This game is on the verge of greatness, but it’s bogged down by some truly frustrating level design choices, which ultimately caused me to give up with this game during level 2.
I’m not really a fan of how the combat has been combined with platforming. There are many instances of enemies being stationed on small platforms which one must make their way through in order to get through the game - but the player has very few real options for how to navigate these obstacles. If they do nothing and jump to the platform - they will get hit, taking damage, and the hitstun might cause the player to fall off and land in the Enemy Spam Zone below. If the player swings - the player will lose the ability to control their movement during the attack, so, whilst they might be able to land a hit on the enemy and not get damaged by them, there’s a very high chance that their momentum will cause them to slide off the platform, and land in Enemy Spam Zone again. And, even worse, because hitting any enemy four times is an instant game over, the player now has fewer attempts remaining to get past that obstacle, lest they find themselves all the way back at the start of the level.
I was eventually able to get through level 1 (after quite a bit of trial and error), but I wasn’t able to make it very far past the hospital bed in level 2. Which is when I decided to just call it quits and move on. I’m not really a fan of precision platformers, and the levels of precision demanded by the game (and the very punishing lack of checkpoints upon death) just killed the vibe for me.
That said, I do like the premise of the game, and the game has an utterly amazing presentation, with an incredibly cohesive audio/visual style. I can also see the potential in this game - but the gameplay itself was just too frustrating for me to enjoy.