[Kafriel]

I FINALLY got around to playing the game, and I honestly cannot rate it anything less than 10/10. Here are my thoughts:

- Gameplay. It's an incredibly fun game. You are given many different weapon options, some of which have special abilities, and shards on top of that. You can get really creative killing your opponents and experimentation never stops, even after NG+. Crafting is a good supplement to treasure hunting, and quests offer a lot of help for only a little trouble. The food alone is worth the trip!

- It has a perfect difficulty ramp. Even the galleon boss is no pushover the first time you play - I'm a seasoned gamer and still made it with under 20% HP, it was a memorable fight. I actually lost to the second boss once before beating it, but I also got 2-3 medals on my first run on other bosses. Some have gimmicks, some have varying patterns, but they're all very viable without having to grind like a madman. The last few bosses are easy, but by that point Miriam is broken AF. Bosses aside, normal enemies do not present as much difficulty, but they do get a few hits in, making potions and save points an absolute necessity, especially when environmental hazards are added in the mix.

- Dungeoneering. I take my hat off to whoever made the map, each stage is unique, with the exception of entrance and Dian Cecht cathedral. Most stages are also pretty large - not dungeon crawling large, but big enough to warrant a trip back to Arvantville halfway through. The ability to mark the map allows you to remember which places are gated by special platforming abilities that you lack, so that you can return afterwards. There's also not a lot of backtracking going on, which is a huge plus.

- Music. I can't decide which theme I like the best, it's as simple as that. The voice acting (at least the english version) is on point, I'm running through JP now.

- Graphics and art style. Classic IGA notes everywhere, but even for a newcomer, few palette swaps and even the lanterns have varying options.

- Progress. As I mentioned before, I'm very experienced with games like this, I've even played all the GBA Castlevania titles, but even so, I got STUMPED! Dominique helps a bit (she could really give an extra hint or two), but if you do a blind run, you'll have to really think a lot about how to progress at least three times in the game. The fourth one I can think of is kind of easy, if you've been paying attention. Some may see it as a detriment, but I think it added to the experience, and even though the second instance was highly annoying, because I had to scour the entire map just to find ONE ITEM to continue, I came to respect that choice later on.

- Completion. The game is easy to 100%, 34 hours to platinum and I spent a lot of time just having fun, I was actually LV89 at the end of my first run.

- Grinding. If you go for 100%, you'll obviously have to grind for a while, be it shards, items or money. I can't quite put my finger on how, but the game's made grinding fun. Maybe because it's fast? I don't know.

Anyway, that's all I can think of atm, this is so far the best game I've played and the most enjoyable by far, I highly recommend it to anyone with a platform except switch, and the best part is, there's still stuff coming out! For now, I'll move on to curse of the moon...

EDIT: Finished curse of the moon today, took 6-7 runs for all the endings. Fun game, strangely addictive when you take into consideration just how repetitive it is, but I guess it's just that well-made. Even on my sixth run, I kept finding new places to go. Anyway, back to the important stuff!

Characters: everyone is super strong on the stage you recruit them, but overall, I'd say Gebel is by far the best character, followed by Miriam. They're the ones I missed the most when playing solo with Zangetsu, especially on stages 6 and 7. Alfred is amazing at bosses, but for the rest of the game, he's just there to open up shortcuts, the toughest of which requires a freeze arrow and Miriam's axe to unlock.

Gameplay: solid stuff. Somewhat stiff controls, like in the old days, but you can attack behind your back after jumping, or redirect after a double jump, so it's a lot more fluid than what it seems. I played 4 runs on veteran, but I picked casual for the last few, pitfalls are always a really hard pill to swallow, especially when you're lacking most of your resources. Boss rush mode was REALLY hard, it had me thinking all sorts of crazy things, like going naked for the first two bosses, using Miriam's knives for Valefor, Zangetsu's rage for Valaak, and most importantly, freeze+axe for Andrealphus; two hits are enough to K.O., it was an amazing discovery for me. It is also in boss rush that I learned how to dodge some desperation attacks, like using bat form to dash into Bloodless' first two spins.

Overall: the music score is sick AF and only gets better the more you listen to it. Game could use a co-op mode. 10h to completion, about as low as I'd have it for an indie game.