I had fond memories of the original game from Newgrounds, tho I don't think I ever made it very far, so I was excited and curious to see how it compared. Once the nostalgia wore off what I found was some game-changing bugs (derogatory), mediocre writing that has barely evolved since the 2000s, and an at times frustratingly difficult combat system. It's a team based tactical game but you only control the main character Sonny, you don't control your companions, which means you can't always predict what moves they're going to choose or who they're going to target. This isn't inherently bad, but it can more often than not mean that RNG is a big part of whether or not a fight goes well for you against tougher enemies. In theory, after a couple of bosses you get access to more abilities with which you can control the battlefield and turn the odds in your favour. However in addition to some minor menu bugs where the game would freeze or I couldn't sell my last two items regardless of what they were, my game seems to have had a bug where I just didn't get access to these strains, so I was stuck with only the starting Physical Strain. I still persisted, made it to the 5th or 6th area with the mad science labs, but finally got tired of playing it after realising I still wasn't actually having any fun with the game. The combat and nostalgia were the main things going for it and by this point the sheen had gone from both of them. Nothing else was really keeping me there, because the story and writing aren't particularly strong. I don't remember much of the writing from the original game, but given this was a revamp of an old newgrounds game from the 2000s I wasn't really expecting much, but it's still disappointing that even with the benefit of at least a decade to potentially improve and hone the craft, the writing remains uninteresting. The characters aren't really characters, they are a collection of quirks that are vehicles for backstory/plot and otherwise deliver snarky banter at each other like in a particularly bad Joss Whedon series. The setting isn't any better either as it's just whatever the writers want it to be, starting off with a fairly straightforward modern day zombie post apocalypse but then shifting to icy knights in armour and cyborgs and probably more weird shit which could be fine and maybe even entertaining if the writing were actually strong enough to carry it, but as it is it just feels like a setting with no identity of its own, it just becomes whatever is needed in order to deliver the standard fire zone, jungle zone, ice zone etc. of games of its time.

I'll also say that, while the original art wasn't amazing I'm not sold on the new art. On a technically level it is better, but idk, it just doesn't do much for me. Maybe it's just nostalgia, but there was something more charming about the original flash art.

Overall, I'm unimpressed and disappointed, and only stuck with it for as long as I did due to feeling obliged to finish it, but I honestly can't be bothered to anymore.