izigame.me

I enjoyed the very beginning of the game. The environment had tons of intrigue and charm to it. Main problem with the game is that it's nowhere as immense or full of variety as you'd first believe. This review doesn't have plot spoilers, but does indirectly spoil how many things you can unlock, so be aware on that.
The bossest are just a random amalgamation of non-related beings that were thrown together just because the creator liked their concepts. It's not a really bad thing, but you won't feel like you're taking down an organization. Just random big people.
Anyway, my biggest gripe is the environment. It's nowhere near as grand as it lets on. I'll break it down into three parts:
One is the HP and Mana shrines. The problem is that they don't do enough. You'll find a shrine and it'll show you an immense 10 second animation like you've found an incredible secret that's unlocking it's power before your very eyes... then boom. You're given a quarter of a health container. There's only 8 for health and mana each, meaning you can only gain two health and mana over the course of the game. What this REALLY means for a non-completionist/backtracker using a guide, is that you'll only gain one health and one mana over the course of the whole game, because you won't find them all, and finding the 5th, 6th, and 7th shrines will mean nothing.
The second is the only other tangible unlockables, weapons. There are 4. You start the game with one. The 2nd is also at the very start of the game, and doesn't really count as a weapon because it does half damage and is just for a self-inflicted hard move achievement and otherwise attacks exactly like the starting weapon. You get the 3rd weapon early on, and is likely what most people use all game because it's the fastest/does longer combos which = more magic spam (because you recover 1 mana every attack you land regardless of weapon). The only weapon you really have to "unlock/find" is the 4th weapon, which is too slow and not damaging enough for said tradeoff for my liking.
The 3rd and last huge problem of the game is that it strings you along with intrigue. As you play, you'll see several HUGE doors with locks. The most egregious one a door that has green lights icons that increase one by one each time you put a plant in a pot (the limited checkpoint system). This means this door will only open once you've found all plants and a pot to put them in. It's fascinating to see and of that as you play and wonder what rewards could lie beyond them. But spoiler alert, they don't amount to anything individually. All of those doors just allow you to collect like 1/9th of the true ending, and if you aren't going for that, they're worthless.
The game itself is find, but I'd wait for a sale. $20 is a tad too steep for what I experienced.