Recent reviews by -

boring slop

Can't rebind the keys, yes tried going thru steam. It "worked" but was still doing the old input as well.

this is the most fun i have ever had gaming in my adult life, i also cried a little

extraqueerwarioware<3

Please keep taking the risks you seem to enjoy @dev. I see how different the first level is from the Undead Asylum, despite what another review says. The breakable wall, the keys, the section that drops down but you can climb it. Amazing level design, and not just stuff I've seen in Dark Souls.

This game crashes over and over on 40xx series graphics cards when otherwise running smooth and at max fps. Do not purchase this game. It is unplayable in this state.

Game started off so snappy and addicting after a quick rebind to D-pad thru steam.
Upgrades don't hold your hand in explanation, and there's multiple optional ones for us players who like to explore.
Bosses are fun to mash against once you learn their patterns and find the window.
Short n' sweet game with great music! (non100% save file with "bad" ending was like 6 hours for me)

7 / 10

Sooo those 3 missed points tho- I understand there's a level of slight jank that comes with a small indie project. The very active and cool dev even offered to help me fix my save file after a bug I had where an item duplicated. The game also lets you pick the kind of jump you prefer, not sure I've ever seen that, but I wish the dev would have just designed the game around one of them instead. This so far I can all deal with. The map however is unacceptable in 2025. It's non-gridded and shows the entire room when you enter it, this makes it really hard to remember where I haven't fully explored. 2nd, the death system isn't clear or enough of a mechanic at all. 3rd, and maybe controversial for the SotN lovers, but the quests and endings are far to obtuse for me to really get any satisfaction out of them. I just went with the "bad" obvious ending because I quickly get sick of needle in the haystack type content, nor do I enjoy following a guide. Maybe there was another upgrade I didn't find that would have helped with 100%ing, but the mask I did find didn't do much. Once the map looked like I had gone in every room it was time to fight what's maybe an intentionally easy boss and move on. Looking forward to more games from ya, thanks Wendoo!

Somehow Celeste didn't grab me when I played it years ago, to the point that I was a bit bitter with how much everyone else seemed to get out of it. It's too fitting that all I needed for the game to click was to listen to my friends, and try again. The puzzle hearts, secret rooms, and depth of movement really impressed me. I had no idea this game featured these elements at all as it's a linear platformer, and not an action adventure game. I have played many metroidvanias, a genre partially built on secret rooms and movement, that fail to execute these design elements at this caliber.

10 / 10

Your mountain will be there when you are ready to climb it.

can't wait !

I am learning one should really only buy the 3D souls games FROM the source, but I trust in these indie 2D souls-likes. I have found some rough gems among the search action enjoyers, and with Death's Gambit we have another.

The combat depth, mostly the various weapon abilities, were a blast to mess around with in an attempt to create a build. I wish these synergistic options extended into the armor and skill trees more. It kind of looked like other weapons had some support in the trees, but I went spear in my main play through. I mostly found myself spending my talent points in the optional advanced tree, which provide general buffs. The magic was also great with this ability system. You create and combine different elemental orbs together for various effects. I love when a game actually has you put some components together to cast a spell, not just press button to shoot missile.

The optional heroic fights add to the non-linear nature of Death's Gambit, and were also just really fun. The heroic versions of bosses have similar but expanded movesets. Thankfully not just more damage and health. A few of the heroic fights even give you a surprising upgrade after beating them. I wish that was always the case, but all in all this is a unique way to introduce optional challenging fights, and even more so with game changing rewards.

Lastly, a handful of complaints. The map sucks. It's non-gridded and shows you the entire area right when you walk in which makes it hard to know where you haven't been. The game can't seem to run higher than 60fps and is slightly blurry when moving. I got used to it, but it's not ideal, especially when the pixel art is this good. "Ending A" was fun to set up, but not so fun to execute. Running around areas I have already been, watching emotional cutscenes for characters, and answering questions to see if I paid attention to the game are not why I am playing this game so they should not be the bulk of the ending. I am here for the exploration and boss fights. Speaking of boss fights, Ashe's fight is so awkwardly left in the game instead of leading up to Thalamus. Something that was very much needed as the last part of "Ending A" is quite messy in general. The build up to, towering leveling before, and fight with Endless, the normal ending, feels much much better in comparison to the extended ending I chose to go for.

I know I left that off on kind of a negative note, but when I have this much to say about a game it means I love it and I want it to be all that it can be <3

8 / 10

I play lots of games like this, but never with *these* default controls. This game does not let me change them in game so I will not be playing it.

refund / 10