I wholeheartedly recommend Laika: Aged Through Blood. It is a metroidvania set in the post-apocalypse. It took me about 17 hours to finish and another 4 to 100%. You play as the titular character Laika trying to raise your daughter and not die while fighting against The Birds. Everything is done on a motorcycle. Combat, traversal, ability usage, all is tied to Laika's interaction with her motorcycle. I'm not usually a fan of metroidvanias, I always worry I'm going to miss an area, but I very much liked the gameplay.

The game is very visceral, lots of blood and gore, which is interesting given its almost cutesy artstyle. Games like Darktide or Doom that involve a lot of viscera are more photorealistic, whereas Laika: Aged Through Blood is not. This doesn't detract from what it's trying to do. Backflipping in bullet time onto a group of unsuspecting birds, screen shading redder and redder with each subsequent kill feels more brutal than tearing the heart out of a Cacodemon or decapitating 7 Poxwalkers in a single swing. I do recommend the game based on its artstyle, and is HEAVILY boosted by the fact that you play as an anthro coyote.

The story is fine, but what really shined was emotional impact. The game features several mature topics, death and torture of children, suicide, suicidal ideation, loss of innocence, alcoholism, etc. This is one of the very few games I have written reviews for and for good reason. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ if it didn’t make me cry.

In conclusion, Laika: Aged Through Blood deserves my wholehearted recommendation based on gameplay, visuals, and emotional experience.