"we have silksong at home"

Nine Sols stands out to me as a game that is surprising in how it twists itself around.
It is an artistically lovely game to look at that will not pull any punches with violent content and theming, it has a very digestible difficulty curve that will not hesitate to beat the crap out of you when it's time to test what you've learned, and never ceases to pull new rugs with the story, slowly drip-feeding the series of events that led to the introduction.

Our protagonist Yi is not only beautifully animated and a delight to control, his slowly expanding arsenal and skillset is effortlessly fun to master and tinker to a playstyle. The combat does not make a good first impression, and a issue I do have is the lack of recovery frames that will make you eat dirt if multiple attacks come close to one another, but at some point with the upgrades and new abilities, suddenly, it all clicks, and from there fights become great fun. The mix of a versatile tag-talisman that injures enemies with the multiple ways you can parry nearly every attack by the end of the game create a greatly satisfying combat where you constantly dance on the devil's door. There is a decent variety of enemies that keep the campaign fresh as you progress, and even late game some mooks can be dangerous if underestimated.

The general level design is varied and generally enjoyable to explore, thanks to an easy to read map and convenient shortcuts, but I did find some areas way better than others, and some in particular, to avoid spoilers, were more confusing to progress in and had annoying trap-ridden layouts. I found all the possible loot, upgrades and intel in the game and I will say some of it is hidden away in corners that feel like a practical joke. Not a dealbreaker however, overall I'd say for the grand part of the experience exploration is rewarding and very fun.
I also found the small pavilion hub area very comfy, I always appreciate when hubs reflect progress in the game too, and this one delivers in stride.

There is also a very strong focus on the characters and the setting of the game, and while there is no real voice acting, the writing does a good job of making clear the stakes and their situation. Yi is a surprisingly engaging character despite his abrasive nature at times due to very concise moments and the mystery of his true intentions keeping a tension whenever he interacts with any NPC or boss. The bond he builds with some characters also feels genuine and earned due to it requiring you, as a player, to bother with it across multiple hours of playtime.
The game makes great use of your investment with these NPC's in key moments, creating some genuinely impactful set pieces that feature the best tracks of music in the game.

In short, I would definitely recommend Nine Sols to anyone looking for a moderately hard game with a great character-focused narrative, I had no idea what I was getting into and left very satisfied with it.

adding last boss from nine sols to any other game would make it atleast two times better, nine sols was already 10/10 so I guess this made it 20/10

peak

Incredible. Great difficulty but always fair.

In term of fight this is mega annoying. Boss do like 10 actions a second, you can do 2 actions, and delay between 1 second. I mean wtf is this game? Like I met few bosses in the beginning of game. And it feels like no chance.

what are there, nine of these sols?

peak silly weed cat game

Where to begin...?

Nine Sols is a 9/10 video game that deserves every penny of its $30 price tag.
It's Hollow Knight meets Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
The art and music is stunning, the gameplay is snappy and feels good to master, and the bosses are ruthlessly challenging -- which makes memorizing their attacks and giving them a thorough beatdown all the more satisfying.

1: The fact that you have to watch a boss's animation every time you start the fight over when fighting them can get a little bit grating, on occasion. The biggest offender for my whole playthrough though was the first boss - a major roadblock, if you're not fully comfortable with parry timings yet. I wanted to hop straight back into the fray; not watch this dude scream again for another 4 seconds, especially after 20+ attempts.

2: There is a stealth section in one part of the game. The section is dark and visually muddy. Yi is crippled in both health and movement speed and CANNOT DASH - tripping and falling over if you attempt to. This is exactly as fun as it sounds. (It is thankfully made up for by the fact that the respective Sol is a fantastic fight, but dear god, I hated the prison.)

3: justice for my girl Goumang,, she deserved better,, all that buildup and a sick character design wasted on a piss-easy fight: it's the only 1-phase Sol fight, and you don't even get to fight *her* - just her pair of souped-up fodder enemies.
I don't think it even took me more than 3 attempts, and one of those was a fumble on my part since it was my very first time playing with a controller (I mixed up my dash and parry buttons frequently on that first session)

Okay. That's EVERYTHING bad that I personally have to say about this 36 hour long experience; one (1) crappy room, one (1) especially underwhelming main boss, and some wasted seconds every time i Got My Ass Kicked by a Horse (because of Skill Issue).


1: The Writing.
The story, while arguably nothing groundbreaking, absolutely hits you in the feels when it wants to. Especially for the True Ending. Yi is a lovable ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥; definitely one of my favorite protagonists in recent history. While the beginning may be a little confusing on your first time through with all the terminology and information getting dropped on you, going back for a replay with later knowledge adds an extra level to it all.

2: The Gameplay
These bosses go hard as hell!!! There's a reason one of my biggest complaints is that Goumang got shafted; I honestly just want more boss fight content. Red Candle Games nailed it on their first foray into the Soulsvania genre, and I genuinely do hope this isn't their last, whatever comes next. The charm-system that got basically lifted straight from Hollow Knight does it one better, IMO, allowing for even more playstyle customization. And my only comment on the platforming is that there could've been more of it, honestly.

3: The Art
Everything about this game - from the unique 'Taopunk' aesthetic, to an OST that gets your heart pumping during tense fights, to the snappy and satisfying sounds of nailing a chain of parries and retaliating with a beefy talisman explosion - it's honestly just a great time, all around

...I shall keep myself from yammering on any further, at risk of spoiling anything else.
Do yourself a favor and pick the game up! Whether you decide to wait for a sale or not; it's worth it.

I finally got both endings to this masterpiece of a game, i cried despite spoiling myself for the true ending, this is genuinely my favorite game of all time, hollow knight was that before, but i think it honestly pales in comparison to this, this game only has 2 sections i'd consider annoying, but it makes up for it with such an amazing story . 13/10 , anyone reviewbombing it because of the studio's prior messages in their games can suck an egg .