Echo Weaver

What's there to say. The metroidvania is already a very ambitious genre to work in since players can sequence-break and get to places with unexpected combinations of abilities. So a time-loop game where you theoretically have access to all your abilities from the start, and could go to any area of the map from the start of the first loop? It's a big ask, but Moonlight Kids pull it off amazingly! The platforming is the main draw, it's challenging enough to be interesting but is never so damaging that you can't just blast through it and lose a bit of health. Your health bar is very forgiving -- I don't think anything deals more than a third of your starting health, and you can always sacrifice a minute of your lifespan to heal, and even if you do manage to die then you'll only get sent back to the start of the loop. It reminds me of Celeste a little. Then again, once you have all the movement upgrades, flying over areas that you were struggling through a few hours earlier is also very satisfying. The throwing glaive is really the main character, a lot of your abilities revolve around it. You can throw it at enemies (though it's often a better use of your time to simply run past th…

An incredible remix of metroidvanias. Story and time loops and awesome exploration with minimal combat.

At this point I've rolled credits, but still feel the need to jump back in and tie up some loose ends I left behind. That's rare for me, but highlights how attached I've gotten to this game and its world/story/characters. Really well done here, I love it! ----- Games that demand precise coordination are an uphill battle for me, especially when there's a ticking timer in the mix. So this game's opening prologue/tutorial sequence had me wondering if I was going to be able to hang with it. Thankfully the checkpointing and shortcuts go a long way toward making sequences challenging without being punitive. Seeing the game unfold was consistently rewarding from beginning to end. I learned a couple early abilities through accidental experimentation before the game revealed them - that was when the game felt most "metroidbrania" (ugh, but accurate) in style. The feel of character progression consistently fits with the story themes and the feel of the world - all the game elements feel carefully designed as individual parts and as a combined whole.

Got a very positive first impression 30min in, will update the review again later. But so far I'm intrigued!

I just think it’s neat

Great