Grim Guardians: Demon Purge Review (CrowRising)
The first thing you need to know is that this is not technically a metroidvania, nor is it advertised as one. That is to say, there is not one large interconnected map. However, the game does in effect play out similarly to a metroidvania in regards to both player upgrades and map traversal, which I will start explaining in the next paragraph. The gist of it is however that If you're the kind of person who enjoys metroidvania games, you're likely to end up enjoying this.
You can break the game up into two different halves. The first half of the game is a more linear style of progression in which you follow a set path through a level until you reach the boss, you then eventually defeat the boss, unlock two new sub weapons (one for each of the two characters), and then progress to the next level. Once you reach the second half, you're able to return back to the levels you've previously beaten, except now alternate pathways are accessible in part due to your expanded mobility options and in part due to certain previously locked pathways now being unlocked. Sometimes these newly accessible areas will make their own unique spin on the level, such as a level that initially branches into an ice cave for the first half of the game instead later branching into a fire themed cave when you unlock that pathway later.
In essence, you can think of the second half of the game as a pseudo-metroidvania in which the different individual areas you would typically find in such a title are split off into their own smaller maps. You will need to backtrack and explore through these a lot to find all of the hidden collectables and such if you're going for the completion ending.
As for the gameplay itself, it feels like what you would get if you grabbed Castlevania Portrait of Ruin, Castlevania Rondo of Blood, Bloodstained Curse of the Moon 2, Mega Man X8, Mega Man ZX, and just dropped them all in a blender. There are two playable characters which you can swap between on the fly at any time; Maya and Shinobu. Shinobu has a longer attack range thanks to her "Anti-Demon Sub Machine Gun" which will trivialize many of the enemies, but has limited ammo clips that you need to keep track of. You will never actually run out of ammo, but you will need to reload which leaves you vulnerable. She also has the most health of the two, but does less damage. Maya has less health and relies primarily on melee range attacks, but does significantly more damage and can crawl. Effectively, the balance is very risk vs reward, and you will need to swap between both characters efficiently if you want to make the most of their individual capabilities.
Sub-weapons are similar to Castlevania games in that you have a limited resource (shared between the two characters) that depletes a certain amount based on the sub-weapon that you used. This can be replenished via purple potions which drop from enemies and items on the walls similarly to collecting hearts in Castlevania.
In addition to the sub-weapons that you can unlock, you also have access to a sort of team ultimate attack which acts as a sort of screen nuke if you can hit an enemy with it. It does not do enough damage to kill bosses or certain tankier enemies in one hit, so I would recommend trying to hold onto it until you've nearly finished a boss and then time your attack carefully to ensure it lands for a stylish finish. To use this attack at all, you'll need to build your pride meter, which is done by picking up colored badges that are part of the drop pool.
The game can be played in either Single Player or two player local Co-op. As of the time of me writing this review, there is no proper Online Co-op, however you can simulate Online by using Steam's remote play feature, or via Parsec. Personally Parsec seems to work better for me between the two, but this may vary depending on the distance between players, how good your/their download and upload speeds are, etc. Co-op mode comes with additional risk of death due to both characters being on-screen at the same time, but also comes with unique perks such as being able to stand on each others heads to reach some areas earlier than in Single Player.
There's two voice acting options for the game: Pure and Refined. Pure is the original Japanese voice acting, and includes fully voiced dialogue boxes during cutscenes. Refined is the English dub, with which everything is voiced with exception to the dialogue boxes which are silent. Many people at this point of their reviews will tell you outright which one you should use. I will not. Choose whichever of the two suits your tastes and preferences.
Finally, your reward for beating the game (which ending you get doesn't matter, just get to the final boss and win) is Boss Rush mode. It is what it says on the tin, so to speak.
Overall, I've found this to be a rather fun game all things considered. Despite not technically being a metroidvania, it's close enough in my opinion to scratch that itch if you're looking for that kind of experience, especially once things start opening up in the second half of the game. If you enjoy metroidvania games and games similar to them, this should be right down your alley.