Since it's the weekend and the sale is on, I wanted to bang out my initial thoughts. I've got just over an hour in the game, all of which I've played with a game pad. And the crowning achievement... cue drumroll... you can remap game pad keys! For some reason this seems like a superpower in 2025 with the number of indie games releasing without remap functionality, but this one has it. Take this review as a tentative recommendation, pending more time in game.

This is very clearly an artistic passion project, and not something that was just banged out. Everything about this game drips with theme. This is a super interesting world that has been built.... and the audio design is really something unique. This is a very dark theme, and to be fair... you actually don't play as the nicest guy. You do get to make choices at certain points that will swing your alignment between red and green (good and evil), but there is definitely a little birdie on your shoulder urging you to the dark side. I won't say more to avoid anything spoiler-ish, but this is a kind of post apocalyptic setting with some really interesting twists and motivations.

Movement is great. Very snappy and quick. Dashing works great. Sword swings carry some momentum, so you do have to be careful about leaving yourself open. There is a very strong stagger mechanic, so most of the threat to you actually comes from groups of enemies. All enemies get markers to indicate they are about to attack. red for interruptible and gold for special (I would say uninterruptible, but you can interrupt gold with a special attack if your rage bar is full). Enemies range from quick and dirty to hard hitting and fast. You are dodging a lot in this game. Don't mistake it though, despite the user tags this is most certainly not a souls-like... it's easier than that, and you really don't get the flexibility you normally would find in a souls-like.
That said, you should at a minimum have some experience with reactions and controlling dodge directions and sword swings. I wouldn't play this on normal difficulty if you haven't at least played some isometric action or roguelite games. Worry not, however, as it does have an easier difficulty selection though which is really great accessibility so that anyone can enjoy the game.

I haven't unlocked the other weapons yet, but there are multiple weapon types and each one has a set of skills to unlock. There aren't a ton though... this isn't going to take you a hundred hours to max out.

The levels are, so far, very linear. They are very thematic... and sometimes there is a bit of a loop in one room that can be kind of like a maze... but you are clearly progressing in a single direction in every area I have played. So this is a linear game for at least the first hout, not something open world like Drova. That does work though because you are unraveling a pretty linear story, and it is very interesting. That said, the description does say that we can "explore the world the way we want," so I am still wondering if this opens up a bit further into the game. I will update when I find out.

The maps do tend to be a bit empty... there's a lot of running around even in new areas without running into enemies. I think this could have been drawn back a bit... probably there could have been shorter levels for the number and intensity of fights. But I mean it works, and there are interesting sights to see. And there's always that haunting audio in the background.

Someone put a lot of heart into this world building, this theme, and this story subject matter. I am looking forward to seeing where it goes, and so far I do enjoy the way the combat works so I will keep playing it!