often though, and after the first major area it became a non-issue. It was fun to place save points in the perfect spot so that I could quickly retry an obstacle over and over until I nailed it perfectly, in a similar fashion to games like Super Meat Boy which let you restart after dying near instantly. The gameplay is the main draw for me, but the art style, music, and story (albeit simple) was icing on the cake. It's definitely one of those games where I wanted to own the soundtrack, and I have a folder of screenshots from some of my favorite moments in the game. The game opens with a powerful scene that tries right away to tug at your heart strings, but the rest of the story is uplifting and really ties everything together. I also really appreciated the way the characters were written - simple, but well done.