The first time I tried Fearmonium, I put it down after about 10 minutes. Both the controls and the art style felt a little… wonky and rudimentary. Despite this, I recently got a desire to give it a second shot and it absolutely blew me away.

First, the story is very beautiful and addresses some heavy adult themes. It dives deep into mental health. It seems a little goofy at first, but it really opens up and has a lot of depth. I won’t lie, it got me to tear up a handful of times.

The variety and creativity in both environments and enemies are top notch. The developer absolutely put love into every single asset of the game, and it never ceased to surprise me.

The level design was also well above average. Every single room has its own identity and specific challenge, sometimes introducing an entirely new mechanic. The whole map connects in a very satisfying way.

The art style does feel a little like a low-budget cuphead, but I do appreciate the frame by frame animation style. The designs themselves are great, just feel like they need refinement and more in-between frames (seems like 6 frames per second often). The controls and hit boxes also feel a bit disjointed, but I honestly adjusted after a couple of hours. I think if the solo dev had some outside help, he could totally make a 10/10 game.

It really is a special Metroidvania that would go somewhere on my favorites list. Just go in knowing there’s a little wonkiness in the movement and animation, and you will be rewarded with a fun and moving experience.