This game pairs mechanics from metroidvanias and creature collectors in very interesting ways, and it does a far better job at both than it has any right to. As a pure metroidvania it benefits from tying the exploration abilities to creatures, because thorough exploration and collecting can get you access to new areas very rapidly, with quite a lot of postgame content being unlockable well before you actually reach the end of the game.

The levels of enemies are tied to map exploration when you first arrive in the room, so while there is some degree of "intended progression" attached to areas, and some areas have relatively high minimum levels, the level progression is likely to be reasonably smooth for most of your run, and you'll never enter a new area and find that the enemies are hopelessly weak because you missed a low level area 10 hours earlire.

The creatures have pretty robust skill trees, with quite a lot of differentiation. The combat system seems specifically designed to allow you to use synergies in ways that seem extremely overpowered, and mastering different combat styles feels quite fun.

I created a bird of doom that stacked basically every possible debuff in the game onto enemies in a single round, using a mixture of their skills, auras from their allies, and accessories. This was paired with abilities that reduce enemy damage dealt to my party for each debuff on them to take a party that seemed quite squishy, and make them remarkably sturdy.

Having the doom bird be the lynchpin of my combat strategy, that everything else revolved around, was not because the bird itself is that out of control. I found an aesthetic I liked early, and leaning hard into that aesthetic was extremely mechanically rewarding.

Overall the combat system, collection mechanics, and metroidvania elements worked together in an extremely satisfying way. Certainly the best creature collector game I've ever played, and one of the best turn based combat systems I've seen in general.

This game pairs mechanics from metroidvanias and creature collectors in very interesting ways, and it does a far better job at both than it has any right to. As a pure metroidvania it benefits from tying the exploration abilities to creatures, because thorough exploration and collecting can get you access to new areas very rapidly, with quite a lot of postgame content being unlockable well before you actually reach the end of the game. The levels of enemies are tied to map exploration when you first arrive in the room, so while there is some degree of "intended progression" attached to areas, and some areas have relatively high minimum levels, the level progression is likely to be reasonably smooth for most of your run, and you'll never enter a new area and find that the enemies are hopelessly weak because you missed a low level area 10 hours earlire. The creatures have pretty robust skill trees, with quite a lot of differentiation. The combat system seems specifically designed to allow you to use synergies in ways that seem extremely overpowered, and mastering different combat styles feels quite fun. I created a bird of doom that stacked basically every possible debuff in the game onto enemies in a single round, using a mixture of their skills, auras from their allies, and accessories. This was paired with abilities that reduce enemy damage dealt to my party for each debuff on them to take a party that seemed quite squishy, and make them remarkably sturdy. Having the doom bird be the lynchpin of my combat strategy, that everything else revolved around, was not because the bird itself is that out of control. I found an aesthetic I liked early, and leaning hard into that aesthetic was extremely mechanically rewarding. Overall the combat system, collection mechanics, and metroidvania elements worked together in an extremely satisfying way. Certainly the best creature collector game I've ever played, and one of the best turn based combat systems I've seen in general.