So I played a bit more of the game, I'm probably about 10-12 hours in now, just past the first major plot boss and story "twist".
The game's ok so far. It's not a 9/10. Funwise it's like a 7/10, aesthetically it's like an 8/10 and hampered a little by the inconsistency in the hand drawn art for the "cutscenes" and the lack of voice acting. The strengths of the game so far are the level design and the difficulty, I feel like the gameplay is quite well-tuned in that the enemies pose a threat to you. Healing might be a bit too easy though, at least at my current level. So you take a lot of damage but you also heal for a lot. The pixel art is also quite well done, but also lacks a certain je ne sais quois which I can't quite put my finger on - maybe it's because it's a western studio that's trying to ape the anime aesthetic but aren't really trained in it. Still, the artwork is detailed and expressive, and these gripes about the artstyle might just be a figment or personal preference. Storywise it's a bit dull so far and nothing special.
However, I'll say that I can see the potential for the game to get better. The main problem in this first section of the game is the pacing of your gameplay elements and getting new abilities (and the story progresses too slowly). You spend too much time only having access to the starting abilities, and don't gain new ones quickly enough as you level. I'll keep playing and see if it does improve.
The game's ok so far. It's not a 9/10. Funwise it's like a 7/10, aesthetically it's like an 8/10 and hampered a little by the inconsistency in the hand drawn art for the "cutscenes" and the lack of voice acting. The strengths of the game so far are the level design and the difficulty, I feel like the gameplay is quite well-tuned in that the enemies pose a threat to you. Healing might be a bit too easy though, at least at my current level. So you take a lot of damage but you also heal for a lot. The pixel art is also quite well done, but also lacks a certain je ne sais quois which I can't quite put my finger on - maybe it's because it's a western studio that's trying to ape the anime aesthetic but aren't really trained in it. Still, the artwork is detailed and expressive, and these gripes about the artstyle might just be a figment or personal preference. Storywise it's a bit dull so far and nothing special.
However, I'll say that I can see the potential for the game to get better. The main problem in this first section of the game is the pacing of your gameplay elements and getting new abilities (and the story progresses too slowly). You spend too much time only having access to the starting abilities, and don't gain new ones quickly enough as you level. I'll keep playing and see if it does improve.