izigame.me

I'm really torn on whether I would recommend this game or not.
Let's get the main thing clear, the mechanics and gameplay here are fine, good even. The developer clearly thought about how to design the puzzles and areas in a way that was fair and satisfying for the player to progress through. There are a variety of weapon and ability unlocks that double as progression gates (like in a metroidvania) to direct the player and reward progression. The combat while not amazing is good enough with the difficulty coming from spacing the character, dodging attacks, and managing attack timing (enhanced with the introduction of some enemies that can only be harmed by certain weapons/abilities). Death is also forgiving in that apart from respawning the enemies and progressing the day count (which as far as I can tell has no impact) there is no punishment.
This is all sounding positive and should result in me recommending the game, the problem is the package these mechanics are delivered in. There is no story or world here. Your character is resurrected by a spirit who explains nothing before disappearing. You get to speak to this spirit another two times, once when they point you to the boss, and again at the end. That's it. There are two other NPCs that I can recall who have a couple of lines that ultimately do nothing, and of course there's the boss who has a couple of lines at the very end of the game and that's it.
Many people will no doubt say that a game doesn't need to have a story or NPCs to interact with, and these people would be correct for many titles but Kingsgrave doesn't feel like one of those games. The entire time I was playing this I was feeling like I was in the prologue before the game started proper - right up until I finished the game. The rebuilding of villages the game promises is just a way to unlock weapons and and abilities. Apart from the ruin of each specific building getting repaired there is no change to the world. There is no "reclaiming" of your realm unless you count the torches that light up when enemies in an area are killed. Villagers that you rescue (find) are just another resource count, they are not characters.
Ultimately Kingsgrave feels more like a vertical slice that someone decided to publish as a stand alone game rather than actually fully develop. The mechanics in isolation make a really good game, but considering all the unfulfilled potential they come with, the end result is just disappointing.