izigame.me

EDIT 2: Okay I played more and I can confirm, 70% of my problem with the game is that the first few levels are slow and boring. This may not sound like an issue, but since you reset every time you die you're replaying these levels CONSTANTLY. Maybe there's some way to skip areas that I haven't yet discovered, but frankly even with that I don't see why the first few hours of playtime should be dominated with boredom. If this changes, my review will likely flip. This will be the last edit.
EDIT: I think my initial review wasn't charitable enough. Past the first boss, in the second area, even normal enemies start becoming pretty tricky, and they start feeling more like obstacles that make the platforming sections feel more meaningful (although they still feel ok at best). I think part of my initial objection was based on the fact that the enemies in the first area are so weak they might as well not be there; this, combined with the lack of reasons to explore, makes the first few floors super boring. I think if this can be addressed, the game would be much easier to recommend.
If you're currently on the fence about it, don't let my review discourage you too much - this is a very mild do not recommend. The characters and the setting and the art and the writing and the animation are all so ridiculously charming and fun that if that's enough for you, hey, go for it. That's what I did, lol.
INITIAL REVIEW: Hmmmmm this one's a toughy. It's eye-catching, no doubt, and the music/sound design is pretty good imo. Squeaking through boss fights with whatever slapdash build you pieced together this time is fun, as expected from a game like this. The combat isn't bad at all, I actually quite enjoy it. Your mileage may vary.
Controls are responsive and feel pretty good - the dash is snappy and there isn't a lot of end or input lag to your basic moves. The weapons that are in the game so far are also somewhat varied and change your gameplan to a moderate degree (although not drastically since your basic weapon will always be scythe).
The issue so far, really, is in the platforming design. Firstly, there really feels like there's no point to the traversal/platforming sections in between the challenge rooms and the bosses. There's simply nothing to find, so exploring feels like a chore. Now, I understand that this is early access, so this is subject to change, but it doesn't work in its current iteration. If they add more things to find in floors - maybe even glue them all together into one big floor so that we are forced to explore to find everything: great, that would solve it. If they remove the platforming sections and make every floor just an arena or boss fight: fantastic, I think that would be great too.
Beyond that, the game also currently does quite a bad job of telling you what anything does. Now, again, early access, yes, so I expect that this will be worked on, but take note. What does it mean to go to a vault? What do the little symbols and numbers next to each weapon mean? Figure it out yourself. I understand that some of these choices were made perhaps deliberately to keep the UI clean, but you can only sacrifice so much at the altar of looking slick before everyone starts getting confused.
I am looking forward to seeing how the game improves through EA, though, because my god is it pretty. Best of luck to the devs. It should be a crime to look this good.