Column on the Sea

This is one of those games that as soon as I started it, I knew it was something special, and the developer really knows what they're doing. This game is simple on the surface, a fairly minimal art and music style without a ton of "flair" to it, but moment to moment it feels so smooth and it's a joy to play. The controls are easy, my one complaint is the only keybinding is not what I would've chosen and can't be changed, but this is far from ruining the experience. The movement feels sort of like a retro Nintendo game which works really well with the level design and I never feel like I'm fighting the controls. But where the game really shines is in the story, dialogue, and world building. The world feels cohesive and alive from the beginnning, and feels varied and dynamic despite the limited color palette. The story isn't anything super groundbreaking so far but the setting is really interesting. And in particular, the dialogue is excellent. It feels silly and lighthearted without ev...

I didn't enjoy it all that much. I understand that it imitates old-school games, but it also imitates some of their problems and thus it becomes a chore to play. The combat is clunky, with bad collision detection and attack animations that can't be canceled, bosses are damage sponges (the final boss especially is a slog) and you never feel powerful even after getting most of the upgrades. The spells seem interchangeable and barely useful, mostly used to break doors down. The exploration feels like a chore as well, because of all the backtracking that leads to minimal rewards. And the grating soundtrack and overly long, unskippable dialogues are annoying as well. Some things are just weird too, like toggling the run on and off despite there being no reason to walk instead of running, at all. However, under all that jank there's a somewhat nice metroidvania, though not a particularly original one.

Slow-paced and repetitive. I kept thinking that second part was going to change, but it never really did.

Not the best looking, sounding or playing indie Metroidvania on Steam, but the game has a lot of heart. The solo dev who made it certainly had fun doing so, and it clearly comes across.

[i]---see where this game landed on my Metroidvania tier list beneath this review!---[/i] Column on the Sea is a totally obscure minimalist metroidvania that feels a bit like a gameboy/NES game. I played it on the harder difficulty, and it took me about 12 hours to complete. The game consists of a main hub with areas/biomes branching off of it. You will return to these areas for collectables that you may lack the upgrade to get on the initial pass. Most powerups are unfortunately glorified keys, but there are a few exceptions (mostly stock standard). You don't map as you go, but rather you acquire an areas map when you find the map room contained within it. Each area also has a compass room, which will reveal collectables that you haven't found yet. I found this system to work fine, I was rarely confused on where to try and explore. Sometimes you might miss the map room in a biome and struggle to get your bearing for a little bit, but none of this felt egregious to me, I enjo...

If 2 or more of these descriptions fit you, you should buy this. - You like Metroidvanias - You like humor - You like very hard bosses - You like women protagonists - You like red beans and pasta - You appreciate near pixel-perfect combat I just beat this game in 10 hours(according to the end game card) on the 2nd hardest difficulty.

This is a really good action / adventure / metroidvania. Don't really have any major complaints tbh. The difficulty is adjustable so you can play however YOU want to play and the art is quite nice. Highly recommended.

There seems to be little attention/reviews for this one - so I'll throw in my $0.02! This game does a great job of blending the vibes of games from the NES/Gameboy era and gives it a modern sheen with the art style of a cartoon (the developer is primarily a cartoonist). The gameplay consists primarily of classic Metroidvania elements with both projectile and hack-n-slash combat. The story and characters are a lot of fun and it's all well written - makes you want to play and finish the game. While I had a few minor quirks with this (I do wish you could remap the controls for example), this game has a lot of heart and soul and does much more right than wrong. If you're looking for a solid Metroidvania that feels like both a homage to the NES era and cartoons then this is well worth checking out. Hopefully the developer decides to make another game at some point!

"Column on the Sea" is the kind of game I am always excited to play: a game none talk about and have less than 10 reviews on Steam. I know it sounds wrong I wish to play games which didn't have a high recognition from the gaming community, but hey, I like to discover new unknown stuff. Laika and Erhardt, a group of treasure hunters, reach the lost ruins of Big Twin Island and find its many secrets and riches. Laika is indeed the little girl who holds the big freaking knife, ready to use it to unexpected monsters and other foes. Erhardt stayed behind on their ship to give moral support and headaches to Laika. The story has many anime tropes present which either you hate or love. Yes, there is even a scene where Laika complains that it is normal to have small boobs (because she is under 18 you see…) and it is a running gag for a long duration in the game. There are also some references to other games but they don't hit the mark… An early tip on the house: go to the options and...

OK, a word of caution, 8 of the 23 hours spent on this game involved the game being minimized. Anyway, This is a standard size metroidvania, and one of the cheapest ones you can find at that category. That's because the quality of the game is significantly lower than its peers. To put it in other words: This is the poor man's metroidvania. The good: - Fun well-written story - True metroidvania gameplay - No unity lag - good metroidvania world design The bad: - Poor physics - Poor enemy design - Poor combat design - Atrocious music - Too few savepoints in the last third of the game. - Mallus's undead flying sperm (found in the upper column). - Worst boss rush ever designed - Poor Map design. Ultimately, this comes close to getting a recommendation and manages to accomplish purely by being unaffected by the post oct 2022 regional pricing changes. Still, you are going to wonder around and get lost and die until you finally find where the map item is. This process will repeat with ea...