izigame.me

Kind of a tough review to write. One of those cases where multiple things are true simultaneously. I try to be fair, and so I'll try to assess my top considerations, all of which I feel are absolutely non-negotiable for a Metroidvania game.
1. The animations and quality of art in this game is fantastic. Especially the animations. Some very skilled folks worked on this. In fact, in general I think the technical talent on display here is quite good.
2. The combat and movement is so-so. It's decently responsive, but I'm not a fan of how the basic attack is tuned nor how slowly it fuels the special attack guage. Also I really don't like platforming in this game, jumping felt sluggish and floaty. I think the jumping could have been much more responsive.
This wouldn't be the biggest deal... I think with enough time you could adjust to how this game moves and be fine with it. Plus I think the over-arching story and visuals of the world would be worth the effort.
3. The main character model is categorically grotesque. And I'm not talking about the fact that it's a lesbian... this is 2025, nobody cares about that. I am honestly not even bothered by the robo-vag, because that kinda seems like something that maybe lesbians find funny? A bit odd to me, but fine that works and I can deal.
No, I would happily play as Cherry.... if she didn't look so completely hideous. I really don't want to look at the character model in this game. Cartoony is fine, but this is seriously next level. Those unreasonably robust vienna sausage legs offend my every sensibility, as does her wobbly misshapen potato face. And don't get me started on her bizarre idle stance animation.
I cannot play this game the whole time looking at this obtuse creation. And it's not like the rest of the characters I saw were that bad! Riz had a great model. It's only Cherry that is a problem, but she is the one you have to stare at for 20 or so hours.
4. I love that this game is fully voice acted, that is super cool. Except... the voice actor for the main character Cherry is not good. Not really experienced enough to deliver believable voice acting, but also the tone of the voice is really grating and annoying.
5. The main story is really cool. I love the idea of the megastructure, the corporation, the torn apart lovers... all good stuff. I love a good rebel against the corporate machine story. There's a lot of punk here, and that's super cool.
But the minute to minute dialogue is... juvenile. Some of the jokes, and some of the ways Cherry responds to situations... not my cup of tea. She communicates like an arrogant, angsty 13 year old, and I guess that just doesn't work well for me.
Side note, there are some bits and pieces of lore that are presented that are on the political side of things... for example I ran into one spot that gives a little talk about religion that is clearly a real world analogue. I'm not a big fan of games doing that, because it doesn't really help the game be a better game, it just unnecessarily inserts ideology into an otherwise mostly neutral medium. But I mean this is a passion project... some of that is to be expected when passionate writers write. Hopefully most of that gets edited out during production in general, but not in this case. Honestly, I can laugh that stuff off and move past it. But if it does bother you as player, you should be aware.
I would probably play this game if I could
- Turn off voice acting for the main character
- Mod the main characters model to look a bit more reasonable. I am not talking about Stellar Blade stuff here, but we need something a bit more neutrally appealing.
As it is, I will not play this game.
I am going to do the developer a solid and not refund, because for the $10 I spent (sale price), I think I should have looked a bit closer at the videos in the preview, because some of this is clearly there now that I look at it. I didn't notice at first, and that's on me. So you can keep the $10, but I also cannot recommend the game.