Eldritchvania

so far this game is cool and i like it for how it reminds me of la-mulana but damn dude the platforming in this ♥♥♥♥ is like hell temple within about 30 minutes, the hitboxes on these spike balls are absolutely ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ me up edit: i thought this game was rather good. the intro was definitely testing my patience in a way that made me question if it was worth playing, if you can get past that it becomes a lot more bearable after the upgrades and options start appearing. it's a little short and the progression is somewhat linear until the end but i had a good time with it. the similarities to la-mulana are worn on its sleeve, and that's why i played the game in the first place so i appreciated them. as other reviews might mention, the only thing it really lacks is a good amount of horizontal progression solving using clues from multiple areas. i found that generally all of these sequences appeared at the endgame, essentially once you reach the last real zone. i was able to figure them out on my own, so nothing too painful. might come off as obvious to some people, i suppose? most of the puzzles that require information and steps that try to invoke that lightbulb moment kind of react…

This game deserves more attention. I think it is a genuinely solid metroidvania. The environments are weird and interesting to explore through, the combat is simple yet effective, and I like the risk/reward factor of deciding whether to delve deeper at the risk of sanity or to just march back to a safe location to start with a full bar of health and sanity. The game has a sufficient difficulty level and never felt like it was holding my hand- especially with some of the puzzles. Fair warning that this is a bit more puzzle/exploration heavy than most metroidvanias that tend to lean more towards the combat side of things. I appreciated that there were puzzles that actually required me to stop, assess, and even jot down some notes (I was figuring out the children of Yig puzzle for like 30 mins lol). The game took me about 8 hours to 100% complete- it is short but enriching. I'd prolly give it a 7.5 to 8 out of 10. I feel like I definitely should've had to pay like 15 bucks for this. Getting it for free feels like I'm robbing the dev.

"Eldritchvania" is a great 2D-Metroidvania with an uniquely drawn artstyle, great lovecraftian setting and heavy focus on investigation/puzzles and tight boss battles. You play an elderly scottish scholar on his quest to save his son who got lost on his expedition investigating a subterranean eldritch civilisation. The spellcasting/madness mechanic is solid, the exploration is rewarding, albeit some items are quite well hidden (got a guide for this once/twice). The progression is all over the place, so expect backtracking, but luckily the map is very compact. The whole presentation seems a little quirky at first, but it soon manages to create a dense and uncanny atmoshpere! A great and unique title full of heart and a "faithful" lovecraftian experience! You can't go wrong, it is free, although it is worth much more!

Really solid game, I feel like a cheater for not paying for this, congrats to the team that developed this and made it free. Music is good, graphics as well, game has good puzzles.

Hand drawn art style, challenging puzzles and platforming... i've only just begun my journey but I this game already delivers... and for FREE. You aren't going to find any better bang for your buck than this.

A fun excursion.