Catalyst: From The Stars

hate to leave a negative review for a scrappy indie game like this but it has some pretty big issues that stop it from being enjoyable for me [list] [*] the settings menu has three sliders, two for volume and one for difficulty - no way to control mouse sensitivity or acceleration (this is patched over with the lock-on mechanic, but i'm not a fan of how much that affects player movement and awareness) [*] your main defensive options are parrying and dodging, but... [*] enemy animations are very stiff and jerky, making it difficult to read their attacks and prepare to parry at the right time [*] enemy hitboxes seem dubious at times, with attacks covering huge arcs while the enemies jump and dash all over the place, making the previous problem worse [*] successful parry feedback is very subtle, with no visual feedback at all [*] getting hurt tints the screen red, once for every tick of damage and maybe proportionately to damage taken? so when a boss like the back...

This game is a gorgeous game featuring beautiful ps1 style graphics, crunched down sfx and a beautiful soundtrack. The gameplay can be a bit tough to grasp at first but once you understand it, it clicks together so well. You can dash, jump, strafe, shoot, melee and parry. As you shoot and parry you build heat and then heat can be used with melee to do insane damage to the bosses. This game is a really well done game and I recommend it to anyone who wants a fun ps1 styled boss rush!