Beholgar

This is unfortunately a very unpolished mess riddled with bugs, some of which are game breaking like the one that occurs if you die while defeating the first boss. The default control scheme is also quite bad. Xbox controller's B for melee and X for special weapon is a very counterintuitive choice.

[h3]Overview[/h3] I just finished Beholgar. It’s an awesome but pretty tough retro metroidvania. The movement and how you progress through the game feel a lot like Castlevania. It’s super linear and short, but packed full of stuff and enemies. The platforming is fun, though it can be really punishing. [h3]Playtime and Achievements[/h3] I got 6 out of 10 achievements in about 4 hours. If you’re going for the platinum, plan on around 7–10 hours. [h3]Abilities, Weapons, and Progression[/h3] You collect 5 weapons and 3 special attacks. Those special attacks also help you move forward in the game: [list] [*]A big fireball that smashes certain walls [*]A ground pound that breaks special floors [*]An ice block you shoot and freeze so you can climb higher [/list] You can also unlock the ability to hang from ledges and a double jump. There are different throwables that help a lot when you’re trying to get around. [h3]Exploration, Enemies, and Navigation[/h3] Every area has a good mix of different enemies. Checkpoints are everywhere. You can fast travel from any checkpoint to the start of any area, but you can’t jump straight to a specific checkpoint. There’s no map, so backtracking m…

It's a bit rough around the edges, but overall, a very enjoyable old school platformer. The music is great.

10/10 The most important feature of the game is screaming "Beholgar!" as loud as you can whenever you do anything cool in the game.

While I enjoy 2D platformers and retro aesthetics, Beholgar one is beyond rough to play. It's frustrating, has many bugs, and the gameplay is poorly balanced. - Challenges in the game seem fairly forgiving with numerous checkpoints, but every segment of the game is frustrating, and often requires perfect rehearsal, otherwise you will die regularly. If you need to fast travel and retrace your steps, prepare to suffer. - The bugs are regular, particularly with UI. Menus in the game will overlap and lock you out of either menu (requiring an alt+F4). - There's so much missing polish, it's like it never happened. The game feels unresponsive on attacks, as you have to wait until an unseen cooldown is met before your next button press is accepted -- you can't pre-fire or queue up an attack shortly before the animation completes. Sub-Weapons are forced on you, and some are so contextual that you'll go through large sections of the game without the use of them. No enemy takes a single hit to defeat, and as your weapon range is poor, you will regularly take hits slogging through every area (enough hits, and its back to the check point). If all of these issues were touched up, I'm sure it …

It's a bold strategy to make your first stage this annoying, sluggish controls and inputs mixed with enemies having frankly ridiculous tracking leads to constant deaths. You can't just mimic old school Castlevania without using the same methods, that just leads to frustration.