The Last Faith

When I played this game's demo I thought it was a cheap product, but revisiting it on release it's a good metroidvania - above average. Reviews will talk about the Castlevania and Bloodborne influences, but really this game is like if a team played Blasphemous and said, Hey- We can do that too! And they did a great job. Comparing it to Blasphemous then, my initial gripe with TLF was the controls and feeling. It doesn't have the same feeling of physics/weight to your movements, and generally, is not crafted with as much care and love as Blaphemous. Yet I'm impressed because they did some things better! It has pixel art cutscenes. It has voice acting. IMO, the content is of a more consistent quality- higher lows, and lower highs. The balance of powers and upgrades is better, in that fewer of them are essentially useless, but the progression is strange and rough-feeling. I guess designing a game like this presents a lot of complications with regard to when you get different movement upgrades and weapons/powers. So the beginning is more linear, and there are few spell and weapon choices, but the very end gives you a bunch of cool stuff that is almost pointless because there's barely anything left to do. This game is notable for having an ice-themed area which expands into actually three huge ice areas. And they are a pain in the a**. The status effects like burn, electrify, bleed, do not occur half as often as FREEZE will. This creates a balance issue, because resistances are tied to stats, and freeze resist is tied to strength. So, a strength build will probably afford a smoother playthrough than what I did. While the game lets you begin with a dexterity, gun, or spell based class, make no mistake, you will be relying on your weapon and basic attack. The secrets are inferior to Blasphemous, but no worse than Blasphemous 2 from what I can tell, so I think the devs deserves a fair amount of credit here. I didn't pay attention to the lore, but they put effort in.

Still playing this game, and I have to say, it's got potential. This is what you get when you cross Castlevania with Bloodborne and, it does work. The pixel graphics are crisp and the atmosphere works. Boss battles are epic, however once you learn their patterns, they become easy. My issue, however, is how buggy it is. Disappearing enemies, (even bosses during a fight vanish, The Nightmare Hydra is the worst for this), is the biggest problem I've encountered so far, that and at spawn points (where you face off with waves of enemies), some of them vanish through the floor or wall and can't be reached, trapping you, and forcing you to restart your game. Bugs aside, I think with some polishing up, it could be much better. Overall, a worth effort. I like it.

Incredibly interesting Metroidvania, with much influence of Bloodborne. Good graphiuc for the style, interesting bosses, nice music (great sound effects, your footsteps change based on location), simple yet fun fighting mechanics (can be punishing if you are accustomed to invincibility frames after falling down), althou it could better show special atacks of weapons, I learned about it just before last boss, after defeating secret boss!

It has everything one metroidvania needs, map, bosses, quests. I like its style, as it is very gothic and kinda reminds me of Bloodborne at some points. Highly recommended