Greak: Memories of Azur

I was debating with myself on whether to give Greak a thumbs up or not, because it's very flawed. But, in the end, I think it can be quite enjoyable, as long as you have the patience.

It's feels very much like a "mini Hollow Knight". However, it's inferior in practically every aspect: it's much smaller and the levels are generally less interesting, although there are some really cool puzzles. Combat is generally mediocre, though the boss fights are fun (and easy).

Where it really carves its own identity is in that it has you play multiple characters, sometimes together. When it works well, it's awesome. But, the controls too often get in the way when the characters are together. Characters can easily fall out of formation, forcing you to constantly herd them all together. There's no interesting challenge in this, it's just a pure annoyance.

But probably the worst offender is the save system. There are very few save points in the game, and it's fairly easy to die due to a silly mistake, forcing you to replay sections again and again. This includes cut scenes, which are unskippable.

I feel like the game could have use more time in the oven: to polish the controls, playtest the combat, and maybe elaborate on some of its systems. The cooking system, for example, seems quite ... undercooked. There's also very little RPG-like progression. Almost none, really.

All in all, I did have a nice time with this little metroidvania, but I can imagine it being unappealing to some players.