katana zero - 8/10
drugs are bad except they really do enhance your performance
an immensely solid 2d platformer with a sort of hotline miami-inspired design philosophy, and arguably hotline miami-inspired story, but, like, if hotline miami's story was actually captivating and not locked entirely behind having to do eighteen backflips and enter a building you've never heard of before. it's a short, sweet little thing, with plenty of reasons to come back and keep snacking. like pringles, but every third chip is a mousetrap. you can eventually start recognising the mousetraps and deviously avoid them, and it makes you feel godly, even if the time spent getting to that point can be somewhat frustrating and painful.
completing a level in this game makes me feel an elation that few of these one-hit instant-restart dealies do; i feel like i'm always in complete control, and everything is precise and honed, and if i do something once, it'll be perfectly open to repeated completion with little to no variance in the result. the consistency of this game should be lauded, and it makes you feel like you're walking on air if you have strategies in your mind for each room as you clear them. a first play of this game is putting on your training wheels and having a bit quick cycle through the neighbourhood; you might fall off and scrape your knees, but once you're done, it's been a valuable learning experience. the many, many times that you continue to cycle without training wheels afterwards only feel more and more rewarding as you hone your skills.
truly wonderful game. bring out the damn dlc already i beg.
