Beat using slow motion mode. I initially struggled to get anything done. I started in Arabia since it was the default choice. I could not figure out how to defeat enemies without taking damage because they had longer reach and some were even immune to damage. The throwing dagger sub weapon helped against the scimitar guys but did not hurt skeletons, plus there was not enough ammo. Pretty much every enemy dropped ammo, and occasionally a little health. The 2 health bars were very confusing as well until I realized they were the names of the guy and bird. I had to be missing something important so I looked up a guide. Ok so the tactic for defeating most enemies was to bait them into attacking their 2 or 3 hit combo then rush in for a stab and back out. It was certainly different, and not a bad concept. The immune enemies could only be hurt by the bird but it made no sense because it was unarmed guys and spear armed tribesmen. Would make more sense if the enemy birds, bats and other extremely annoying flying shits could only be hurt by the falcon. Up + B to release or call back the falcon, and down + B to command it to swoop attack. It flew around on its own and it was a huge shame and waste that it could not be commanded to change direction. There should also have been a way to take direct control of the bird. As it was there was a lot of time wasted waiting for the bird to get into position, and it made no effort whatsoever to avoid damage. I liked when enemies turned to face the bird, letting me easily stab them, but this was unreliable and wore down the bird's hp. Apparently there is a 2 player mode with player 2 getting full control of the bird, which sounds awesome. All but 2 stages were simple linear affairs that looked ripped straight from Castlevania. The other 2 had somewhat confusing looping mazes. There was some platforming and the guy had a lousy jump with no control while mid air. Where the game really dropped the ball was with the bosses, where the difficulty was excessive. I learned from the walkthrough that the game had Mega Man style upgrades after defeating each boss, only there was no visual or mechanical effect other than bonus damage vs 1 specific boss. Worse, these upgrades only last for the next stage. Why the hell was this even in the game? There was no logic to it either, like guessing which element might counter which. Even with the bonus weapon the bosses had way too much hp, were way too fast, did too much contact damage, and some had ranged attacks. Winning was more about farming enough ammo to abuse the freeze ball, finding power ups hidden in the boss room, and having enough hp and max hp/ammo upgrades from earlier. The easiest boss used the same pattern as the regular enemies, though he alternated between high and low. I don't think you could avoid high by crouching. The next easiest threw a couple daggers every 3rd attack, which could be ducked. The axe guy threw axes in an Arc every 2nd attack. The others had ranged attacks and were incredibly difficult. The worst was probably Egypt because the bastard moved and jumped around so much causing ridiculous amounts of contact damage. The character literally could not move quickly or fluidly enough to deal with it. I ended up having to hide up top and cheese him down with the falcon. And the card throwing bastard I only beat because of the hidden invincibility power up. The final stage was a boss gauntlet, which thankfully fully restored hp and ammo between each fight and had another full restore hidden in each room. The final boss was some woman with a whip and was way way easier than most of the other bosses. Then I had to solve the logic puzzle of putting the gems in the correct order. Each stage had a hidden clue, and I found 3 I think. But they were not displayed during the puzzle so guess I was supposed to write them down. I have solved many puzzles like this before. The game had 2 higher difficulties unlocked in sequence but I will not play.

This game had cool ideas with poor execution. The bird and especially 2 player coop was great, though there should have been more control over the bird and environmental puzzles requiring the 2 to work together. Everything else just being Castlevania with a shorter weapon and ability to keep and swap between each sub weapon was fine. The fact that sub weapons and max hp/ammo upgrades did not carry over between stages really hurt the sense of progression, and the stupid Mega Man style boss weakness should have been dropped. Instead either make each boss drop a permanent sub weapon, seriously tone down their difficulty, or allow infinite ammo for the bosses while making them immune to freeze. The bird and coop keep this from being a 4/10

5.2/10