It figures then that the developers would focus on a sort of boss-rush game and put the main care on them: they all have a sort of recognizable motif or element, but while this is true, they are not uninspired: unique elements and mechanics are added to all of them that fit very well the top-down perspective and gameplay action, with clear phases where they realize you are bringing them down: the arena is being used sometimes subtly, sometimes evidently, to trap and kill you, the music adapts swiftly and in one boss that I particularly loved it changes altogether from instrumental to vocalized. The fights are the main attraction of the game: bosses are what made Souls games famous beyond the ridiculous, punishing and sometimes funny deaths that players endure while trying to get further in the story, toward the next enemy, and the motif of having to fight and harness power, or liberate the way on your path, was the main driving factor in them. You continue to fight what is brought to you, but you start to want to look for more items, talk more to the available, few entitites present in the game, wondering whether you can trust them and who you should listen to, while understanding more and more how doomed this world was, and how this travel will not end peacefully, regardless of the approach you will take. You are frail, but you are pushed to dive into peril and drain energy from your enemies, as to replenish your own, just like in Bloodborne. I think the nicest thing it has to offer is the progressive involvement the player gets to have: you begin from a menu that welcomes you with a chant, begin by facing a sort of 'guard' which is more or less a literal watchdog, are about to venture inside a fortified city but are stopped by another guardian, clearly inspired to abyssal corruption from Dark Souls 3, and from there the game keeps going up with the challenges: no mobs are introduced, but traps begin to appear. The game itself appears to mix the real-life crusaders-like knights with knowledge of 'gods' that have come to dominate and influence lands. We are not aware of what has come to pass in the places we visits, until we find information through the items we collect and the things we read. It begins with a motif typical of the soulslike games: a lone person with a weapon, moving slowly, through what appear to be a battlefield or a location containing a certain history. I will try to keep it as vague as possible, but read from this point onward at your own risk. Beware that the below might contain spoilers for the game, in case you'd like to go fully blind. Nonetheless, it has high replayability, and the developers deserve nothing but praise for the work and passion they showed through this title. The game itself is actually short, objectively some people are facing difficulties and mentioning it's the hardest game they tried so far, but most will be able to finish it in a couple of hours even if struggling initially for some time. Recently I saw that another title with "Souls" in its name came out, and just like VVTZ beforehand I tried this outside of my account on another pc, but I will surely buy it as soon as I travel back from holidays and replay it in its entirety. Growing up I came to appreciate stories more than gameplays, so I often would forgive clunky mechanics and ignore them altogether when a game let me want to know and have more. I am more happy seeing Nier Replicant being made on the computer and dedicating my time to the hidden intricacies of Lobotomy Corporation (absolutely splendid gem) than forcing myself to play Resident Evil 8 and Control to see how the story would go. With each year the thought that Indie Games are more enthralling and engaging than mainstream games has become the norm in my mind, as it has become a struggle to find any interest in anything that is made from a big developer since a long time.
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