I originally played the demo, then backed it during the crowdfunding phase but only now got around to playing it.
In that time, the game went on sale a few times, making it cheaper than what I paid, but after playing to 100% now, I can say: Definitely worth every penny.

The combat is innately satisfying, and gets progressively more difficult. At the start you can mow down enemies with ease, turning them to mush. Later on, they are not pushovers anymore. You learn their patterns, and have to react accordingly.

The parry mechanic is central, and what the game focuses around. Other than not taking damage, you store charges which can at a later point be applied to the enemy, and finally make them explode.
This also plays into the difficulty: While earlier this is quite simple (Parry - Explode repeatedly, no breathing room for the enemy), later the long time to detonation becomes a big problem. Sure, you parried the first attack, but the next will hit you if you try to detonate the charges.

That doesn't mean you should stop using them - the sword barely does damage, the explosion is up until the end (together with the bow, which only has limited ammo) the main damage dealer.
Instead: You need to "git gud" figure out when exactly you have time to parry, do damage, or, if needed, heal.

The difficulty rises quite slowly in the beginning, with the game proper starting only after the second boss fight. Don't worry though, there are plenty more to do. The last boss fight especially is a significant difficulty jump. Some have criticized that, but I think its great! Like, it's the final boss. If it's just "a bit" harder, thats boring. And in the end, it all just comes down to learning the patterns. I died to that boss for about half an hour almost immediately, but at some point I knew what was going to come next. I got reliably further and further into the fight, until I won. To 100% the game I did the fight again, and finished in my first try. I'm not saying its easy: I'm saying it's hard to learn, but once you do, it *becomes* easy.

I don't want to mention the story too much, because I think going in blind is best, especially considering it's quite good. Very brutal / gorey at times though, so if that makes you uncomfortable, that might be a reason to give the game a pass.

I heard the map system got patched at some point, and used to be very meh to annoying. No clue how the system used to look like, but if you see reviews mentioning this, it's gone. Map design is great, lots of connected pathways, and some secrets (with looooots of lore >_>).

All in all a great game, would definitely recommend to anyone who's into Metroidvanias and good combat.

I originally played the demo, then backed it during the crowdfunding phase but only now got around to playing it. In that time, the game went on sale a few times, making it cheaper than what I paid, but after playing to 100% now, I can say: Definitely worth every penny. The combat is innately satisfying, and gets progressively more difficult. At the start you can mow down enemies with ease, turning them to mush. Later on, they are not pushovers anymore. You learn their patterns, and have to react accordingly. The parry mechanic is central, and what the game focuses around. Other than not taking damage, you store charges which can at a later point be applied to the enemy, and finally make them explode. This also plays into the difficulty: While earlier this is quite simple (Parry - Explode repeatedly, no breathing room for the enemy), later the long time to detonation becomes a big problem. Sure, you parried the first attack, but the next will hit you if you try to detonate the charges. That doesn't mean you should stop using them - the sword barely does damage, the explosion is up until the end [spoiler] (together with the bow, which only has limited ammo) [/spoiler] the main damage dealer. Instead: You need to "git gud" figure out when exactly you have time to parry, do damage, or, if needed, heal. The difficulty rises quite slowly in the beginning, with the game proper starting only after the second boss fight. Don't worry though, there are plenty more to do. The last boss fight especially is a significant difficulty jump. Some have criticized that, but I think its great! Like, it's the final boss. If it's just "a bit" harder, thats boring. And in the end, it all just comes down to learning the patterns. I died to that boss for about half an hour almost immediately, but at some point I knew what was going to come next. I got reliably further and further into the fight, until I won. To 100% the game I did the fight again, and finished in my first try. I'm not saying its easy: I'm saying it's hard to learn, but once you do, it *becomes* easy. I don't want to mention the story too much, because I think going in blind is best, especially considering it's quite good. Very brutal / gorey at times though, so if that makes you uncomfortable, that might be a reason to give the game a pass. I heard the map system got patched at some point, and used to be very meh to annoying. No clue how the system used to look like, but if you see reviews mentioning this, it's gone. Map design is great, lots of connected pathways, and some secrets (with looooots of lore >_>). All in all a great game, would definitely recommend to anyone who's into Metroidvanias and good combat.