Smelted Kin Review (Boggy)
cool idea ruined by some bafflingly awful decisions. Some of the big ones for me are the levels are littered with randomly spawning explosives that seem to exist solely to steal a huge chunk of health, as well as the spawner doors that can only be destroyed waiting for the drone to slowly chip away at it while the physical door that should be in the background is capable of absorbing your shots which can lead to you getting awkwardly boxed in at times.
This game hates you and wants you to lose, with the ease of death you also lose money for permanent upgrades with seems counter-productive where failure should lead to being able to save up for upgrades and ammo to help players suffering constant death instead of draining them so thoroughly to the point of feeling like there's no chance to ever progress. This feeling is compounded by how much of a guessing game everything feels like, with the map being almost completely useless not marking any landmarks except for a handful of specific doors, not even elevators are marked. I'm only in the second area and feel utterly stumped by only having one clue and having to guess where I can and can't go while the constant threat of a cheap death is always around the corner, there is falling damage and I have frequently seemingly just fell through invisible pits to my death or had to make a leap of faith due to not being able to see what's below me.
The enemy design feeling like it doesn't take the player's capabilities (or lack therof) into account as the majority can shoot in any direction while you can only shoot forward or at 45 degrees putting them always at an advantage. The player character is also pathetically unmaneuverable, with an extremely low jump making platforming and avoiding enemies an absolute chore.
I wanted to enjoy this game, there are some cool ideas, particularly the anxiety meter since I guess this is supposed to be a horror game(?) which just summons the SA-X if it gets high enough but there could be so much more to it.
I made it to the second area and I've kept trying but the punishing randomness and complete lack of direction has completely sapped my desire to keep trying.
Guess I had more to say than I thought, but I always like trying out games like this, and my initial experience was good, though dipped quickly. I do appreciate the effort and hope the devs keep on chugging along.