izigame.me

No pros vs. cons here. Just some general info. Wether this info seems like a pro or a con is for anyone to decide.
First off, it appears that at release the game had some major flaws and QoL mishaps.
However a lot of those seem to have been taken care off making the experience more then acceptable.
- Potential flaws I encountered.
- The game may forget to load the UI for no reason ( rest at a surrogate and it get's restored )
- You may lose your hitbox making you invuln. ( I mean, is that really that bad :3 ) °° this might also be intended near end game, not sure...
The gest of it all :
You are a black hole that for some reason finds itself at the bottom of the world. Make your way to the top of the world by any means available. Luckily as a black hole you kinda "suck".... how convenient !
Gameplay:
It looks like a metroid vania, it plays like one, it must be one :)
This also means :
- Sneaky hidden rooms ( and some of them are very well hidden )
- Missable items
- Backtracking
- You name it
°° Important note °°
Even though the bait tags reffer to this as soul-like... it isn't, it's not even souls-liTe...
Sure it has a dodge and a parry and it has all the basics in place. These are universal concepts though, Fromsoft didn't invent them nor owns them.
The main reason i won't put it in that category is "SPEED" and "GAMEFLOW".
This game is rather SLOW paced. It forces you to read the telegrpahed move and act accordingly with one of a couple of available mechanics. Parrying being the main mechanic. Experience may vary, but I stood still for a lot of things just waiting to propperly react to the next big thing.
Yes ! You can brute force your way trough it not using the mechanics given or performing the correct action on the telegrpahed prompt. Allthough I wouldn't recommend it. They really REALLY want you to react to ongoing situations contrary to mindless attacking.
°° I know, this all still sound very souls-like... untill you are in it and you'll come to the conclusion it kinda isn't. Just don't overexpect the wrong things, It doesn't need to be a Souls to be good after all !!
- The mechanics themselves:
- Press a button to attack, press another button to heavy attack ( or charge an attack if available ). Attacking mid air gives a jump attack.
- Dodge to evade all damage if need be
- A pull move to be used on specific situations based on telegraphing
- A backstep ( hardly ever used it )
- A parry / deflect.
I want to say that this last one is your main move. When timed correctly it WILL negate all damage ( excluding non blockable moves ofc ) and stagger the enemy.
Along side some more unique features.
The unique brilliance
More on this wonderfull parry system.
As a black hole you obv suck all gravity and matter towards you. Or in other words, you "absorb" the enemy itself once a treshold on their hp bar is breached.
This absorption opens the game to a plethora of playstyles. Whever you absorb an enemy enough times you "inheret" an ability. This ability ( mostly passives ) come in a wide variety ranging from extra damage to better survivability, whatever suits you best.
Furthermore certain enemies are concidered mini bosses, they come with a specific set of unique moves that require a more sophisticated approach. when defeating these you earn a "hunt point".
Thse hunt points will allow you to adapt the unique abilities ( traits ) to your character
°° Respecs are in place if need be
All of this ofc is mainly a reward for thorough exploration and can be missed !!
Put alongside that a decent amount of weapons with different playstyles to themselves and combine it with a specific trait build and you can get stuff done.
Difficulty
........... YES .............
Yet never ever unfair ( excluding jumping bits... that's just annoying at times for no good reason :p )
I get why some say it's "hard". Early on ( and for most of the game ) you pretty much get 2 shot accros the board. ( Assuming you missdodge, misspary etc ofc )
On top of that the healing is tricky. Healing is tied into your absorb ( or later on specific traits that will allow some other means ). This howeve means you need to take a risk to get the reward of a heal.
No risk taking might avoid damage, but when damage is taken you WILL HAVE NO HEAL, "sucks" to be you !
If however you take the risk to deflect or absorb what would be instant death, you will end up with a heal you might need later on.
The risk-reward is heavy in this game and it certainly starts out as such. Expect your first 5 ish hours to be " I have no heals, I don't want to die ! Scared to take the parry, i'm so far away from my checkpoint ! AAAgh ! "
Rest assured, if you make it passed that point where the game gives options.... you'll be doing better, you just need to get there first and this might be offputting early on.
AND YES IT HAS FAST TRAVEL... it is however also locked away behind that first 4-5 hour mark !!!
Should you buy it ?
You should, it's a small team project that clearly shows their love and care for it. The game ( excluding some minor misshaps ) plays smoothly and is never unfair ( even though sometimes it might feel like it ).
If unsure, get it on a sale and I don't think you can go wrong with this.
Just don't overexpect it as a souls-like... that sadly won't do!