Recent reviews by mnikjom

Find Love or Die Trying is a Visual Novel dating sim with an intriguing mystery that unfolds as you progress through the game. While I appreciate the overall concept, a game like this really requires more time to fully develop each character and allow them to shine. Unfortunately, it feels like that extra time wasn't given, leaving the characters feeling underdeveloped.
The game isn't bad by any means, but I believe it could be much better with just an additional two or three hours to play. As it stands, you can easily finish it in about three hours.
Overall, I enjoyed my time with Find Love or Die Trying, but I’ll likely forget about it after a week. It’s one of those games that leaves me wishing there was a “mixed review” option on Steam. The game has potential, but it feels like it never quite reaches it.

Story
The main character (who you can name and choose pronouns for) is a contestant on an unusual dating TV show, where the stakes are high: find love or face death if rejected by a girl. On top of this deadly challenge, the protagonist has no memory of their life before the show. Your goal is to unravel the mysteries surrounding both the show and your amnesia - while trying to survive in the process.
The plot can be enjoyable, but the dialogues and worldbuilding could definitely use some refinement. Aside from Kat and Allie, the other characters feel one-dimensional, like they’re just there to fill stereotypes - nerd girl, quirky but smart girl, rich girl, etc. As I mentioned earlier, with a bit more time (perhaps longer and more frequent dates), these characters could become much more compelling as potential love interests.
I’m not sure where the "branching choices and consequences" comes from. Your decisions hardly matter until the very end, when you’re forced to pick one girl to get her ending. Warning: major spoiler ahead - after regaining your memories, choosing anyone but Kat feels completely out of place. You risk your life to save her, only to pick another girl while she’s lying in a bed after being shot? That doesn’t sit right with me.

Visuals
Visually, the game is quite appealing. The designs of the characters are unique and beautiful, and their sprites are high-quality. While the backgrounds could benefit from a bit more polish and detail, they’re still decent. One thing I wish there was more of is the CGs – they were absolutely stunning!

Audio
There's not much to say, as aside from the fitting soundtrack, there's little else to highlight - no voice acting and only sparse use of sound effects.

Technicalities
I encountered no issues.

Sakura Spirit is another romance visual novel from Winged Cloud. If you’ve played any of their previous titles, you’ll find this one to be quite similar.
The game can be completed in about two hours. However, unless you're a fan of ecchi fan service (note that there’s no uncensored patch), there’s not much else to engage with.
I can't recommend it.

Story
Takahiro, the story's protagonist, is unexpectedly transported to a foreign world where his only chance of returning home lies in resolving the longstanding conflict between the villagers and the spirits. Throughout his journey, he forms alliances with two spirit girls and, eventually, two village girls who assist him in his mission.
The story feels predictable and lacks depth, missing opportunities to delve into meaningful character development and complex relationships. The romance, in particular, lacks a satisfying resolution, leaving it unresolved and underdeveloped.
To make matters worse, the main character is downright unbearable. His obnoxious attitude and bloated ego made it impossible to tolerate him.

Visuals and Audio
It's a classic Sakura game - average backgrounds, great sprites, and solid CGs. Obviosuly, big boobs everywhere.
The music doesn’t stand out, and unfortunately, there’s no voice acting.

Technicalities
I didn't have any problems with the game.

Atlas Fallen is one of the more ambitious projects in Deck13 Interactive’s portfolio. Set in a fantasy post-apocalyptic world, it’s an action RPG that blends exploration, fast-paced combat, and storytelling within a (semi) open-world setting.
While not particularly long or challenging, I completed the main story along with all the side quests in under 14 hours. Completionists might spend a few more hours with it.
Overall, Atlas Fallen isn’t the worst game I’ve played, but it falls short in too many areas to truly recommend. The combat and traversal systems shine as the game’s highlights, but everything else feels either mediocre or, at times, downright lacking. It’s a game with potential, but one that doesn’t fully capitalize on it.

Story
An afterthought. It's a boring story about the oppressed versus oppressor dynamic, where you couldn't care less about any of the characters or the events.
It's tough to find any redeeming qualities: the characters are painfully generic, lacking depth or any real charm; the side quests feel like mindless filler with little to offer in terms of variety or reward; the dialogue feels shallow and uninspired, offering no real wit or memorable lines; and the main plot is as predictable as they come, offering no surprises or twists to keep you engaged.
On top of that, the worldbuilding is sorely lacking. At least the game wasn't a drawn-out 50-hour experience, I suppose?

Gameplay Loop
The gameplay loop is fairly straightforward: you progress through the story, moving from one semi-open area to the next. Each area introduces a handful of side quests, hidden treasures, collectible artifacts to sell, and additional bosses. A bit of exploration is encouraged to ensure you gather enough resources for upgrading your armor and perks.
Unfortunately, the quests tend to feel repetitive, as they often boil down to variations of "go to X and defeat Y" or "go to X and retrieve Z."

Combat
The combat system is fast-paced and fluid, seamlessly blending real-time action with strategic decision-making. With a wide range of options to customize your loadout of perks and abilities, there's plenty of room for personalization.
While there are only three weapon types to choose from, each offers a distinct feel on the battlefield. Though I’d appreciate more variety, the combat remains satisfying. It’s hard not to have fun while sliding, dodging, and parrying your way through waves of enemies - only to then chain together a series of attacks or even take the fight to the air.
As you progress, you unlock new abilities, upgrade your gear, and craft powerful weapons from the resources you collect. With so many unique abilities at your disposal, it’s easy to find something that suits your playstyle.

Leveling
Atlas Fallen features a unique leveling system where your character's level is determined by the armor you're wearing. This encourages exploration, as you’ll need to seek out additional resources and face stronger enemies to upgrade your gear. These enemies not only provide valuable materials but also enhance your progress as you explore the world.

Enemies
There are only a handful of "normal" enemies and maybe five or six different bosses, all of which are just generic sand-monsters. Fighting them quickly becomes tedious, as their attack patterns are comically simple.
As you progress, you’ll find yourself actively avoiding fights, which is a huge problem given that the combat system itself is actually solid. Unfortunately, the lack of fun or challenging encounters (bosses with nothing more than extra shields to break aren't fun) leaves the gameplay feeling flat and unfulfilling.

Traversal
The traversal is easily one of the best aspects of Atlas Fallen. The player character can glide through the desert using sand-surfing mechanics, which feels fantastic once you get the hang of it. While the transitions between running and gliding aren't always seamless, it's rarely a major issue, especially since nearly every location is covered in sand.

Locations
Sand, more sand, and then even more sand. The locations aren't even bad, featuring impressive landmarks and cleverly hidden routes, but the desert environment can only offer so much. There are occasional green patches here and there, but for the most part, every area is dominated by an expanse of sand.
The world feels lifeless. NPCs remain anchored in the same spots, repeating the same actions, and enemies are confined to their spawn areas. There's a noticeable lack of engaging encounters between locations, leaving the world feeling static and uninspired.

Visuals
Visually, the game is decent. The models and textures are solid - neither too low-poly nor low-res - but the designs lack personality. Simply making everything oversized doesn’t add any character to the world.
It's clear that the developers were working with a limited budget, especially when you look at the out-of-combat animations. While the combat and traversal animations are polished, everything else feels awkward and clunky.

Audio
I don’t have much to say about the music and sound design in Atlas Fallen. They’re not bad, but they don’t leave a lasting impression either.
However, the voice acting is a different story - it’s simply awful. Every character sounds completely lifeless. No matter the situation, there's a noticeable lack of emotion in their voices. It honestly feels like the actors weren’t invested in their roles, as if they were paid with pennies and didn’t care at all.

Technicalities
The performance was generally stable, maintaining around 80 FPS, with occasional drops below 60 FPS, typically during combat sequences or in certain locations.
Although I didn't come across any game-breaking bugs, I did encounter several minor glitches, including invisible enemies, flickering lighting, and small gaps between terrain and objects.

Lachesis or Atropos is a free to play horror-mystery yuri Visual Novel that incorporates some fantastical elements. While it features intriguing ideas and solid writing, the game feels too short and too fast-paced, which ultimately makes it hard to leave a lasting impression.
As much as I enjoy yuri games, I can't fully recommend this one. It's not bad, but it lacks depth and substance. That said, since it’s f2p, you might still want to give it a shot if you're interested.

Story
The story centers around Shirasagi Mana, a private investigator with the unique ability to see “black strings” that connect people, revealing their animosities and the intensity of their hatred. When she visits a small town to fulfill her mentor's dying wish - finding a missing person - she quickly becomes entangled in a web of conspiracies that could lead to love... or even death.
While the mystery plot had its intriguing moments, the fast pacing and predictable twists ultimately detracted from my overall enjoyment. The story spiraled into overdrive in the final 15 minutes, offering little in terms of a satisfying conclusion. Too many questions were left unanswered, which is always frustrating in a mystery.
Though there are multiple endings, none of them felt particularly rewarding.
On top of everything, the romance felt unconvincing. The pacing was too rushed, preventing the relationships from developing organically. As a result, by the end, you don't feel invested in the characters' connections.

Visuals
Visually, the game is decent. While the backgrounds, sprites, and CGs could benefit from more detail, nothing stands out in a negative way.

Audio
The music was subtle, neither particularly memorable nor disruptive. Other sound effects were used sparingly, which felt like a missed opportunity, as they effectively enhanced the overall immersion.
There was no voice acting.

Technicalities
There are several accessibility options available, which is definitely a big plus in my book. Additionally, I’ve encountered zero bugs or glitches.

Graveyard Girls is a poignant, short visual novel (about 30 minutes to complete) that explores the journey of two women grappling with grief after the loss of their loved ones. While the game subtly touches on yuri themes, its main focus is on the complex, emotional process of healing from trauma.
It’s a compelling story that’s easy to recommend, though it's not a light read (make sure to check the trigger warnings in the description).

Story
The story is straightforward. Two women, both grieving, cross paths by chance in a graveyard and quickly form a deep bond. As they navigate their personal losses, they lean on each other for support and healing.
While the writing is solid, the dialogue occasionally feels a bit contrived - people don’t always speak that way in real life. However, this is a small issue that most readers will likely overlook.

Visuals
The visuals are simple but pretty, with the CGI and character designs standing out as especially impressive. I wish that the backgrounds would be as detailed as them tho.

Audio
The music is unremarkable, serving its purpose without standing out. Aside from that, there are very few other sound elements, and the absence of voice acting is notable.

Technicalities
Zero problems.

Missed Messages is a heartfelt and thought-provoking Visual Novel that you can experience in about 30 minutes.
While it’s not a light read (it includes sensitive themes such as suicide and self-harm), I found it to be a moving experience. It’s free to play, so if you're up for it, definitely give it a try.

Story
The story may be short, but it delves into significant themes such as the complexities of depression, isolation, and the challenges of seeking help.
While it may not be a literary masterpiece, it remains a compelling and solid piece of storytelling.

Gameplay
You can interact with certain elements on the screen, which not only offers insight into the main character's thoughts but also plays a key role in advancing the story.

Visuals
The art style is minimalistic yet captivating. I particularly enjoyed the character designs.

Audio
The music and sound effects are subtle, yet they effectively enhance the atmosphere.

Technicalities
I encountered an issue with missing dialogue boxes, but restarting fixed it. It wasn’t a major problem, though it shouldn’t happen in such a short game.

The Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is a third-person shooter developed by Rocksteady Studios. Set after the events of the Arkham trilogy, this time we step into the shoes of the Suicide Squad, not Batman.
The game delivers some fun and engaging gameplay, particularly in co-op mode, but it’s held back by a repetitive structure and a story that doesn’t leave much of an impact.
Rating Suicide Squad was a tough call for me because it falls into that "just fine" category - mediocre, but not necessarily bad. And that’s the problem. Being just okay often means there’s nothing remarkable about the experience. Suicide Squad embodies this perfectly. It’s painfully average in almost every aspect, failing to shine in any particular area.
If I could, I’d give it a mixed review. It’s not a bad game (despite some of the more extreme reviews), but it feels like it was doomed from the start. Too many questionable decisions get in the way of what could’ve been a fun and fresh spin-off to the Arkham series.
Ultimately, my lack of recommendation comes down to one thing: the mind-numbing grind. It’s just too much to overlook.

Introduction
I’m not sure who decided to make that "thing" the tutorial/introduction, but it feels like they were setting the game up to fail. Throwing players into a bland, empty map just to teach them how to move, jump, and shoot? Really? What’s the point of that when, just 20 minutes later, you get a "real" start?
It’s even more ironic that, just two locations later, they manage to craft an excellent semi-horror setting in the Bat-Museum, showing they’re fully capable of creating something great. So it’s hard to understand why they didn’t take that approach from the beginning.

Story
The premise is straightforward: Brainiac, an alien invader, launches an assault on Earth and brainwashes the superheroes of the Justice League. The titular Suicide Squad - Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, and King Shark - is tasked with taking them down.
However, the story doesn't do much to stand out. The plot lacks the necessary tension or intrigue to fully captivate. Despite their prominence in the title, the Justice League villains don’t receive enough screen time to make them feel like a real threat. On top of that, the story quickly becomes repetitive, with too many similar encounters taking place one after another.

Characters
The dynamic between the squad members is easily the highlight of the game. Watching the constant banter between these four idiots is both entertaining and hilarious. While the humor might not be for everyone, the growing chemistry between the characters is genuinely fun to witness.
The supporting cast also gets their moments to shine, with Amanda Waller and Lex Luthor standing out as my favorites. Both are just ruthless individuals who will stop at nothing to achieve their goals, and it's a blast to see them in action. Smol Ivy is also fun to see.
And honestly, screw Toyman. He’s easily one of the most irritating characters you’ll encounter in any game.

Gameplay Loop
The gameplay revolves heavily around shooting, with some melee attacks thrown in. There are four playable characters, each with a unique concept, but ultimately, it all boils down to using guns. While I get it for Deadshot and Harley, Boomerang and King Shark should have their own distinct combat styles. It feels like the true potential of the "Suicide Squad" hasn’t been fully realized. You’ve got these bizarre, over-the-top "super-villains," and the only thing they’re doing is shooting guns? That’s a missed opportunity.
That said, the shooting itself isn’t bad - quite the opposite, in fact. It’s done competently, with various gun archetypes (specific to each character), and each one feels distinct and satisfying.
Melee attacks also play a crucial role in combat. They can help replenish your shield, apply status effects to enemies, or simply be used to beat your foes into submission.
One of the standout features, however, is the unique movement for each squad member. The animations are smooth and the transitions are seamless, making it a noticeable improvement over the Batman games (it's on the level of Arkham Knight).

Grind
This is exactly why this game died so quickly. After just four or five hours, it’s clear that Rocksteady had no clue how to design a live-service game. The missions quickly fall into a repetitive cycle, and the rewards are almost meaningless.
To make matters worse, the story progression is locked behind an absurd grind. It might not have been as bad if the gameplay weren’t so monotonous, but having to replay the same four or five missions repeatedly just to unlock enough mastery levels is a prime example of poor game design.

UI
The UI is cluttered and overwhelming. There's an excess of unnecessary text, numbers, and colors. You could remove half of it, and it wouldn't make a noticeable difference.

Loot
Looting, which should be one of the main draws of the endgame, feels underwhelming. While there are classic rarity tiers, afflictions (like poison and fire), set bonuses, and additional effects layered on top of stats, the system still feels like a standard looter-shooter - except with fewer rewards to show for it.
The drop rates are downright frustrating. You can spend hours farming, only to walk away with little to no meaningful upgrades. Sure, you can dismantle gear and use resources to improve your current items, but that’s hardly an enjoyable process. At the very least, there should be a solid payoff for grinding through these monotonous missions.

Talents
Each character has three skill trees, though they’re nothing particularly exciting. They mainly provide a handful of passive abilities and stat boosts to improve combat. Later on, you can unlock squad skills, but these are even less interesting - flat stat increases with no real depth or unique impact.

Visuals
The visuals in Suicide Squad are vibrant and detailed. While I’m not entirely sold on some of the aesthetic choices - Metropolis feels too clean for my taste - I can't deny that the game looks good overall. The character models, particularly their facial animations, stand out and are absolutely stunning, showcasing a level of detail that deserves serious recognition.
On the flip side, the level design falls short. The environments feel monotonous and lack any memorable elements, making the locations feel flat and forgettable.

Audio
The voice acting is excellent, with each character delivering great performance that perfectly captures their unique personality.
The soundtrack is energetic and complements the action-heavy tone of the game, though it lacks any truly standout tracks.
The sound effects are well-crafted, with guns feeling punchy and satisfying to use. Ambient sounds further enhance the immersion.

Technicalities
In my experience, the performance is generally solid, maintaining around 70-80 FPS on high settings. However, there are noticeable drops below 60 FPS during larger fights.
I didn’t encounter any game-breaking bugs (though some players have reported issues with mission progression), but there were several smaller glitches. These include textures failing to load properly, abilities not triggering as expected, objects not being deleted correctly (so you can still bump into them), and AI teammates sometimes failing to engage with enemies.

QianSe (or Akaneiro) is a yuri Visual Novel that emphasizes an emotional and nuanced portrayal of relationships. Its setting is unique, taking place in China rather than the typical Japanese school-life environment, with both school and adult life featured throughout the story.
The game is surprisingly long. It took me around 10 hours to explore all the available endings, and if you're a slower reader, you could easily add another two hours to that.
Overall, I found the story and characters quite enjoyable. While it's not without any flaws (more on that below), I still had a good time. So why the lack of a recommendation? The English translation is the main issue. It's sufficient to follow the plot, but it lacks a smooth, natural flow. As a result, it was difficult to fully immerse myself in the game, as the dialogue felt somewhat stilted. I hope the translation will be improved in the future.

Story
I'll start with something I really disliked: the whole "supernatural"/dreams aspect of the story. In my opinion, it’s completely unnecessary. The narrative would have been much stronger if it had focused solely on the retrospections and "current" events.
That said, the actual story itself is solid. The first half primarily features a slice-of-life approach, with a mix of drama, cute moments, and a bit of bickering - essentially, all the "classic" yuri tropes. The second half shifts to explore deeper themes about life and struggles with mental health.
The pacing can feel awkward at times (especially after the introduction of the future events), but this is a common issue when jumping between different timelines - it ends up being a bit of a jumbled experience.
There are only a few choices to make throughout the game, and most of them appear near the end. Each choice leads to one of a few different endings.
Unfortunately, many of the issues I mentioned earlier are exacerbated by the messy translation. While you can still understand the basic plot, following the story can be challenging. A smooth narrative flow is crucial in visual novels, and QianSe definitely struggles in that area.

Visuals
The character and background designs aren’t bad, but the overall quality is inconsistent. At times, the visuals are solid in quality, but other times, particularly with the character sprites, they can appear extremely pixelated. I’m not sure what caused this inconsistency, but it can be quite distracting.

Audio
The music is unremarkable but serviceable, complementing the gameplay. While occasional background noises like knocking or clapping are present, they are not prominent. There is no voice acting.

Technicalities
The English text is riddled with typos, lacks proper spacing, and contains awkward sentences. Readers proficient in Chinese should opt for that version.
Additionally, the English text often exceeds the screen's boundaries, resulting in cut-off words and phrases.

Midnight Fight Express is a fast-paced, over-the-top beat 'em up that delivers satisfying combat and a killer soundtrack, but falters with a lackluster story. Set in a neon-lit city, you fight your way through hordes of enemies using a variety of moves, weapons, and environmental interactions.
As mentioned, the combat is undeniably fun, and I thoroughly enjoyed unleashing chaos on my foes. However, as the hours pass, the game's shortcomings become more apparent. New mechanics and enemy types are introduced, but many of them feel frustrating rather than challenging. Some levels even lose their fun factor entirely due to irritating enemy designs that break the combat flow.
I completed the main story in around 8 hours and briefly dabbled with the challenge modes, but didn't invest much time there.
Overall, Midnight Fight Express is a decent experience that deserves a mixed review (I can't do that on Steam, so I won't give my recommendation). The game isn’t outright bad, but it’s also not a standout. Fans of arcade-style brawlers will likely find some enjoyment, but it doesn’t quite live up to its potential.

Story
The story is fairly straightforward: a former criminal is mysteriously "revived" by a talking drone and sent on a mission to take down the bad guys in a city plagued by crime and corruption. It’s filled with dark conspiracies, bizarre elements, and over-the-top scenarios.
The narrative doesn’t take itself seriously - there are many references to classic action movies, packing in as many familiar tropes as possible. While some players might appreciate this approach, the execution is sometimes lacking.
Also, the writing... Yikes. The dialogue is so cringeworthy that it actually made me want to skip the entire story. It’s a mishmash of unfunny jokes and twitter-like "tough-guy" slang. Honestly, it’s pretty painful to sit through.

Gameplay
The combat system is simple yet satisfying, offering a variety of moves and environmental interactions. At its core, it revolves around a mix of light attacks, counters, rolls, and occasional heavy attacks when needed. You can also pick up weapons dropped by enemies or use the environment to your advantage (like crates, chairs, etc.).
As you progress, new abilities are unlocked, which helps keep the gameplay feeling fresh. Additionally, you can unlock two permanent weapons: a rope that pulls enemies closer and a handgun (mostly useless).
The game introduces a wide variety of enemies, with each new level featuring fresh foes. While this sounds appealing on paper, in practice, many of these enemies come with frustrating gimmicks. Some require you to rely on guns or explosives, which interrupts the flow of "normal" combat and can slow down the pacing.
On higher difficulty levels, enemies spawn with more guns and melee weapons, essentially forcing you into a "rat-like" playstyle - constantly rolling, countering, and using light attacks when possible. It quickly becomes less fun and more of a chore.
Each level offers five challenges, which you can attempt after completing the level (you can’t do them on your first run). These challenges aren't particularly engaging, but they do unlock cosmetics and perks that add modifiers to previously completed levels. While this feature is clearly designed to boost replay value, I didn't find it compelling enough to dive too deeply into.

Visuals
Midnight Fight Express adopts a stylized, top-down perspective, which is reminiscent of classic arcade brawlers. It may not be the prettiest, but it does its job well by maintaining a clean design, ensuring nothing important is obstructed during combat (poor camera-work does the obstruction instead).
The game offers a high variety of locations, enemy designs, and character customization options. While the models aren’t hyper-realistic, their exaggerated features and sharp, angular outlines make them stand out and give the game a distinctive look.
However, the level design could use some improvement. Progressing from one linear location to another quickly becomes repetitive, even if the environments are visually appealing. I’m not suggesting the game needs to be semi-open world, but it would benefit from more interactive elements or something to break up the monotony.
On the plus side, the overall animations are smooth and satisfying. There's clear attention to detail in how characters move and interact with their surroundings. Enemy reactions to hits are particularly gratifying - they stagger, fall, or crumple under well-timed blows. If you're looking for more intensity, you can even increase the blood effects in the settings to make the combat feel more brutal.

Audio
The soundtrack is entirely composed of electronic music, featuring genres like Darksynth and Mid-Tempo, perfectly complementing the fast-paced gameplay and nonstop action on screen. I’m a bit conflicted about it, though. While there are some memorable tracks, the continuous loop of similar-sounding electronic music can become repetitive after a few hours of play.
The sound effects, from the crack of bones to the sharp report of gunshots, are top-notch and do a great job of enhancing the game's immersion.
One major drawback, however, is the lack of voice acting. It’s a shame, because reading the dialogue during intense action sequences can be disrupting.

Technicalities
Aside from some wonky ragdoll physics and buggy animations in the final cutscene, I didn’t encounter any other issues.
Performance was solid throughout, maintaining a stable 144 FPS.

Children of Morta is a rogue-lite with RPG elements and optional co-op. It blends fast-paced combat with a short, family-centric story.
Initially, I was drawn in, but the more I played, the more flaws became apparent. The grind and RNG-based drops quickly wore me down, leaving me feeling fatigued. That said, the game isn't even bad. It's just too ambitious without ensuring that the core mechanics are solid.
Overall, I'd say it's an average title with a lot of untapped promise. Don't let my lack of recommendation deter you. I didn’t enjoy certain aspects of the game, but your experience may differ. If you're interested, consider waiting for a sale and giving it a try.

Story
The story is fairly simple. The Bergson family, residents of Mount Morta, protect the realm from evil. Every few hundred years, a destructive force known as the Corruption attacks their lands, and it's up to them to stop it.
It's a heartfelt tale about family bonds, love, and friendship. While it may not be a groundbreaking narrative (and is poorly written at times), you can tell the writers put genuine care into it.
The ending sucked though. Boring fight with the last boss, followed by unsatisfying closure.

Gameplay
Children of Morta is essentially a Diablo-style hack-and-slash with limited rolling. Most of your time is spent left-clicking and dodging enemies as you navigate randomly generated corridors. Not gonna lie, this quickly becomes repetitive. Progressing through two or three nearly identical stages just to reach a boss isn’t fun in the long run. You’ll rarely beat a level on your first try, and the game is designed to make you grind for levels and gold to upgrade your skills and stats. While this might not bother most players, it can become tiresome at times.
There are seven playable characters (you start with two, and unlock more as you progress through the story; plus one character from DLC). Each one has its own unique "gimmick," skills, and upgrades. However, the melee characters feel underpowered compared to their ranged counterparts, making them feel more like a handicap. And you NEED to play them at some point. There's a mechanic that will force you to switch characters, unless you want to deal with heavy debuffs.
Another issue is the enemies - they are too repetitive. The game introduces new enemy types gradually with each stage, but their attack patterns rarely change in any meaningful way. Bosses suffer from the same problem - they’re just giant damage sponges with AoE attacks. It’s hard to feel any satisfaction when defeating them.
To make your runs a bit easier, you can drop or buy various usable artifacts and passive bonuses. Unfortunately, most of these are underwhelming, and you're at the mercy of RNG for something useful.

Online
It was impossible to play with others due to constant lag. To make matters worse, players don't share progress, for some reason. I wouldn't be surprised if there are more issues.

Visuals
The pixel art is beautiful. You may love or hate this style, but it's hard not to appreciate the effort that went into designing the main hub (our home). The character designs are also well done.
Unfortunately, the level design doesn’t live up to that standard. The locations are mostly made up of simple corridors and rooms, with occasional mini-quests, scenes, and "puzzles" thrown in. It quickly becomes dull, and you’ll rarely come across anything visually striking.

Audio
The game’s aesthetic is complemented by a great soundtrack. It’s mostly laid-back, with the music shifting to something more intense during combat.
I also liked Ed Kelly as the narrator. While some may not like a narrator over full voice acting, you can’t deny that he did an excellent job.

Technicalities
I didn't encounter many issues with the game, aside from online play. The performance was great, with a stable 144 FPS, and there were almost no bugs (just a few minor glitches with enemy bodies and the UI).