OOLO

A great isometric puzzle/platformer with metroidvania-style upgrades. Oh, it also offers the handy ability to shift the camera slightly so you can figure out the layout and solve those classic "where the heck is that floating plaform?!" moments.

First time I tried an isometric metroidvania. Unfortunately it is also going to be the last time. I just could not find a comfortable way of navigating in an isometric way. Still, what I saw looked very interesting. There's probably a good metroidvania here. It's just not for me.

Super rad. Great exploration. Lots of secrets.

This game is highly underrated. If you've played Solstice on the NES and enjoyed it, this one is for you. I didn't finish Solstice but I sure as ♥♥♥♥ finished this, properly and it was a pain in the ass at times. 10/10

A really cool puzzle platformer Zelda-like Metroidbrania similar to Tunic. I enjoyed it and I'm pretty hard to please.

Recommended with the advice to play on the low difficulty option: essentially, you either restart at a room's entrance when you die, get two restarts then are warped back to a save point, or all save points are replaced with one-ups and if you run out of lives it's Game Over (which, to be fair, is accurate to its primary inspiration, an NES game named Solstice). Save points aren't too scarce, but often you will face a gauntlet of 3-4 difficult rooms in a stretch, making it deeply annoying to re-do the whole sequence if you trip up on the final few steps. Don't convince yourself you need to choose greater annoyance like I did! Outside that, it's very true to its inspiration and if you recognize it, you'll like what you get. There are QOL improvements like the ability to tilt the view slightly left and right to clarify where in space things are, and the controls are generally smooth and responsive. Some things are devilishly tough to find if you want to get absolutely everything (and a slightly better ending). There's room for some improvement, notably in when and where your shadow is shown, but overall a pleasing spiritual sequel of sorts to a captivating-for-its-time old game.