Unsighted (2021)

And finished! I'm dreading the point games get more difficult than this because I really don't think I can take it. My hands are killing me.

The final boss way overstays its welcome with the additional phase for the true ending, but at least follows more rational patterns than the Crypt boss - which was an absolute nightmare for me. If not for the fact that it stops spawning mobs past a certain point I would never have made it.

Cute story. I'm always here for adorable sapphic affection, and I loved getting to save the girl in the end. (Also grateful that escaping the collapsing building isn't an actual challenge, because if I'd failed at that stage I'd have been pissed.)

the good:

• unsighted has a great world building and overall setting - the setting itself is nothing too exciting, but well made nonetheless. loved the atmosphere while exploring the vast, abandoned and unsighted infested cyberpunk city.
• the story was well written and engaging. quite emotional as well at some point. told over the course of the game with simple dialogues and gorgeous cut scenes.
• characters are adorable and memorable throughout the game.
• combat feels polished and plays excellent. the whole combat is more or less built around parry. the parry windows are fairly big and the payoff for a successful parry is huge. the mechanic itself works kind of like in sekiro, so if you whiff it's still a block in the end.
• metroidvania aspects are well made and fit into the game. honestly they're actually fun and some of the "tools" are useful outside of standard "metroidvania"-progression and mostly based around all sort of range weapons.
• bosses are unique and somewhat challenging. may need a couple of tries (or not if you abuse cogs [consumables]), but nothing too fancy except two bosses tied to the secret ending.
• exploring the areas is quite enjoyable and feels rewarding at any point in the game.
• the difficulty settings. difficulty isn't built around a simple mode like "easy", "normal or "hard". you have certain settings and option at the start of the game and while playing, for example: deactivation of the time limits (robots going rogue), easier combat, some combat power ups called cogs and more. kinda like the build your own difficulty kit.
• the puzzles are decent. crosscode comes to mind even tho the puzzles in unsighted are overall easier and less complex. i personally liked it that way, but that's preference.
• top notch pixel graphics and a well crafted art style in general.
• soundtrack is quite good and atmospheric.
• unsighted just wants to be part of the speed running community from the core of the game.

the debatable:

~ sequence breaking the game is easily done even in the first play through and can potentially be done in many places all over the game. for me this one's a huge positive, since such things always ad up for future runs and speed running in general. could be a bad thing for some people getting stuck cause of it tho. ~ unsighted mechanic - every single character (the main character is no exception to this) has a given time next to it's name. if this time is over, the character goes unsighted and is basically lost for the rest of the play through. it's definitely not a negative even if you dislike permanent loss and / or time limits, since u can simply disable it at any point in the game. on the other hand it does add a lot to the atmosphere and plot tho, so keep that in mind if you're planning to deactivate it. ~ there could be overall a bit more text and dialogue for my taste. ~ you can offer "meteor dust" to the named npc's, increasing their live span and affection to you. this whole thing itself isn't a bad feature and i kinda liked the idea. sadly the npc's answers are the same after every single gift, with an exception after the last one, yet kinda disappointing. this could be so much more in terms of character development.

the bad:

• iris talking bs about parry after every single death. i do love you little one, but it starts getting annoying quickly. add an instant skip button for this dialogue or a disable option in the settings.
• the "wind" in the upper level wasn't that great. it didn't add anything to the quality of platforming and is constantly slowing you down for no reason.