Everblade

The final boss form is punishingly difficult. It is shame that the game had to end on a frustrating note after much enjoyment in getting to the final part. As such I find this game terrible

Wow. Terrible controls - attack with ctrl (!). Cannot rebind them (!!). And my biggest pet peeve - an absurdly tiny range of your weapon. (!!!) Such an easy skip on this one with the holy trifecta of bad design.

So far so good! It's quite challenging but even on hard mode the first boss can definitely be beat without taking damage. It seems to reward skill and practice. I'll come back and update my review after more hours. As for the price, I think it's fair. There are endless hours put into making a game like this.

Everblade is a fantastic hidden gem of a game. While it certainly has some rough spots, there is more than enough polish elsewhere to make up for its shortcomings. The main factor Everblade has going for it is variety. The game is divided between a hub area and 9 levels which generally unlock in sets of 2 or 3 (plus a final level). The level themes are diverse and range anywhere from underwater ruins to a church and graveyard crawling with undead. Beyond the aesthetics, each level has a unique feel as they all focus on different mechanics. You'll be dodging plenty of boulder and riding along on the wind in the mountains, jumping between falling tree branches and swimming around thorns and poison in the swamp, and mostly solving puzzles while trying not to drown in those underwater ruins I mentioned. Several of the levels are even broken into two distinct segments, such as the desert level which first has you platforming across the desert while periodically dipping into water to avoid heatstroke and later has you fighting your way through a trap-filled pyramid. The underwater level does go on for a bit too long, but otherwise the levels stay fresh and interesting from beginning …

This is a real hidden gem, I can't believe it's only got as few reviews as it has. A wonderful pixel adventure, you play as a mage on a quest for revenge. The bosses and minibosses all have interesting designs, if fairly simple patterns to remember. But this is not a game focused on challenging bosses, the focus is on the bright and wonderfully detailed environments. The levels are always bigger than you think, full of secrets and treasure ala Shovel Knight, but with a focus on shortcuts and puzzles. You'll unlock new abilities that will open the path to even more secrets and treasures. If you like exploration focused games, this is def one to check out. You start off with simple sword slashes and some magic daggers for ranged combat, but you will gradually unlock spells and new attacks to mix things up. Enemies can sometimes be challenging, but are often placed in ways to make you consider your platforming. Most enemies also don't respawn, so it's easy to backtrack if you think you've missed something. A death will restart you very close to where you died, but after you lose all lives you must restart. Shortcuts and items found remain in your possession though. There are also f…

I really wanted to like this, but instead found it tedious and awkward. If this game looks cool to you play The Messenger instead.