Release Year: 2024
Playing Year: FA2025
Developer/Publisher: Microbird Games/Curve Games
Time to Beat: Hours

Thoughts: [GAME ON HOLD AS OF 01 14 2026] So, I ended up dropping this game with about 60% of the dungeons completed. I liked this game less as I gained a broader set of skills. I liked the slow-paced exploration and fighting, but eventually the fighting felt like it was taking up too much time. Overall, I recommend this game and I had an excellent 20 hours, even if I couldn’t finish the fight!

The Setting/World

God damnit this game is beautiful. Also, the music is surprisingly great. It’s like a super-saturated The Messenger aesthetically. The world feels small enough that you don’t feel pressured to open-world-ify your thought process as you traverse. Yes, you get some small rewards for checking out the world, but it is invis-walled off so you can’t really do much, but take in the breathtaking views.

Gameplay/Combat

I love how slow you move in this game. I love that you don’t have much by way of movement, it almost reminds me of going back to Halo, where in your mind you didn’t imagine needing a sprint. I love the soulslike-inspired combat, but it focuses on a very limited number of mechanics, that change as you progress in the game. I have to be honest, I’m a pretty dumb gamer. I thrive in FPS and XCOM because they are so one character, one interaction driven.

I know this has the soulslike vibes, as already alluded to, but it feels like Batman Arkham Asylum. Something about how the enemies telegraph their hits with little animations above their heads just takes me back. It’s quite clever that if you hang around the dungeon area, there are mini-puzzles that lure you in with a chest, but are really tutorializing you to the dungeon mechanic. I don’t know if I’ve this done so intentionally before. I don’t care for the climbing mechanics. They take quite a bit of input for no gameplay value. It could be more fluid and faster with the same experience. This gets particularly frustrating when you have to re-climb a space when figuring out a puzzle sequence.

Progression

I appreciate that each biome/region has a diversity of dungeons, it isn’t linear in difficulty. Very much like a souls game, you can take on really difficult opponents well above your level and test your mettle. The designers are clever as they layout enemies at that level in front or near these dungeons as a player check before you progress. I dumbed my way into one of these and was thrown when I was one-shot in the starting area. Very cool!

With each region, you gain new skills. To be honest, I was getting annoyed with how my keyboard was filling up with keybinds, so I’m glad these ones switch per region, rather than stacking on each previous. They keep the puzzling fresh, and because you will be backtracking regions you get a nice diversity of difficulty in puzzling.

Sim/Relationship

I have to say, I don’t want some day/night cycle system in this game. I really love the world and I think what gives it an immersive atmosphere is how alone you could feel. It almost gives the perfect foil to Metroid - solo, combat oriented with an exploration focus. Just instead of sci-fi, it’s a beautiful European village.