My experience with HK and why I won't finish it. (spoiler free)

So... this was going to be a story and rambling dump when I started writing this, but I think presenting my opinions in a more structured format will be more appreciated, so let's do that instead:

• Art: As a primer, I want to make clear that the art style of this game is incredible; this cute yet sad and kinda creepy aesthetic is gorgeous and probably offers the most breathtaking moments I've ever seen in a 2D game. I do have some problems with it, however, but those will be better explained in other sections.

• Sound: Music, sound effects and voices paint a vivid a picture of this world and elevate the experience way beyond what just visuals could accomplish. None of it stuck in my head nor would I listen to the OST alone, but it is a sublime part of the games experience.

• Basic gameplay: The movement is smooth and all the asociated abilities are very responsive. The lack of momentum in the jump still feels kind of weird even after 30h played, but its utility in platforming and weaving between enemies is more than enough reason to get used to it. The attack animation feels less inviting, though. The lack of a visible blade and the arbitrary interval between swings make this basic action less reliable than I'd like, especially when both you and the enemy are in movement.

• Character progression: There are three general types of upgrades in the game:

• Core skills: be it spells or movement abilities, for all I know, the only way to obtain them is to progress through certain areas/bosses and, in turn, they will allow the access to new places. Although useful, I found them very basic in their design. If you've played any "metroidvania" before this, you won't find anything new here. Plus, the spells use Soul, which is primarily gained by hitting enemies at close range and is also used to heal... Which means you can use these spells to deal extra damage to enemies you're not having much trouble dealing damage to. Interesting...

• Charms: These are either bought or found around the world and serve as smaller upgrades or tweaks to the knights abilities. In fact, I'd say that the majority of them feel more like ways of easing on the restrictions the game imposes to you instead of actual upgrades and will mostly help mitigating any problem that might appear instead of using them to outright outsmart your opponent. They all require a certain number of slots (which are also bought) so only a few of them will be possible to equip.Interesting idea, but it also means some of them will be kind of piointless to buy or offer little reward for reaching them.

• Soul and Health upgrades: Mostly found around the world, these are divided into pieces; collect 3 and 4 of them respectivelly and they'll get another "bit". Quite straightforward. However, the single life "mask" I managed to get never felt like much of a difference. Not knowing the path ahead or HP of a boss plus the ability to regenerate them made this upgrade ring kind of hollow.

• Death: This is one of my biggest grips with the game. Dying implies loosing part of the Soul meter and creating a hostile shadow that keeps all the Geo you had in the area you died. That is, the task is to reack the point where you screwed up with less resources and do whatever you failed to do before (be it platforming or fighting) with an extra enemy floating about. The result? The opposite of Sekiro: If you die once and don't have much to lose, your best option is just to kill yourself again in a less dangerous place before actually retrying. Don't like the tedium? then enjoy the frustration of having this thing floating above small platforms or fighting bosses with less Soul.

• Level design: After visiting 10-ish areas, I had the pleasure to witness some great places and set piieces, I did so, however, in between copious ammounts of unmemorable mazes that lack any sense of place apart from some gimmicks, a general backdrop and senslessly placed clutter. Not even the most civilised areas feel built with a purpose. They're supposed to be ruins, I guess, but they don't seem to have ever been finished before the decay. At the end, after some time of exploration, even the most alien places I encountered became mundane filler between the few points of interest scattered in their corners.

• Regular enemies: Mostly well designed and placed, though some flying (and especially teleporting) enemies have a tendency to gang up on you if you try to keep going without killing them for the fiftieth time you go through that place. Some enemies also may blend in with the background/clutter more than what I'd expect in a game reliant on fast reactions.

• Bosses: After some relatively simple first encounters, these creatures devolve in dances of trial and error while you're trying to poke your way through unending health pools and various phases. I haven't found a challenge I couldn't overcome with practice until now, but never did I feel satisfied by the result. I didn't best those rivals, I just kept running the treadmill until it stopped. The addition of an HP bar may have helped this feeling by showing my progress or making me scramble to use all my resoruces to erase that last bit of health, but the mindless process on itself is what frustrates me the most.

None of these criticisms alone would stop me from playing though this game as there is too much good in here to be overshadowed so easily. Nonetheless, all together end up overpowering the sense of wonder this world can evoke. I'm sorry, little knight. I fear that your nail will cut no more.

Submitted November 29, 2018 at 03:32AM by Red_Lunatic https://ift.tt/2TUVjZl