DISCLAIMER: There's a rumour going around that Awaken - Astral Blade utilizes AI-generated "art" in one or more areas, and if that turns out to be true, this review should not be taken as me condoning its use; I am vehemently opposed to it, in fact.

In a world of truly excellent 2D Metroidvanias, Awaken - Astral Blade can seem like a bit of a hard sell. It's got an at times confusing and consistently unremarkable narrative, combat that can feel repetitive depending on the scenario, and some truly bizarre design choices; seriously, why does the text auto-advance when there's no voice acting? That being said, the gameplay experience is generally solid enough to mitigate a lot of my complaints with it. While aerial combat is limited and can thus feel tedious, ground combat has enough flexibility with weapon-swapping combos and unlockable upgrades to be both flashy and fun. The platforming is also pretty good, and generally not too punishing if you miss a jump. I do think that there are better Metroidvanias out there if you're looking for something truly exceptional, but as a solid way to spend a dozen hours or so, you could do a lot worse than Awaken - Astral Blade.

Full review here[olivigarden.com]

Despite the frame rate drops, cut audio and lag, the game is honestly enjoyable.

One of best action Metroidvanias, i've played. Seriously.