8Doors: Arum's Afterlife Adventure

So we are going seriously indie with this one and most people have probably never even heard of it. I know that I hadn't but after finishing what I consider to be one of the best games I have played in a year, Ender Lilies, I was really in a search for another Metroidvania game.

8Doors came up as a suggestion on someone's video mashup so I figured I'd give it a shot.

So far it is ok, but deeply flawed in a number of ways that I am probably being a bit harsh about given what I just finished playing.

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From what I have read this game is based on Korean folklore and what happens to your soul when you die. So that part of it is pretty cool. Also, the art style is unique and the music is above average as well. Again, to someone that hasn't played Ender Lilies these things might seem even better and I will readily admit that I am being overly critical of this game based largely on the fact that it is not Ender Lilies and yes, I realize that this is unfair.

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you progress in this game like you would in any game by moving up and around a map occasionally encountering things that you can't yet get past and this is intentional because you are meant to return to the later when you have the correct item or powerup that you will obtain later on.

Your weapon set starts out quite basic with just a scythe and no distance attacks, but this all changes as you would expect later in the game. You get abilities to jump higher and throw projectiles... you know, the usual Metroidvania stuff. The scenery is quite dreary for the most part but this is part of the story and how you are a visitor in Purgatory and are not supposed to be there. You are one of the few living creatures in this environment.

All of this is fine and dandy but let's get to the stuff that I don't like about it.

Difficulty slider is absurd

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This is one of the first bosses you will face in the game and that is why I feature him here. He is the 2nd out of dozens of bosses and therefore, on a normal setting he should be something you defeat in a couple of tries if not your first try. On the "normal" setting I had a go at this boss over 20 times before I eventually gave up and contemplated not playing the game anymore. To make matters worse, this boss isn't immediately next to a save point so you have to trudge through a bunch of trivial enemies in order to even start the battle at full health. If a boss is going to be this tough, you need to have the ability to begin the fight directly next to them. That, I think, has kind of become a gaming standard as of late and 8Doors frequently does not do this.

I ended up restarting the game on "story mode" instead of "normal" - which is the only lower setting and it's just stupid to me that this cannot be changed mid game, you have to start over to activate it.... WHY?

Anyway, in story mode the game because about 1/10 as difficult and you can basically mad button mash your way to victory with every enemy I have encountered including bosses, in the entire game. This is just poor design.

"Warp points" are too far apart

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I have the entire map but I am not going to show it for the sake of spoilers. The map is relatively big for an indie game and based on the name of the game how many "fast travel warp points" do you suppose their are in the game? Well if you guessed 8 you would be correct.

This is far too few and what it results in is a ton of backtracking and slogging through platforming sections that were fun the first half-dozen times you did them but later they are just tedious. Plus, if you leave a zone the enemies respawn and some of them after the 308th time you kill them are just boring. You quickly find yourself just avoiding combat even if it means taking damage in the process. There is no leveling up in this game so the only incentive to kill mobs over and over is to get money and just like in Hollow Knight you quickly run out of things to actually purchase.

One of the worst things that a Metroidvania game can do is to have combat become repetitive and tedious and because of the level design this is precisely what ends up happening.

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Overall impression

I feel like 8Doors is an OK game but like I said before I realize that I am being very judgmental largely because of the fact that the MV game I played just before this one was just so amazing that almost anything seems like garbage in comparison.

Overall this game might appeal to the hardcore metroidvania fan and I have every intention of completing it but only on story mode, the flaw with "normal" being as difficult as it is really is kind of game-breaking in my opinion. If you really love MV's and this game is on special, I would say it might be worth $5-$10 or so.