Haunted Lands

Gotta give this one a pass. I was really into it for about 5 hours but eventually it just began feeling like a chore designed by a jerk that played his game so long he got really impressed or bored with his own runs. Successfully dodging 5 things in rapid succession only to have a sixth thing spawn right on top of you just isn't fun. Actually that's the opposite of satisfying. I enjoyed the challenge up to a point but every encounter feels optimized to the breaking point of what's possible with the stiff controls in the game. Why does looking up interrupt/prevent reloading? Planting your feet to shoot is fine but it takes a beat too long to respond to a jump after you fire. You end up repeating encounters so many times that it becomes a choreographed sequence of moves with little room for improvisation. I'm stuck at a point rn that's difficult to escape without losing the majority of my health near the start of the checkpoint. Which just means I'll die to something cheap soon into the rest of the level. I'm dying of boredom here. I was impressed with how much the game does with so little graphically, but I'm too fatigued with the current section to bother seeing the rest of the ga…

A decent game that overplays its sprite animation in the first two levels. The music is pretty grating and the stiff controls coupled with insta-kills and long gauntlet sections lead to a non-enjoyable experience. It's got an old school feel but unfortunately it doesn't control well enough to truly enjoy. Unless you like grindy tough old school experiences. I'd say pass on this one.

Has that visceral bad feeling when it comes to controls combined with the retro difficulty made this a very quick play and pass. It was cheap and I like to support indies but this one was not for me.

Excellent sprite work, awesome music, and all on top of a monster-slaying premise. It reminds me a lot of some of the classic Castlevania games, though much faster paced and with greater character variety. All killer and no filler, this game is an easy recommend for anybody looking to jump quickly into something challenging but rewarding. *As a disclaimer, I haven't beaten the game (yet), so it's possible something down the line soils the experience. If that ends up being the case, I'll update the review to reflect whatever didn't work out well.

https://youtu.be/BvB4RHy_j8w Hitting the DOS retro hard but still having smooth responsive controls is a good combo even outside the general nostalgia play.

Fun game and I love the challenge. The sewer part is a maze and it was the only frustrating part of the game but the game is awesome overall. I wish the game gets a sequel. The game developer is a one-man army of amazing talent and there is so much more to do with this world.