Mark of the Deep Review (Pliny The Welder)
Basically a shameless rip off of Deaths Door with half the charm and none of the exploration and world building. It's almost shocking how much like Deaths Door this is. To the point that if I was told they'd stolen the code and assets I'd believe it.
The game is so deeply flawed I'm stunned it made it through an entire development in this state. The lack of a map here is a disaster. This worked great in the game it's ripping off (Death's Door) because each area was extremely unique and ultimately it was quite linear with small connected areas. It's a frustrating mess here because entire levels are fundamentally indistinguishable. What's worse is the enemy density is profoundly annoying. Every five steps, quite literally, you are just absolutely spammed with enemies which completely destroys the sense of exploration. Games need to carefully balance exploration and combat. Hollow Knight does not drop 7 enemies in every single screen. Deaths Door does not surround and spam you in each small room. Mark of The Deep SPAMS you with enemies. EVERY single screen is spammed with enemies and EVERY single enemy takes 3, 4, 5 or more combos to kill. Enemies spam mortar projectiles at you. Enemies are literally poison and require you so wait until they are not literally covered in poison to attack.
It almost immediately becomes obvious that the only way to make this bearable is to run past as many enemies as possible spamming dodge. Badly designed levels, badly designed enemies, horrific balance. I'm stunned this has such good player reviews. The game is a deeply flawed reskin of Death's Door but with a mountain of frustration and iffy game design. Just not worth playing over other better titles.