I MUST WORK (but I am really enjoying it so far) will update review when I am further along, but at this price point, and for someone that grew up in this NES + era, this is a no brainer purchase for me personally. Also the play controls are responsive and fun with an XBOX controller.

It feels like an XXL Super Super Game Boy Color game mixed with NES Metroid with combat being not a centerpiece of the experience. It's novel and cool.

first impression 2 hours in

really liking the added movement from the first game as well as the allure of purchasable upgrades. spent most of my time trying to clip through walls so havent fought any bosses yet but we move!


addendum (finished the game):

Alruna End of History is another uniquely open Metroidvania in a very compact package. The overall map is small but very condensed. Almost every room has a purpose which leads to very satisfying moment-to-moment gameplay. You're never going to be more than 2 screens without having enemies to fight, a collectIble to find or a puzzle to solve.

This is a game that is heavily complimented by multiple playthroughs. Its open and short-length nature leads to a surprising amount of freedom. There's a lot of room for theorizing the many ways to go about completing it, as well as 75 hidden droplets to find and use to purchase a large selection of perks ranging from movement, attack and defense. With 5 total permanent inventory items, I believe only 1 to 2 could be needed to complete the game with enough time. This allows for a lot of cool sequence-breaking and other skips, but can potentially lock you out of game completion for that file. This only happened to me one time when I found an unintentional (?) way to enter a boss room backwards and entirely negate the dungeon. This resulted in a key-item trigger being skipped altogether, making it impossible to obtain. I highly doubt this specific scenario is likely for a normal playthrough, but be aware of the consequences when you really push the limits of what can be done. I personally didn't mind since you can almost always get back to where you were in a matter of minutes. It may not be a game for everyone but it certainty is for me.

Comparisons to the original (If you've played it) are unavoidable. I personally enjoyed the items and map of the first game more, but found the story and movement better here. Alruna gains multiple double-jumps as well as a Metroid-style super dash that adds a fast multi-screen flying tool to your wide control arsenal. While Necro-Industrialists locked you of your file after game completion, End of History let's you return to your latest save point, allowing you to finish with 100% if desired.

Combat is the one part of the game I'd say is weaker in every aspect for me. Your Castlevania-inspired melee thorn whip is replaced with a new 8-way ranged projectile that can be temporarily powered up with different elements and used to solve puzzles. I found enemy combat to be surprisingly slow. It takes about 4-5 shots to kill many of the basic enemies, which completely halts the otherwise very fast flow of gameplay. There is a way to dash through enemies during their invulnerability but it's not consistently doable and somewhat situational. Returning from the first game is a lack of i-frames. You can easily find yourself stun-locked to death by various enemies. It can definitely be frustrating and feel unfair much of the time. Adding a little bit of invincibility would go a long way. I also think the game severely lacked enemies that offered any real threat from afar. Most of them will throw stuff at you but most shots go nowhere. Unfortunately, I found the secret(?) Boss quick-kill move on the very first one, so I didn't really have a reason to play them normally after. It does make for less time to spend during a timed run, but it takes away the fun of trying to beat them as fast as possible with your limited items. This is more of a personal preference than a "critique" of the game but something I found worth mentioning.

I 100% recommend this to any Metroidvania fans. It offers a unique experience you won't find in almost any other game. The story and themes are meaningful and maybe even challenging at times. Dungeons are very tight-knit with many different mechanics and puzzle elements to explore. Movement is fast and satisfying to pull off. Add some charming pixel art and music along the way and you end up with a pretty great game. Overall, End of History as well as its predecessor are two absolute gems that I feel are a must-play for any sidescroller or retro game lovers.

Fun little Metroidvania, at about 3 1/2 hours to finish it's a nice bite sized game that will entertain you for a night or two

some clever systems and a responsive moveset allow you to get places earlier than you probably should

definitely worth a play