Unworthy

Unworthy
N/A
Metacritic
80
Steam
74.398
xDR
Our rating is calculated based on the reviews and popularity of the game.
Price
$5.24
Release date
29 May 2018
Steam reviews score
Total
80 (648 votes)

UNWORTHY is a hardcore combat-focused metroidvania without jumping. Explore a grim universe, discover new weapons and abilities, and defeat the vile creatures that plague the land.

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Unworthy system requirements

Minimum:

  • OS: Windows 7
  • Processor: 2.0 GHz
  • Memory: 2 GB RAM
  • Graphics: GeForce 9800GTX+ (1GB)
  • DirectX: Version 9.0
  • Storage: 2 GB available space
  • Additional Notes: 1080p, 16:9 recommended
Updated
App type
Steam APP ID
613190
Platforms
Windows PC
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HighDensityLipo
HighDensityLipo

Quick Description:
-Unworthy is a 2d, monochromatic, brutally challenging soulslike. This game is the epitome of "git gud". This game has some really unique and diverse bosses, lots of secrets, and a minimalistic approach to level design. Unfortunately, this game broke me around the 5-6 hr mark. It is very unforgiving, and one that I can't recommend unless you absolutely love these types of games.

Consensus:
-Bottom Shelf Game (Tier 5 and makes up 10% of my reviews). I thought that I was a glutton for punishment, but this was too challenging for me. I think that there probably is an audience for this game, but it's not a game I feel comfortable recommending.

Spitfyre37
Spitfyre37

A very neat little Souls-like metroidvania. Combat was fun, exploration was very solid, especially with the lack of jumping, and it was overall a very pleasant experience. There were some tough parts, but nothing that was excessively hard for the sake of being hard. It's been a while since I played it, and I still think back on in fairly regularly as a pretty cool game. A solid 8/10, I'd love to see more.

tightz
tightz

So Good. Running surprisingly well on very weak MacBook with Intel m3 on it (using bootcamp ofc) just like undertale.

This game really nailed everything.

oozegod
oozegod

Poorly telegraphed attacks, bad default control scheme, long waits for moving platforms to come around, key progression items hidden away...

This game would really need more polish to actaully be fun.

Xelos
Xelos

I played most of the popular souls-likes around, and Unworthy is one of my favorites. I'd rate it higher than Salt & Sanctuary, Death's Gambit and probably Blasphemous. One of the biggest surpries for me were the excellent bosses. So far they don't look terribly impressive, but all had reaaly interesting movestes and vere fun to fight. Other than that, the game's surprisingly deep, especially for a one-man project. If you like the subgenre, give it it try, I enjoyed it a lot.

Sothite
Sothite

Solid souls-like metroidvania focused on combat. Also quite an amount of 'secrets'. If you like jumping around you might hate this game since this game has no jump mechanic.
(+Many people mentioned frame drop issue but personally I had no issue like that, and apparently the dev provided some kind of solution.)

toxast
toxast

Killed 20 times by two legs with an ass that busts fire.

im too old for this shit.

Bakazuraz
Bakazuraz

Unworthy is a Metroidvania with Souls-like elements. Like a Metroidvania, you can explore the world in a fairly non-linear manner and need to use weapons/relics in order to progress through the map. The Souls-like elements include using Sin (this game's version of "souls") for both upgrading your character and purchasing items at shops, dropping your Sin when you die and will be lost if you do not pick them up before a 2nd death, challenging combat with an emphasis on dodging/punishing instead of spamming attack, engaging bosses, resting at kilns replenishes HP/healing items & respawns enemies, and it's set in a dying world full of misery.

The weapons (6 in total) all feel nice, play differently, and each one has a unique special attack. Instead of getting unique abilities that unlock more of the map, your weapons' special attacks are used for platforming and exploring the map. A negative against the game is that you can only equip 2 weapons at once, so there is quit a lot of going into the inventory screen to swap weapons out when you need to use a certain weapons for a platforming section. This is further worsened by the fact that the game does not pause when you enter the inventory screen, so be sure you're not around any enemies when you try to swap weapons out or you will likely be killed. The platforming is enjoyable and very forgiving; there wasn't a single platforming section that felt cheap, BS, or was punishing with timing.

The character system is a bit different from Souls-likes. Killing enemies gives both Sin and XP. With XP, you level up in a linear way that increases your HP, damage, stamina, and armor. After the 2nd boss, you can spend your Sin to purchase talents to further improve your character. The game is not clear about this point, but purchasing talents also requires spending talent points (called atonements). You can get atonement from killing bosses or from finding rare consumables in the map. Because of this, you will often have tons of Sin, but not enough atonement to actually get a new talent. But if you play into NG & NG+, it ends up flipping where you'll have too little Sin to purchase talents while having plenty of atonement.

Most of the exploration and progress is pretty straight forward, and you can get through the game pretty easily on your own by just paying attention to what NPCs say and using your weapons effectively. However, there are a few secrets in the game that I don't think anyone would figure out without a guide. Case in point: in order to unlock the secret final boss in NG, you have to find 5 items and use them in a secret room before killing the final boss and entering NG. The problem is 1 of the 5 items is unobtainable if you happen to kill the 3rd boss before speaking to a certain NPC in 4 different locations in the map. It's especially difficult because the natural path you will follow will take you to the 3rd boss before you can see that NPC for the final 2 times unless you take a secret passage around the boss. And unless you have a guide, you're likely to mess this up on your first playthrough, meaning it will be a minimum of 3 full runs (like I did) before you can encounter the true final boss.

Verdict: Overall, I had quite a lot of bang for my buck. I got it on sale for about $4 or so, and my first playthrough lasted about 8 hours. My subsequent NG & NG+ playthroughs were much shorter as I knew where to go, and I got about 17 hours of playtime in order to get all the achievements.

SunfireKnight86
SunfireKnight86

Just kinda eh. If there was a "you have nothing better to buy" option for reviews I'd pick it, but...

Geco
Geco

Grey, samy, good, cheap, short.

Hal0Badger
Hal0Badger

Very good and impressive, especially done by only one guy. Animations are smooth eventhough it is monochrome. My only complaint would be it is short, but it definitely scratches that Dark Souls itch.

Retcon_Gecko
Retcon_Gecko

For the most part, this is a very well-crafted game, the level design is fantastic, as well as the combat and enemies, the art style is minimalistic but still captivating, and the music is subtle but effective. My only main complaint with the game would be the occasional lack of response when pressing the dodge button. There are multiple cases (most notably boss fights) where I've pressed the dodge button only to have the character not respond, this makes the game somewhat frustrating at times, but it's still very doable and a fun challenge.

donnybeck007
donnybeck007

this game is a great souls like!..if your into hard games that make you GIT GUD then buy this! its really cool and i recommend it!

vladspellbinder
vladspellbinder

TL, DR; If you are considering buying the game you need to answer to yourself "Do I enjoy brutally hard games that take the 'git gud' meme to heart and make it part of core gameplay?" If you're answer is "Yes" then this game is for you. If the answer is "No" then skip this one.

Longer version: So, "Souls Like", named as such because of comparisons to Dark Souls. I've sunk a lot of hours into Dark Souls One, and I enjoyed the majority of it. Got a bit frustrated at times, mainly that f-ing tree, but for the most part I had a lot of fun working out how to beat the various challenges in that game. Dark Souls One is tough but fair, an unforgiving challenge to be sure but it gives you the tools you need to meet and overcome what it throws at you.

The trap a lot of "Souls Like" games fall into though is being tough and unforgiving and not being fair about it. not having the fun. They hear "Dark Soul is a hard game" and as such make a really hard game but they don't understand that while Dark Souls was hard it was also fair. There are a lot of things "Souls Like" games fail at and Unworthy falls into a lot of them.

I'm only three hours into Unworthy and I can already tell that I'm not going to have very much fun overcoming the challenges it throws at me. Even the common enemies deal out a lot of damage and if you're not perfect with your dodging you'll die. A lot. Your own attacks are really slow, you've got a combo attack but against most foes you'll never get to the third hit and against some foes good luck even getting to the second. That's one of my main problems, the player character's attacks are really slow and unresponsive when the game wants me to be mobile to avoid being hit instead of tanking the damage. Because you really can't thank the damage. It is not that your health is so low it is more that everything deals so much damage you might as well have three hit-points and every hit knocks one off.

The other main problem this game has is the locations of checkpoints, Kilns in this game. Because even the common foes you run into can easily stun lock and kill you it really hurts how far apart the Kilns are. Add in how slow it is moving up and down ladders and dealing with the elevators and you've got a bunch of time wasted just getting around. It gets really tedious moving through the same three rooms over and over again because of the two guys at the end of the third with ranged attacks that can hit you from half-way across the room and deal 3/4ths of your health bar and leave you on fire which will take out another half a health bar if you don't roll it out but if you roll at the wrong time you get hit with their melee attacks or you have to roll >AWAY< from them but now you can't dodge the ranged attack so it's just why. Why bother keep playing? I don't hate myself. I'm here to have fun not whatever this is.

So, no, I can't really recommend this game to anyone other than the people who enjoy a really brutal unfair challenge.

Bonus Edit: I kept trying to have fun with this game, and kept failing. I've tried with and without the various Runes I have access to, with the various weapons I have and with and without offering various amounts of life for bonus damage, because 3HP doesn't really mean much when you die in three hits no matter what health you're at but conversely that 1 extra damage does add up at times when you can get the flow right.

I could not "find my fun" and have uninstalled the game and don't plan on reinstalling it any time soon. The early game is just too brutal and it does not give you the tools you need to face the challenges it presents other than "Get better at stamina management and dodging". I don't want to have to have perfect play to advance further along only to continue to have to have perfect play with new tools and foes.

So if you're the sort that >does< enjoy having to have perfect play to have any fun then by all means give this one a try. But if you prefer something hard but fair, like Dark Souls 1, then pass on this one.

Edit 2, Return of the Edit: Fixed some grammar and spelling mistakes. Content unchanged other than being readable now.

JZumun
JZumun

While I struggle heavily with the soulslike aspects of the game, the metroidvania side of exploration and "platforming" has its talons stuck deep. Even without jumping, the movement and traversal feel really good especially when you get one of the later items. The hidden secrets are a treat to find; I definitely love the beating heart sound signalling a valuable collectible is hidden nearby.

The fact that there were multiple possible routes to explore next at any given time definitely helped me overcome my bad combat skills. I'm grateful that when a boss got too hard, I had the option to cut my losses and go somewhere else. Otherwise I might have quit at Gaston and missed out on the rest of this great game.

Fauxnel
Fauxnel

𝔸𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕙𝕪 𝕥𝕠 𝕔𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕪 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕝𝕝?

Unworthy is a great game set in a bleak dark world that's quite reminiscent of that of the Dark Souls franchise. It is well-pixelated eventhough most of it is black and white, and it will most definitely scratch any Dark Souls itch you might have.

You are a knight, determined to find out the hidden truth of the world, guided by only a voice that calls out to you. The mystery only grows thicker as you wake up after your torturer trips over a piece of furniture and dies a horrible accidental death (very convenient). You meet tons of NPCs who, with their cryptic one-liners, will leave you confused about what has transpired in this land. Prepare yourself... to be found unworthy A LOT... and by that I mean DYING. Falling too high, small creatures that just straight out pummel you to death and bosses whom I found were quite tame compared to some very unforgiving "normal" monsters in this game. One thing you'll learn straight away is not to underestimate the creatures in the first few levels that look weak... As an example, a mere zombie carrying around a cross on its back straight out HURRICANE-d me into some spikes earlier and I got quite mad because I was carrying a million sins (or souls whatever you want to call them).

There's only one problem with this game is that the replayability is null, and it's very VERY short. At the moment of writing this review, I'm literally speedrunning my way through NG+ and I'm only 9 hours into playing the game. It's a 9/10 game that could've used more content, the pixel-art is a thing to behold with this one. I would recommend it to all fans of the Souls-genre.

AR34
AR34

hell yes , great art style and great boss designs.

thethingupstairs
thethingupstairs

On the fence with this one.
Good combat design, fun to learn enemy mechanics, interesting setting.
Very little direction at the start. Resources you can't use and don't understand, no idea of your place in the world and what you're doing. Forgivable as the mystery does push you forward.

The main stupid souls-like developer choice is the inability to pause. That's just a poor way to punish people who live in the real world... you know... everyone.

.//deadheart
.//deadheart

A 2D platformer Souls-Like that shies away from a typical metroidvania format. Entirely in black and white, this game creates incredible depth with very little substance. Great combat, unique and enjoyable graphics, and enough crypticness to make Lovecraft blush

ZnShy
ZnShy

PLEASE FUCKING BUY THIS GAME ITS SO GOOD!!! Seriously, its the best 2D souls-like I've ever played, amazing map design, the bosses have so much effort put into them, the weapons you get have so much variety, the difficulty is fair in a sense where if you learn the pattern you can easily kill whatever enemies the game throws at you. If you're looking for a challenge you definitely MUST get Unworthy! 10/10, haven't played a game this good in years.

Ylluven
Ylluven

The simple look is deceiving about the depth of story and gameplay it has to offer.

Korggan
Korggan

Unworthy is 2D Darksouls. The game might look minimalistic, but within its greyscale levels lie a lot of interesting lore. The game demands multiple playthroughs to fully underline the beauty of its story.

10/10, I highly recommend taking the game slow and fully exploring all the levels.

Arkanis
Arkanis

A very atmospheric Metroidvania heavily inspired by Dark Souls. Its minimalist palette makes the game mysterious and immersive. It's set in a sad, desolate world that makes you want to go on and find out what's happening (or happened). Combat is enjoyable and each weapon is pretty unique.
Level design here was really good - I really enjoy interconnected worlds.
I played up to NG+3, doing all achievements and exploring everything. There is a very cryptic quest in this game that you might need to search up to complete.
All in all, I enjoyed the experience. New content would be very welcome, but up to this point it's unlikely.

Ah, and forgot to mention. This game was mostly done by one person. Really impressive IMHO.

DavidTippy
DavidTippy

This is the worst 2D soulslike I've played by a considerable margin. If you're looking for a 2D soulslike with pseudo-Catholic religious imagery and themes, you're better off playing Blasphemous. The problems start when you realize that the silhouette artstyle causes some severe problems with readability. Since both you and the enemies are in silhouette, your own attacks block your ability to see your enemies telegraphing theirs. This, coupled with the fact that you can't jump and that enemies attack very quickly and in groups, means that combat is best avoided. When you do have to fight an enemy or boss, it often feels like beating them happens by random chance instead of your own skill. The game has a good number of optional areas and alternate paths, but that doesn't really mean much because you can't access them without beating the first two major bosses of the game, which, as I've noted above, are extremely difficult to read. Just play Blasphemous.

Themes: 4/5
Immersion: 2/5
Exploration: 2/5
Challenge: 2/5
Replayability: 3/5
Final Score: 13/25

WeseltonDW
WeseltonDW

UNWORTHY

I would recommend playing Blasphemous or Hollow Knight instead of this trash.

I wouldn't recommend this game for two reasons. The first is that the art style, while cool, makes it difficult to see what is going on. The second is that the Spirit Bow is stupid. While it sounds like a 2D souls-like without jumping would be fun, replacing jumping with teleporting by shooting arrows is clunky and ruined what could have been a good game.

It is also very unbalanced. Every item in the store costs a ridiculous amount of sin, even things like consumable throwing weapons. The Spirit Bow is insanely better than every other weapon in the game. All you have to do is spam the fire button and dodge, being careful to save enough stamina for a dodge, and you can destroy every enemy and boss in the game. On the other hand, using the melee weapons is frustratingly difficult because the enemies move so fast and the art style makes it difficult to see what is going on.

It also does a poor job explaining some of the core gameplay mechanics.

In conclusion, don't waste your time on this unworthy game....

Lohengramm
Lohengramm

Pros
- Bosses were actually very good. I've not played many games with boss design this interesting.
- Even for someone with a lot of experience in this genre game was still decently difficult at times, mostly fair
- Little things like leveling up, progressing through out the game (Just to name a few) ... Have been done well. It's decently polished.

Cons
- Art style is too minimalist and simple for my tastes. And that's coming from someone who likes that kind of thing
- I didn't understand the plot at all. I hate dark souls-like storytelling I think that it's plain bad.

A solid game overall.

Krusty Nut
Krusty Nut

This is something. I do not know what it is, but its something...

Roh, The homossexual orc
Roh, The homos…

I really liked this game, it scratched my itch for a souls-like game. It is really a by the books Metroidvania, with a very interisting stylistic aesthetic, something of a "Limbo" silluete vibe, but with pixel-art graphics. The gameplay is challenging, but not unfair, and it has something that i love in these games: a world full of secrets, being very rewarding finding them, while exploring a very opressive and athmospheric-vibe world.

i recommend it if you like a quick and cool metroidvania, or if you are into 2d soulslike vibe.

Kruxis
Kruxis

Oh boy... where do i start.

I found out about this game via MonGooses Kickstarter for Crowsworn. One of the devs made this game here.

Instead of waiting a week i bought it instantly. By now one of my best choices.
After a few hours of gameplay i am STUNNED by this game.

I start with the Pros:
This game is obviously oriented along Dark Souls and i even see a bit of Hollow Knight which released a year earlier.
I might be mistaken tho. The controls are very pleasing yet challeging.
The game feels like exploring a new World. It's not numb. What i mean is. The game seems pretty linear by now but you don't feel like its linear. You gotta remember a lot of paths you run across even tho you got a map (which is basically a square with holes xD)
The Storytelling is GREAT i can feel the hate, passion, missery and remorse. The characters feel unique and the storys they tell fit the Grim Fantasy style of the game. The item and monster description i encountered seem fitting to. It is super fun to read all of it out loud onstream and try to immitate the voice of the individual characters.
The Athmosphere.... OH BOY. This might be a pixel game but holy moly... You get some sightseeing. Even tho its all minimalistic you see the true beauty of the backgrounds of the distant land. Specially the overworld looks AMAZING. (I love huge moons).
Enemy design. By now every enemy feels fresh, unique and challenging. Even to it starts "fairly" easy (unless you are a mindless sheep like me) you see the expodential curve in difficulty. The enemys look very different and sometimes scary and mostly intimidating. You gotta learn every move of them our you will have the hell of a time. (worse than anyway)
The Bosses. I killed 4 by now. All god damn piece of f**** ******.
But seriously. They are well crafted, not easy at first, different "phases" and you gotta learn them. Combat vs them feels like Hollow Knight and the learning curve is the same. Sometimes you got to smash your buttons in a ludicrous speed and keep your head calm. Not unusuall you press the wrong button and throw yourself off leading to and inevitable death.
Music... sick. Could hear for HOURS.

Cons:
You still read? GET THE GOD DAMN GAME!!!

Only thing i can cry about is the same as in every soulslike game. Sometimes you HAVE to fight through a passage again and it anoyes you and you cant do anything about it and you want to quit then yet you still get it and you start to build a firy rage about the game. Well pretty usual stuff.

- First boss is ok. Secound is still pissing me off (insider) and the 3rd is not beginner friendly anymore.

Fazit:
Good game. Buy it.

butterletto
butterletto

Dev should have mentioned you have to play at 30 fps lock with integrated graphics...

Wysh
Wysh

I love this game. It's just fun.

Unid
Unid

Great game that apparently flew under everyones radar.

Hmm Unga Bunga
Hmm Unga Bunga

I beat the game in under 10 hours, but they were some pretty good 10 hours. It's good for speedrunning, if you're into that. There are a few road bumps in the game though. Some areas are less fun than others, but they'll be over pretty quick. I do recommend getting a guide to beat the game, but there's plenty of helpful ones. A solid game.

I think it's also fair to note that I bought this game when it was on sale for like 4 dollars, but I'd probably still buy it full price.

EmerZet
EmerZet

What designates soulslike? "Opens from other side" :')
Solid 7.5/10

Fracter
Fracter

Unworthy is a phenomenal metroidvania souls like with a simple yet weighty, skillful combat system. The world design second to none and the minimalist pixel art shows off the raw imagination and talent of the developer, I couldn't put this game down and am still blasting though it to get the secret ending, but be prepared as the secret ending is not easy to achieve, at all, if you want to get it.

Squishen
Squishen

yeah, pretty much 2d dark souls, its worth the money

Giffsen
Giffsen

Really liked the art style and atmosphere. Game's difficulty is fair and my only complain is the bow controls being kinda janky, needing some good time to get used to it.

BM-Tha-A-Tha-Ay-BM-BM-Na-A-No-Os
BM-Tha-A-Tha-A…

I have never said "just one more try" more in a game

Igloo32
Igloo32

Great combat, great art style, and amazing level design.

Dizzy Media
Dizzy Media

Nicely made game, good work! My only gripe is that NG+ starts automatically v_v

WarlockWinters
WarlockWinters

a true 2D Dark Souls experience, well worth its price. Albeit a short one, it is a definite must buy for Souls fans, highly recommended!

Vantier
Vantier

Disclaimer: My scores/reviews are almost always based on having bought the game at close to the "lowest historical price" on steam at time of purchase.

Quick score: 5/5

Notes: Actually one of the best metroidvanias on steam. I had it marked as "ignored" for some reason, must have just been a misclick while going through discovery queue. Super glad the game was brought to my attention so i could give it a second look.

First playthrough took just under 7 hours. I apparently missed 2 bosses and 2 entire zones though. Had around 80 deaths.

Couple complaints would be the following...

-At the end of the game it forces you into NG+ with zero warning, though this isn't a huge deal because in order to actually 100% the game it will require multiple playthroughs and a guide walkthrough anyway.

-I really dislike how so many metroidvanias pretty much require a guide to 100%, following a guide isn't fun, and hopelessly backtracking with zero guidance is just as unfun. This genre needs to seriously work on a middle ground. A couple games have done it well, but not many.

-The black and white is a cool aesthetic but it does get a bit tiring after a while and tends to make the whole world kind of blend together. Makes it hard at times to really get a grasp of where you are in the world because it all looks so similar.

-There are some FPS issues at launch and the game is locked to 30fps in addition to that. Disabling G-sync solved the fps issue for me though and the games installation folder includes a guide.

gandaraj
gandaraj

I purchased this game last year while I was sick with COVID. This is a challenging game that feels like a slog, heightened by the black and white pixel art. The gameplay is remarkably satisfying, though sometimes the character doesn't respond as quick as I would like. The art style can feel repetitive and frustrating at times, particularly in Thornvale with those vine ladders that blend right in with the background. While most of the music is kinda boring and atmospheric, there are a few tracks that are just tremendous in their company; for example, Narcoss's and Dominic's themes, which are available on youtube under the OST playlist. Boss battles are good, some are great, like Dominic; and the bosses respond well as their health is whittled down, learning new moves and attacks as though they're reacting to the player. The story and lore of the game is very opaque, almost impenetrable with the limited text we get with the bestiary, descriptions, and journal pages. The story is presented obliquely, much in the same vein as FromSoftware games, and it takes some contemplation to figure out, and I still don't think I have it complete in my head. I'm open to hearing other ideas because, as far as I understand, it doesn't feel particularly inspired or meaningful.

I mentioned earlier that it felt like a slog, and that's true. This game exudes despair, especially because there is no color anywhere with the exception of blood and Altus's fire at the end. While I was quarantined in my room with COVID, it was very lonely and felt, well, sad. Humans like tragic entertainment for its cathartic value. Perhaps Unworthy provided me with that: an outlet for my own bad feeling in seeing a more depressing scenario. Fortunately it wasn't too terribly long, otherwise it wouldn't have been as enjoyable. This is a very flawed game, but it does hold a special place in my heart for the reasons mentioned above. I associate this game with my quarantine, but I'm glad that, in the end, I proved myself not to be Unworthy.

abhimonk
abhimonk

For me, this game recaptured the feeling of getting lost in a soulslike. This is one of the best distillations of the Souls formula I've ever played. This game understands exactly what makes the souls series so beloved, and executes on some of the genre's best aspects.

The game plays almost identically to a souls game as far as combat goes (except it's in 2D). While there aren't many weapons, each weapon feels unique and has its own distinct uses for exploration and combat. Stamina management and finding openings to hit bosses and enemies is the main way you'll express your skills when fighting.

The level design is intricate and interconnected. Branching pathways and shortcuts are found in every corner, and there's rarely a long run to a boss if you explore enough. Level design facilitates exploration very well and the map system gives you hints on where you may have missed a secret or a pathway.

Exploration in this game is endlessly rewarding. The game is brimming with secrets at every turn, and returning to areas after unlocking new abilities always leads to more secrets and pathways to explore.

The music and sound design is also phenomenal. There were multiple moments where I felt that the music for an area or a boss rivaled that of actual Dark Souls music.

If you're a fan of the souls series, give this game an honest chance. I came in hesitant and was blown away by how perfectly this game captured the magic of the soulslike genre.

Gavin
Gavin

This is... this is really good.

Yeah it's (another) 2D soulslike that literally just feels like someone has played dark souls and gone "hell yeah" but, I mean, it does it better than that weird catholic one about the main in the pointy hat. It's fast and fun and the atmosphere is wonderfully evocative. Recommended!

Droiagon
Droiagon

Another one of those games that are hard for the sake of being hard, while not respecting your time.
Your attacks are intentionally slow, your dodges need to be accurate, and you will need to die multiple times to learn the patterns. If only the checkpoints were forgiving, but no, you will be forced to annoyingly grind your way back to the boss for some reason.

Try this only if you're masochistic.

Freddymc
Freddymc

Only played this game for a bit but first impression is really not good. Your attacks are slow and barely stagger enemies so your combos often get broken by the much faster enemy attacks. Bosses also have very quick attacks and followups meaning you are usually quite scared to attack at all and makes the fights feel very RNG. Maybe the game gets better but so far the combat is extremely clunky and makes your character feel weak and pathetic. Really was not having fun at all, not motivated to play any longer.

rajarshishikder666
rajarshishikder666

Is it a good game? Yes.
Is it the next Hollow Knight? No.
The thing is, this game is really good with challenging combat and interesting bosses and fantastic lore. Your charecter is slow and even basic enemies do a shit-ton a damage. But, every time you die, it is your fault. Realising that you are the reason of your downfall and learning to cope with it is the core of every souls-like, and I believe this game does it exceptionally well.
The olny real problem I have with game is all areas looks kinda the same, the black and white colour pallet isn't the issue. The area all are the same, just dungeons.
I do recommend this game, but it's a hard one to get into.

rodja457
rodja457

Really good game, seems like the lore could be interesting but I'm not the kind of guy who searches for it, also, more save/warp points would have been welcome.

Anyway, just a little suggestion, in the ending or the true ending instead of saying "Unworthy" it should say " Worthy" or something like that.

Is a hard game but I recommend it, just play it with a mouse because if you are using a laptop then forget about it.

Feo
Feo

TL;DR This game is unworthy

Wot I liked
- An interesting grey and black monochrome palette;
- Monsters are quite aggressive;
- Arrows are affected by gravity - it makes ranged weapons the least boring choice.

Wot I disliked
- Bosses are stupid damage sponges that kill you in 3 hits and attacks that cover 30% of available space;
- Each boss feels as wasted time;
- All weapons are pointless pixels, they are few in number and are hardly useful;
- The previous point makes the combat a chore, and this game is 80% combat;
- Character growth is pointless, hardly customizeable and almost non-existance;
- Stupid inventory which has exit button and your main weapon next to each other;
- Jumping / teleporting puzzles with their one-shotting spikes. Oh yeah you cannot jump yet jump you will oh so often.

To sum it all up, if you're looking for a soulslike experience - look somewhere else. This one has very little to offer.

P.S. I understand that the game's made by a small team (of 1 kuzmanovic?) but that's hardly an excuse.

Tudlen
Tudlen

While not straying too far from the general concept of a 2D soulslike, Unworthy proves to be a beautiful game with a horrifying, engrossing world and a very unique art style. While simple, the sprite work is truly excellent as every sprite makes its purpose well known. If you enjoyed the likes of Hollow knight and Blasphemous, I recommend this game greatly!

FabioSfascio
FabioSfascio

I really wanted to like this game. It has a cool aesthetic and serviceable combat, a pretty good 2D rendition of the Souls-style stamina driven system, if a bit rough around the edges.
The main design philosophy behind the game, however, seems to be "Difficulty for the sake of difficulty"; all basic enemies can stunlock you and destroy you and while bosses are cleverly designed most of them feature a ludicrously huge health bar that takes forever to chip away at or some annoying/unfair gimmick or both.
Add to that the absolute absence of any quality of life improvements like the fast travel system such a huge game sorely needs and you end up with a very lackluster experience.
It's a shame because I feel like most of the issues could have been ironed out with a bit of play testing, but as it stands it's really hard for me to recommend.

Mao is God
Mao is God

Good art, good music, fun bosses. Good game

midek9999
midek9999

Great game , and it was mainly made by one person. Props to the creators for great visual style and fantastic music.

Vulpes Paradox
Vulpes Paradox

Despite my FPS dropping for no reason with the only fix to be uninstall and reinstall, I genuinely love this game.
Its style and combat mechanics make it very enjoyable.

Okhamnyl
Okhamnyl

Je ne m'attendais pas à grand chose en achetant Unworthy en soldes à 3€ et des poussières, d'autant que j'avais récemment joué à Armed with Wings qui ne m'avait pas déplu, mais pas enchanté non plus. Je parle de ce dernier en raison des similarités esthétiques, à savoir le parti pris noir, blanc, gris de la palette graphique. Mais quel jeux mes aïeux ! sans doute le meilleur metroidvania auquel j'ai joué depuis Environmental Station Alpha, et même meilleur qu'Axiom Verge, malgré les qualités de ce dernier. Non seulement, pour qui aime le style, le jeu est graphiquement sublime, mais la bande son, mes amis ! Glauque et tendue à souhait, épousant à merveille l'atmosphère de fin du monde voulue par le jeu. Pas mal de choses intéressante côté gameplay, de l'impossibilité de sauter à la façon dont les armes permettent d'interagir avec l'environnement, pas mal de coins cachés, un côté jeu de rôle avec levelling de moult capacités, une difficulté bien présente, des boss magnifiques et intéressant dans leur patern...bref, si vous êtes tentés, n'hésitez-pas, Unworthy, contrairement à son nom, vaut largement, largement le détour. Dire que c'est le travail d'un type seul qui n'avait jamais fait un jeu avant...

milk
milk

Amazing game, but after beating the final boss, it resets the world. I was excited to 100% the map after beating the boss, but I'm not going to replay the whole game to do that.

Jilllloyd23
Jilllloyd23

I saw this game on Iron Pineapple's channel and thought I would try it.
Unworthy is a treat for old-school souls enthusiasts, the grim atmosphere and methodical and tricky combat is particularly well done. Plus the game manages to be a great metroidvania without platforming.
I'm not sure which was first, this or "Blasphemous" but to me this delivers in a way that game didn't.

JJ, Mockery of Mankind
JJ, Mockery of…

It's Ok, for a very simple-souls clone.

40GallonTophat
40GallonTophat

Normally I agree with the Metroidvania Review guy, but he loves this game and I didn't enjoy it at all. I wish there was a neutral rating because this isn't a bad game, per se, I just don't enjoy playing it. That said, I don't feel ripped off, so I won't be pursuing a refund.

life is like apple, i hate apple
life is like a…

Pretty shit combat, ladders are super fucking slow making gameplay often infuriatingly annoying since the ladders are plastered all over the world. You can't jump off ladders so some parts of the game are litteraly impossible to return from without dying since the enemies kill you while on the ladders

Loneluxe
Loneluxe

A little confusing, but overall really solid game

Zincoshine
Zincoshine

It's basically blasphemous, but with all of its problems amped up greatly (including the slightly choppy framerate from Blasphemous) and with jump and map removed. Absolutely atrocious. Don't buy. The performance is also pretty poor, more unity issues

sunn_bleach
sunn_bleach

At-A-Glance:

Game type: Metroidvania, hack-and-slash
Genre(s): Soulslike, religious horror, fantasy
Art: Black-and-white stylized 2D pixel art with flashes of color
Length: Medium (10-ish hours for first playthrough with lots of NG+ content)
Pace: Fast-paced
Tags: Difficult, great soundtrack, surreal, artistic, grim
Computer requirements: Low-end

Notes:

    • The soundtrack is impeccable. Absolutely impeccable. "Unworthy" has phenomenal art direction in general - while the large pixels in art might put off new players used to higher fidelity art, I enjoy the art here for the same reason I enjoy lo-fi black metal demos. When used to service the art, lower fidelity can be an extraordinary artistic choice - and Aleksander Kuzmanovic pulled it off incredibly well. Just watch those pixelized flames flicker in bone white!
    • This is more of a Metroidvania than it is a stat-based RPG like "Dark Souls", despite comparisons in tone and world design. You do level up, but it's applied evenly to your stats automatically. Progression is more about item discovery, reflexes, and the ability to plan your attacks instead of customizing a build.
    • A 2D Metroidvania that does not have jumping might sound counterintuitive, but the world design is made to anticipate and expect it. It may seem gimmicky on paper, but it quickly feels natural. You also get a few power-ups that obviate some of that while retaining the "no jumping" world design, allowing for some pretty cool sequence breaking - or the impression of sequence breaking, which feels emergent and cool. It pulls off the excitement of finding a new power-up and ideating what you could do next - the gold standard of Metroidvanias.
    • The bosses are neatly contrived to add a single new move as the health bar gets lower. This generally keeps players from getting overwhelmed at the start, and it allows a steady progression of difficulty during one battle. However, this also leads to a couple bosses having too much to keep track at once, making some victories more a factor of RNG than skill. Often this is not a problem - and when it does hit, it feels unsatisfyingly "gamey". Father Amandil is the biggest fault here - by the last third of his boss fight, there is simply one too many things to feel like a comfortable test of skill. While it's immensely satisfying to Spirit-Bow your way left and right, the ground projectiles plus explosive teleports plus barrier wall plus whatever Daddy A feels like doing in his attacks means you could dodge/hit perfectly and still fail because of the confluence of actions.
    • For a game this fast-paced, your character moves a smidge too slow. I often felt like the sprite was made for an earlier version of the game that was updated based on new enemy and boss design. While not usually a problem, it did make for some awkward hit-and-runs with enemies who were far faster than any of my sprite's toolbox. This is ameliorated by an extremely generous dodge roll for invincibility ("i-frames"). Your i-frames begin as soon as your roll starts and you continue to have them during recovery. Attacks I expected to hit did not since I would dodge them at the very end of my roll, which was a welcome reprieve and allowed risky play. Which is great, as these types of Soulslike 2D action games are at their most fun when that risk pays off.
    • There is tons of NG+ content, to the extent that this game is made to be played multiple times rather than stop at the ostensible ending. Soulslike games of the late 2010s (especially of the 2D bent) tend to lock substantial material after first playthroughs in addition to esoteric shenanigans - e.g. "Blasphemous" - of which "Unworthy" is no exception. It is totally fine and dandy to do one playthrough and get what you came here to get; there is nothing the game explicitly obfuscates for players wanting one go (other than the plot, but hey if you found this game then you knew what you were getting into). And, players who enjoy NG+ challenges will find that tenacity both encouraged and rewarded.
    • Schizoid checkpoint placement. Sometimes, the "kilns" are right next to each other, or a shortcut from one kiln will lead to a shortcut right next to another (which obviates the need for the shortcut). Other times, it'll feel like a marathon getting to the next one - and then you'll look on the map and see it was a marathon!
    • You will finish this game with a LOT of "sin", your currency. There just isn't much to spend things on outside of some specific level-up mechanics and the occasional limited consumable from a merchant.
    • Many of the area names and level designs feel a bit too cliche Soulslike. Lots of "X of Y" name conventions and your usual horrific everything. I enjoy a good grimdark worldbuilding, but it is on-the-nose in a way that took me out of the game. Fortunately, the art direction makes up for perceived silliness. The dark, depressing words just end up being Teflon that don't mean anything.
    • There's a lot of text in these notes - generally, I have enjoyed and anticipated continuing to enjoy "Unworthy" in NG+ modes. This game simply gave me lots of thoughts! I won't play it as obsessively as I do other games of its ilk, but it's a great adventure for what it is, and I'll certainly look to playing it in wintertime.

Clubi
Clubi

Du peu de temps que j'ai passé sur ce jeu , je ne peut pas dire qu'il m'ait deçu , bien que le fait qu'on ne puisse pas sauter ni descendre des echelles lorsqu'on est au milieu puisse etre penible , le jeu est vraiment cool

Moog
Moog

I have only been playing this game an hour. But I can confirm that this is EXACTLY what you're looking for if you like Dark Souls and want something simpler, with the same core appeal. It's a fantastic, minimalistic game that maybe doesn't have the most sparkle or content but makes up for it with rock-solid mechanics, sturdy combat, great pacing, and incredibly clear design. This is the best replication of Dark Souls' specific dodge-rolling/hit boxes I've seen in 2D.

Compared to games that feel unpolished or cluttered like Death's Gambit or Gloom, Unworthy achieves the Dark Souls feeling through reduction and restraint. It doesn't adapt every single thing that Dark Souls had. It just takes that experience and squishes it into its own little pixelated gothic nightmare world. Get this one on sale and there's no way you'll be sorry. These devs deserve your support 100%.

Obbikat
Obbikat

I really want to recommend this game, but i hardly can.
It looks like every single bit of the game is made to kill you, or at least make you rage.
I understand difficulty, and I'm a fan of that kind of game, but not like this, not that random, or nonsense.
The game is great, if only it doesn't try to mess with you EVERY. SINGLE. STEP.
Controls are also a mess.
I just want remind that IS A GAME, so i guess it should at least be a minimum fun/relaxing when you play it. A minimum. At least.
Buy it if you're a masochist

Datasubject
Datasubject

One of the best metroidvania souls-like out there, and believe me I have tried practically all of them. The game is great, I like everything about it!

Only thing that could be better is that you pass through dozens of screens in different directions one after the other and it all looks similar while the map is completely empty except for save points ans exits. In the end it is almost impossible to remember where is a specific place from an hour back. At the same time you can't progress without backtracking and visit previously inaccessible locations so a way point or something would have worked brilliantly.

Rellik
Rellik

SUMMARY: I played this game for about an hour (88 minutes to be exact) before I refunded it because I had grown tired of falling for beginner traps that had no clear tells or clues, dull unforgiving combat, and wandering around in samey-looking areas, fighting bland-looking dark fantasy creatures.

The black and white world is an interesting choice that could have been cool but ultimately makes the game dull and makes certain areas difficult to navigate because you can't tell what you are looking at. The combat is overly simple, with you only having two choices in combat at the start of the game: attack and roll. You will feel like you can't do what you want. Blocking, for example, is on a cooldown that will only block one hit every five or so seconds, after which you have to dodge attacks to avoid damage. Why they didn't just let you block with a button press is a mystery. You get a second weapon pretty early on, the hammer, which has a ranged slam attack that shares a cooldown with the block ability of the shield. This design choice forces you to decide whether you want to survive massive damage or make this ranged attack from range, which is quite pitiful in damage output.

This game does not explain most of the rules or controls of the game. You will collect thousands of Sin, the game's currency akin to souls or blood in the souls-borne games, without knowing how to spend them. I went about an hour into the game before I found the NPC that allows you to level up using your Sin, and even then, I was only able to spend about half of what I had earned because of some other currency that I didn't even know I had gained. Why even have two currencies to level up?

I was really looking forward to this game as I am a huge fan of both Souls-borne and Metroidvania-style games (and any game that is inspired by them), but this one just fell flat for me.

Mekire
Mekire

Really solid game with a nice gimmick (no jumping). My only real criticism is I don't like needing to play through the whole game again for the "true" boss/ending. If I could have just done some extra content on my completed save to access it that would be fine but as it kicks you back to the beginning it is unlikely I will bother.

misterlukegamer
misterlukegamer

Great gameplay. Loved the challenges each of the bosses offer. Have no idea what the story was but if your gonna play this game I doubt you would be playing for the story anyway.

REXA
REXA

UNWORTHY is a 2d soulslike with great atmosphere . as a player you get just enough lore to understand the world but still having questions and wonder what has happened in this ruined kingdom. the music fits the world soo good. the art style in this game is very different and I really like it (but i can understand if everybody dont like it). leveling and progression feels good because the level design is vey nice. The combat is okay, it can have abit more variety.

I really like this game

Furn
Furn

This game had it's frustrating moments, but overall the experience was very enjoyable. There were some really good platforming sections, despite the game not having a jump button. The checkpoints sometimes felt waaaay to spread out in some sections and stupidly close together in others. The OST in the game is alright. It had it's moments during some boss fights. The boss fights in this game were very hard! My heart was pounding after almost every boss fight, and I love that! A lot of games just don't challenge me like they used to, so when I finally get to have that feeling again, I really appreciate it.

Enjoyment Rating: 8.5/10
Difficulty Rating: 4.5/10

Jaded
Jaded

Step 1 - Buy this game.
Step 2 - Play this game.

If the full price has you a bit uneasy, but you're a fan of (Soul-like) games bigger world than the player character / Metroid style explorers then wait for a sale and follow steps 1 and 2. Thank me later.

guylfe
guylfe

Incredible game considering it's essentially a one-man project. Very well done, ticks all the Metrovania boxes.

kverma1985
kverma1985

Its a good game, even though the controls are a little sluggish. I played for an hour and defeated the first boos and I can say that this game's difficulty curve is way higher than anticipated. And this comes from someone who plays Dark Souls for relaxing!

Who else purchased this game after viewing its review from IronPineapple?

Pros:

    • Difficulty curve
    • Pixel graphics

Cons:

    • Difficulty curve
    • Sluggish controls

Mr Mystic J
Mr Mystic J

Awesome metroidvania game with a lot of dark souls influence.

simpamina
simpamina

NG+ is worth it

a few concerns about combat variability and weapon limit

overall, a good metroidvania /souls-like game

freaky.ashes
freaky.ashes

I think it's time to reject the souls-like genre as basically only From can do it justice. Unworthy is your typical misunderstanding of what made Dark Souls great. Punishing, yet unrewarding difficulty: check! Weighty controls not meant for any serious platforming, whilst demanding it: check! A chance to lose all of one's currency at death: check! A dreary, depressing world for no other reason than Dark Souls did it: check! Cryptic lore and (faux) poetic dialogue that is only there to confuse, rather than to make you think: check!

Unworthy is nothing if not trite. Despite what many might say: Dark Souls was never about difficulty. What made it interesting to me was that you could die easily, but bosses would also fall in less than a minute if you knew what you were doing, so it balances out. That sort of difficulty in terms of gameplay was always there to make the player think, to forget what they know about games, to adapt to it by keeping one on their toes at all times. In this game, be prepared to die in two hits whilst doing puny damage to even the most basic of enemies, which of course leads one to grind, as yes, this game has your typical jRPG leveling system too for some reason.

It goes without saying that recommending this game would be out of character for me, so I won't, At least the Elden Ring is out now and I'm hoping it'll fare better than this utter waste of time.

The mamsnrhbr chehfde
The mamsnrhbr …

Very simple but still good looking art style and well designed boss and enemy encounters. Level and world design is great as well. Overall a really good experience that I'd recommend to anyone who likes Metroidvanias or the Souls games.

OfficerClippy
OfficerClippy

Phenomenal game, feels great to play and explore in. There are rough edges but those can be overlooked considering the profile of the game being as small as it is- nothing gamebreaking. I'd say it's on par with Blasphemous, easily.

midnightdragoness
midnightdragoness

Review originally on Dragon Quill. Comments are enabled there.

Unworthy is a Soulslike Metroidvania I found in a recommendations list somewhere. Its main defining feature is that you can’t jump. It accomplishes this much better than Mable and the Wood, mainly by not trying to be a platformer anyway. There are no bottomless pits and shockingly few spike traps. There is rather severe falling damage, but this is mainly to prevent you from bypassing levels and not as a way to create a disaster cascade from getting hit. There’s no knockback from enemy attacks at all, actually, which is both a blessing and a curse because there’s no mercy invincibility either, so enemies will quickly combo you to death if you don’t get out of the way on your own. There is a midgame upgrade that gives you the ability to move vertically, but it works very differently than a jump ability and I overall found it delightfully fun and inventive, plus it made moving around areas a breeze.

I was initially dubious of the monochrome silhouette artstyle, but it actually works surprisingly well. Important bits never blended into the background as I feared (well, almost — the trees in the starting area you have to burn down did not register to me as interactive objects), and the animations were so incredibly detailed and well-done that I never had any problem reading enemies. It works very effectively for that all-important horror aspect, giving your audience enough rope to scare themselves; the faceless silhouettes of the monsters imply just enough while leaving a lot of room for your imagination, never quite giving you the comforting certainty of a full picture. (And after taking a peek at other Soulslikes with splattergore aesthetics, I appreciate how comparatively tasteful it is.)

With no platforming, the focus is strongly on combat. I haven’t yet gotten around to Dark Souls itself, but I’m given to understand this is a very faithful imitation: You die in 3-4 hits even with level up bonuses, enemies are absolutely merciless in stunlocking you to death, you have to get around this with a dodge roll that grants you invulnerability to all attacks, but both the dodge roll and your attacks consume limited stamina. Oh, and if you die you lose all your money unless you can make it to the room you died in before you die again. (Not that it really matters because the game hands out currency like party favors.) I found it highly stressful, but in a good way. Even regular enemies have surprising depth to their attacks and tactics, requiring you to put a lot of thought into dealing with them; bosses in particular will change up their attack patterns multiple times as the battle progresses, avoiding the common problem of boss fights getting repetitive. The lack of jumping made combat a lot simpler since you only have to remember one action to avoid damage, which I appreciated after getting swatted out of the air all the time in Hollow Knight.

Unfortunately, I think the weapons are very unbalanced. Initially they had good tradeoffs — this one has better defense, this one has better reach, this one is slow but strong — but once you get the bow you rarely have reason to use anything else. Few enemies have ranged attacks and the bow staggers most of the ones that do, so it’s trivial to pepper most enemies with arrows before they can even reach you. Bosses in particular fall into a predictable pattern of shoot from position of impunity, dodge roll, shoot from position of impunity, rest, repeat. I initially tried playing ball and mixing melee with the final boss, and only won once I threw my hands up and used the bow exclusively. I feel like ranged weapons shouldn’t have been an option at all, as it breaks the combat structure pretty severely.

The game is both cheap and pretty short… which is good, since you need to play the game at least 3 times to see everything. It’s possible to permanently lock yourself out of the secret sidequest to unlock the true final boss, you see, not that the game tells you this anywhere or what you have to do to avoid it. I consider this a violation of the fundamental principle of Metroidvanias, which is that you’re supposed to be able to come back to stuff later because you know you can’t solve everything you see immediately. If I have to at any point ask, “Am I supposed to wait and come back here with another ability, or will that lock me out of this content permanently?” the fun of a Metroidvania is shattered.

There is also a ton of stuff locked by a key you can only get by talking to an NPC in the first area multiple times after the point at which you first encounter him, with no indication that he has more dialogue or that you will get anything for doing so. I should not have to consult a guide to figure out how to progress, that also goes against everything Metroidvanias stand for.

I haven’t mentioned the plot because there isn’t much of one. I get a strong feeling the writer has English as a second language, as while it’s generally coherent there are a number of confusing phrasings and grammatical errors. It’s also not well-implemented at all — you will occasionally have the gameplay interrupted with an unskippable cutscene of a disembodied voice assaulting you with nonsensical fantasy jargon, and that’s about it. I wasn’t even entirely clear on why I was doing anything or if my actions in the ending had any effect. Apparently the plot is explained in the manual or something, because TV Tropes tells me the backstory is: In this world, sin is a tangible magical force, and people offered it to their god to cleanse themselves; but the head honchos found out that sin could be used to make themselves stronger, and so started experimenting with it by concentrating it into a substance called “filth” that corrupts everything it touches. This unsurprisingly blew up in their faces and now everyone’s a monster. I’m given to understand this is also pretty much copied straight from Dark Souls.

Oh, and be warned there’s no way to pause, which is a pretty big oversight. I can understand not letting us pause time to leisurely sort through our inventory in the middle of a fight, but can you please give us a separate button for an actual pause in that case?

bernieblack721
bernieblack721

***WARNING*** If this game feels like its moving far too fast, its because the game speed is tied to fps, and it plays natively at 30 fps. So if you're playing at 60 fps, you're playing the game at twice its speed. ***WARNING***

If you're on the fence, don't be. Buy this game. Its fun, challenging, short, and well priced. For only 2 colors, the art is rather good and I had no issues telling what was happening on the screen. No regrets, highly recommend.

However, to the developer, I have some notes that I hope change in their next project.

For a game who has uses weapons as the solution to metroidvania like roadblocks, it is rather annoying that you can only equip two at a time. This becomes especially apparent once you get two different bows that look exactly the same. Why not just bind the arrow that teleports the arrow to the left trigger? Its already not utilized in the game, and the player doesn't need a second button to dodge. On that note, its disappointing that you can't bind any of the keys to the triggers or the D pad.

For a game that expects you to dodge and attack so much, the stamina recovery is far too delayed. It should happen immediately, or actions should just cost less. Far too often I would find myself just standing, waiting for my bar to fill, which would be prolonged when I had to dodge, mainly during boss fights.

The bosses that teleport are the most annoying bosses. Several times they would teleport and immediately teleport again before an attack could land. I suspect they were reacting to my inputs. It wasn't challenging, it just needlessly prolonged the fight.

Lastly, and the reason my hours played is doubled of most, this game has no cloud saving. And, I learned unfortunately, if you delete your game off a system, it also deletes your save. I started this game on the steam deck, but the game kept crashing despite being verified. When I booted it up on my pc, I was dismayed to learn I would have to start again. If this game was any less fun, I probably wouldn't have bothered finishing.

Don't get me wrong, these complaints don't make this a bad game. Just some suggestions after my full playthrough. I still enjoyed this game, and hope you do too.

Spieler-Name
Spieler-Name

Very solid souls-like/metroid mix.

FatPodMan
FatPodMan

I liked this game.

Art is definitely something different. This worked in its favour a lot of the time however it sometimes made me feel lost, such as burning trees for an entire bonus area, did not notice that when playing.

Story is a major gripe on this one
I'm on something like ng+6 and I went through ng+4 and +5 in one sitting for my true ending run. I could have very easily done this in my first two runs however I went in blind my first time and messed up the attempted true ending on my second. By ng+3 I had no need for a map because I just knew where to go.

I do think getting the true ending is difficult especially since there's almost no info surrounding how to do it, thankfully the person who created the detailed map on the community page carried this. Since it was ng+5 when I got the true ending, that final boss was a complete nightmare but I think it would have been fun if it was just ng+1

Speaking of bosses, these are actually pretty good. They test you on the knowledge you have gained throughout your adventure and I never got too annoyed with them, with only one exception being a wizard that put a barrier up in the middle of the arena, that became a task for micromanaging items and I just wasn't enjoying it.

Other than that, the combat, bosses, art, soundtrack and everything else was decent if not great. It's a hard game but that's where its strength is. Secrets o' plenty is also really enjoyable. Fun game

mudjoe2
mudjoe2

this game is ok. but requiring ng+ and virtually needing a guide for true ending makes it a no for me dawg

Electronic
Electronic

A wonderful 2D exploration platformer(? Can I really call it this if you can't jump?) that does the best job I've seen of actually nailing the "Souls" feel of a grand, dilapidated world that you slowly learn about as you venture through it. Despite the minimalist palette and stark sprite-work, every aspect of the presentation feels lush and evocative, from the use of lighting and parallax background/foreground, the gorgeous pixel animations, the thoughtful way the different parts of the world fit into one another, and even the sound design and music. The enemies, bosses, and items all feel distinct and interesting, and even the moment-to-moment encounters feel fun and memorable, while the game never feels visually cluttered, and any situation tends to be quickly readable. It's clear a lot of care went into how the world and enemies were laid out, to create novel ways that you're forced to interact, and prevent a particular kind of baddie from getting too stale as you move through an area.

My only real gripes about the game are that finding all of the interesting secrets can be pretty tough without foreknowledge (some of the clues that are dropped are pretty tough to decipher), and it's not unlikely to start becoming overleveled/overpowered at around 2/3's of the way through, especially if you're exploring around hunting for goodies or lore, unless you make an active point to run from enemies a decent amount of the time. These are pretty small potatoes, though, and even with them in mind, I still had a ton of fun doing a lot of stuff "wrong" on my first playthrough, and still found the final areas and encounters of the game interesting and challenging.

All told, a great hidden gem of a game. If this genre is something you like, give it a try!

Wingedwing
Wingedwing

This game can get very frustrating, and some combat encounters feel plain unfair unless you use cheese tactics. Combat in general takes a *lot* of getting used to; the sluggish attacks and short stamina meter may prove too annoying for some players to overcome. It's not that the game's too hard, it's that its difficulty comes from feeling restricted by your character's limited moveset and lack of agility. These issues may be alleviated with some later weapons and better stats after leveling up, but the fundamental annoyances never leave the gameplay.

This will be a dealbreaker for many players, but I personally found about enough satisfaction in the eventual victories to overcome the frustrations of the combat system. There's a good amount of content in this game, especially considering the price when on sale. It's not for everyone, but I think it provides a good experience to its target demographic.

boofjan
boofjan

Some of the best bosses in a 2D soulslike/metroidvania I've ever played. Can get frustrating at times but I had a lot of "in the zone" moments with the combat as well. Not the most variety in zones/areas but exploration was still fun overall; you've got the classic metroidvania map system (unlocked ~10 minutes into the game). Looking at the achievements and guides online it looks like there's a ton of optional content I missed; unfortunately I don't feel particularly compelled to go back and find the optional content, especially because I entered NG+ without intending to (for what it's worth, the NG+ trigger is near-identical to that of Dark Souls 1, but I still wasn't expecting it). So if you buy this game, which I still do recommend, try exploring as much of the map as you can before fighting the final boss. I'll be excited to see what the dev (singular!) who made this game does in the future, and despite its flaws this is still a criminally underrated game.

Lunc
Lunc

Very creative level design, difficult but not unfair/unbalanced at any point, fun and challenging bosses and well thought out mechanics. Music is brilliant. Don't let the minimalist art style put you off.
Excellent game that I would recommend to any souls/metroidvania style fan.