Laika: Aged through Blood is a diamond in the rough.

While dirtbike stunt games and metroidvanias are fun on their own, combining the two and adding an incredibly strong narrative, soundtrack, and art direction was nothing short of inspired.

Overall the gameplay is phenomenal, combat is a tight puzzle of shoot before you're shot in the vein of classic Westerns, and the various gimmicks that define areas keep things feeling fresh throughout the game. Controlling your bike, your weapon, avoiding shots, and making sure you stick the landing can be overwhelming to some players, but to those who take time to learn the game it can feel immensely badass.

While you're out being a badass, you're never alone. You check in with home every so often, and the village Where You Live is host to a variety of loveable characters, all of whom you can do sidequests for. It goes a long way for establishing the setting, the stakes, and making you realize this isn't just some individualist revenge fantasy--this is someone with the power and skill to fight for her community, turning revenge into liberation as far as she can see it through.

The writing overall has very strong and well executed themes of anti-colonialism and anti-imperialism, through drawing stark contrasts between the consumerist authoritarian empire and the humble mutualist people of your village. While the overarching themes made me step back and go "wow" the connection to the characters in the world and Laika's own journey was enough to bring me to tears at least three times as the game loaded an emotional gut punch and let it fly, no holding back.

Graphically, the art is gorgeous. Everything is beautiful and crisp. Locations are distinct while still feeling cohesive, and character design is top notch. Animations feel crisp and lend a lot to the feel of gameplay, from a letterbox style vignette when shooting, to viscera flying, and even to when you faceplant by accident.

The music is some of Beicoli's finest. I think this is actually a great place for her style, and she does a great job between the in-universe mixtapes and less diagetic boss music. It gives the entire game a contemporary, soft western feel, which lends an undercurrent of emotionality to everything even as you're delivering death, red and visceral to the birds that wronged your people.

The worst I can say about this game is there felt to be a little bit much repetition, and it could have benefited from another area or two in order to mitigate the feeling of backtracking, especially when doing quests. Some areas are also more frustrating than challenging, and I can see players falling off after a certain boss fight or two. There is also a bit of a crunch when entering the final act, and it feels like we should have been able to play our way to a city rather than simply teleporting there. Finally, the boss music for the final boss was underwhelming, trending ambient like the other boss fights rather than the fanfare I would have expected given the circumstances of the fight.

If you like metroidvanias and don't mind some challenge here or there, and greatly appreciate strong narratives with great art and sound, this one is for you.