This game is everything I wish Guacamelee was. A humorous Metroidvania with a 007 parody bent, it is bright flashy and totally cheesy. But it is also incredibly well designed and an A/B tier Metroidvania.

First of all, it nails every quality of life issue that a lot of MVs have. The map is great, offering the right amount of detail and the game eventually allows you to see the secrets you missed for completion. This is one of the most important things for me in this genre, so out of the gate that’s a huge win.

It borrows a lot from hollow knight and Ori. There’s a cool charm system, a store, and a good mix of platforming and combat.

The bosses could be quite spongey, which was a big issue. I got stuck for days on a couple, until I learned how to cheese them. But most of them were well designed and a fun challenge.

The writing, art, and story were … whatever. A couple laughs but pretty corny. But the gameplay far outshines it.

This is probably my biggest shock game of the year- Never would’ve believed I’d like it this much.