Anzu Castle Gracula Reviews

I respect the gumption of someone who releases a qbasic game in 2024

Absolutely lovely little game. I enjoyed every moment of it. Doesn't take too long to beat but certainly offers some nice challenge still!

More of a very polished proof of concept than a complete game, but the presentation and challenge make this one really fun. The bite sized nature made remembering where to backtrack as abilities were unlocked pretty easy and there's always the options to make the boss battles extra tough by ignoring the strength power ups. I only wish there was an option to make the jumps stiff like in the OG Castlevania 2. A Metroidvania where there's discrete levels of a similar, smaller breadth and scope as this game would be kind of neat.

A faithful [i]Simon's Quest[/i] tribute, but if you expect anything more than a NES style game you might be disappointed, it's a very simple game, and a difficult one at that, at least in the first hour, and then the difficulty kinda drops abnormally, mainly because there are no stages that are properly designed to take advantage of all of the power-ups and upgrades, once I got the double-jump it felt like the game got 5 times easier. I assume it's the same version as you can get for free on Itchio from the dev, and to be honest it's probably not worth $5, it needs to be a bit longer IMO for me to feel good about it. My main problem here is that the game is extremely short, even for what it's going for it felt 3-4 times shorter than usual, actually the only reason this game is longer than 45 minutes is because it can be a bit difficult depending on where you go first, it won't hold your hand with exploration and you can easily run into a few corners and then you will have to backtrack. It's not even the length that is bothering me, more so you didn't have a proper final area that would force you to use all the items and upgrades you got, you really need a couple more levels that are specifically designed for double-jump, and perhaps using those subweapons more often. It more or less follows a traditional metroidvania format, you'll have to figure where you have to go first by trial and error, with most of the power-ups & subweapons being your vanilla Castlevania arsenal. It does not look bad for a NES themed game, but it also didn't have that many interesting locations, I really wish you had another 2 areas on top of what you have, which is forest, city, and underground, pretty much. Perhaps you would be willing to add another very difficult castle level after the door opens that would require the use of double jump more often? For better or worse most of the challenge comes from the NES themed bullcrap, some tanky enemies will respawn if you kill them, things knocking you into deathpits, you know, the things you associate with the old games. I actually really liked the difficulty at first, but again, it felt like the game got too easy once I got the power-ups, and you didn't have more locations to match it. Most of the bosses had very sketchy hitboxes, personally I liked the challenge, although it can be a bit unfair. [h1] Pros: [/h1] (+) For a NES style game it's put together decently, it kinda hits all of the same difficulty beats if that is what you looking for, just don't expect anything more out of it, it's more of a nostalgia trip if you want this specific thing, hit some monsters with a whip(or is it a chain?), toss some holy water, throw a few crosses. Not badly made, but very standard NES metroidvania style game, got some optional items and power-ups, probably toward the lower end in terms of content and scale though. Personally I liked how hard the game was at first, but once I got the power-ups it was not even remotely difficult anymore, and I run out of content to use them for. [h1] Feedback: [/h1] - I felt the game was way too short, it's like a 60 minute game that might take you up to 3 hours because it can be a little brutal at first. Once I got all the power-ups I expected another final area that would utilize everything I collected, but instead I killed the final boss and the game is over. I would really recommend adding another level after you enter the final door that would use all of the power-ups to the fullest extent, and on that note, maybe make the final boss harder as he was easier than the first 3. I kinda find it funny how fast the holy water killed his monster form, was that a reference lol. In general I think if the game had another 2-3 different biomes I would feel much better about it. - I know we going for the annoying NES respawn enemies here, but I think a delay would be nice, cuz right now if you kill those annoying demons, there is no delay, so it's never worth killing them. Maybe give them a 5 second respawn timer, or just don't do it in a first place, at least not for the tanky enemies. - At the water boss, for some reason I picked up the power-up without taking it, I just got it after dying a couple times, not sure if it was intentional. - Also, I wish the game had a town area with NPC characters, a few stores maybe, just to hammer in that nostalgia if you know what I mean, perhaps a few interactive secrets as well. [b] Overall Thoughts: 6/10 [/b] It's not bad for a NES themed game, just really too short for my taste, if you had at least another 2 locations with unique sprites and a proper final stage, I would not be complaining, I would encourage you to add those as right now it feels like there is no content to support all of the power-ups. It also feels like the game is a lot harder at first than at the end, partially because you didn't make the content to match all the power ups and double jump. Not a bad attempt, probably not worth $5 though considering you also giving it out on itchio, if you added a bit more content for this version, maybe you can make a case for it. [code]Niche, obscure and underrated games: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31294838-Hidden-Gem-Discovery/ [/code]