Played and finished it on the Switch after around 8 hours.

This is an 8-bit action adventure, metroidvania style game. At first, I wasn’t that convinced by it, but after 2-3 levels I liked it more and more. I really came to appreciate the level design and the abilities you unlock - the sense of progression is very motivating.

The levels were all very atmospheric and accompanied by appropriate music. The dialogue of the game is fun, and what I liked most was the very well-tuned difficulty. This game gets really hard in some places, but it always feels like you can do it if you stay focused.

I liked that it required you to find hidden skulls to unlock new dungeons, and that these skulls were very expertly hidden. Even though the dungeon layouts could become complex, they never reached the point of being TOO complex – I have never had to use a guide to finish a level, and that’s something that I value a lot. This game also has lots of doors that require you to find a key that is hidden in the level. I liked this aspect as it indirectly guided you through the level. In one of the later levels I found a master key that allowed me to open all locks. While at first I was elated by this item, I found it to be detrimental to the game experience, as it basically singlehandedly allowed me to ignore an important aspect of the level design and complexity.

The only weak aspect of the game are its bosses. The bosses are oftentimes a bit shoddily programmed. With some of them the hitboxes are imprecise, and some also have a one-hit-kill-attack that feels too punishing and unnecessary. The very last boss had some issues with the hitboxes, so I decided to watch a youtube video of the ending, after I lost again when I felt like I would have won, if only my evasions were processed correctly. Still, even though the bosses were annoying, this game as a whole experience is well-made and fun!