It's worth noting that this game is not really a metroidvania, anymore, like previous installments. There are some pros and cons to this format, though. It's much more linear, employing stages rather than a single world for you to explore. I think this helps the player progress through the game more quickly keeping the fun alive rather than feeling like you you're constantly just running around on the map to find things like in previous titles.

The game is gorgeous. It's is colorful, the characters are adorable, the levels are fun to run through, and the music for the game has some really nice arrangements of the main tunes from the franchise. I had doubts, initially, about the style of the game when I first saw it on Kick starter, but it's grown on me and now I really love it. There are lots of transformations -- perhaps too many as some become almost obsolete after getting new ones that replace them -- and open up possibilities for combat and exploration -- and they all looked great, as well. The transformations are pretty easy to utilize and don't really require specific button motions to transform like in the original.


On the flipside, however, the game almost feels like it's not finished. There's a lot of polish to the game overall, but it just feels like it's too short or as if there are stages "missing", if you will. However, this may be remedied with the Risky Boots DLC in the future.

Additionally, one complaint I have about the linear level design is that you have to go back to previous levels many times to get things that you get either later in the stage or in future stages and you can't go backwards inside of a stage. Basically, each stage is split into separate "divisions", where, once you go past one within the stage, you can't go back. If you need to get to an earlier point in the stage -- which is sometimes required because on more than one occasion, you get an item towards the end of a stage that you need for the beginning of a stage for a secret or item to progress further in the game -- you're going to have to go through the entire stage all over again to get to that part of the stage. This made the game feel artificially longer than it was. It almost felt like a weak supplement to the game to lengthen it.

The last problem I had with it was that the characters aren't really developed that much in it. Pirates Curse had a LOT of character development in it. You learned a lot about Risky Boots and almost developed a friendship, almost, with her, by the end of the game. However, in this, it's as if it never happened. She's strictly the villain with seemingly no recollection of the events of the previous game. It's the same way with other characters, as well, like Rotty-Tops, for instance. You grew and learned a lot about her in Pirate's Curse, but in this, you really don't interact with her much. It's like once and that's pretty much it. Even less for Poe and Abner. You basically only say one thing to them at one point in the game and that's more or less the last you see of them. I really wish there had been more character development or some sort of additional focus on the characters than the game gave. It very much felt like a cycle of,

1. Meet one character that needs item to get you to new stage
2. Go to stage to get item
3. Give item to new character
4. Gain access to new stage
5. Next to nothing for interactions with that character for the rest of the game.

and just repeat that for the rest of the game. It just kept the world feeling like it wasn't fully fleshed out when you didn't really interact much with all of the characters you got to know so well in Pirates Curse.


Those are my only big complaints, however, and they're far out-weighed by all of the positives of the game. It's fun, it's colorful, and just a joy to play. Absolutely worth playing.