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9 Years of Shadows

9 Years of Shadows is an emotionally-driven Metroidvania, enhanced by healing music that tells the story of Europa, a young woman of noble birth tasked with ending the curse that plagues her people and restoring color to all lands.

Community

Storyline

A fateful night of sorrow and ancient magic changed the life of a young child forever, and with it, everything else as mankind knew it. For 9 long years, the world has been submerged in the deepest of shadows, robbing every object and living creature of their color, their joy, and most importantly, hope. Many brave souls have tried to venture inside the corrupting depths of Talos Castle, a long-abandoned orphanage from which the curse stemmed. All have failed, except for one. Armed with little other than her halberd and sheer nerve, Europa’s daunting quest is clear: enter the castle, find the source of darkness, and return color to the lands before it is too late.

Trailers

Screenshots

Mostly Positive

3,092 Steam reviews

Review History

Reviews

3,092 total

≥h

Steam User 9087STEAMRecommended

charming and comfortable game 10/10 (i love metroidvanias so much)

Mar 28, 2026·12h·Verified

Steam User 8325STEAMRecommended

Perfect game as an introduction to metroidvanias, otherwise its kinda eh, i reccomend it only if its on sale cuz its really short. Music somehow sounds like what you'd hear in a megaten which made the experience much better, bosses were funny although the actual combat is really basic. Visually the game is beautiful. Level design is what ruins this game imo, its linear with some backtracking and thats it. Overrall i'd say its a 6/7 out of 10

Mar 26, 2026·7h·Verified

Steam User 2522STEAMRecommended

Just finished 100%ing this game and to be honest, its a good game. I will probably recommend this game as an introduction to metroidvanias to newer players, as the game is just that. Its a text-book metroidvania that will show you what the genre is all about without getting high on the difficulty scale.
It has a beautiful aesthetic to it, paired with an amazing 90s art-style, that in my opinion is sadly ruined by the modern UI.

Very few non-gamebreaking bugs aside, if you find this game on sale and you've always wanted to give metroidvanias a go, but are too afraid due to time commitments or difficulty, just grab it and you won't regret it.

Mar 25, 2026·15h

Steam User 9577STEAMRecommended

Pretty cool game overall, the visuals and the pixel art cinematics are amazing my biggest issue is how is this game so buggy it actually has some game breaking issues with it that need to be fixed

Mar 25, 2026·12h

Steam User 3944STEAMRecommended

---{ Graphics }---
☐ You forget what reality is
☑ Beautiful
☐ Good
☐ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS

---{ Gameplay }---
☐ Masterpiece
☑ Very good
☐ Good
☐ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't

---{ Audio }---
☐ Eargasm
☑ Very good
☐ Good
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf

---{ Audience }---
☐ Kids
☑ Teens
☑ Adults
☐ Grandma

---{ PC Requirements }---
☐ Check if you can run Paint
☑ Potato
☐ Decent
☐ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer

---{ Game Size }---
☐ Floppy Disk
☑ Old Fashioned
☐ Workable
☐ Big
☐ Will eat 15% of your 1TB hard drive
☐ You will want an entire hard drive to hold it
☐ You will need to invest in a black hole to hold all the data

---{ Difficulty }---
☐ Just press 'W'
☐ Easy
☐ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☑ Significant brain usage
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls

---{ Grind }---
☑ Nothing to grind
☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☐ Isn't necessary to progress
☐ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ You'll need a second life for grinding

---{ Story }---
☐ No Story
☐ Some lore
☐ Average
☐ Good
☑ Lovely
☐ It'll replace your life
☐ Did not finish

---{ Game Time }---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☐ Short
☑ Average
☐ Long
☐ To infinity and beyond

---{ Price }---
☐ It's free!
☐ Worth the price
☑ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money

---{ Bugs }---
☐ Never heard of
☑ Minor bugs
☐ Can get annoying
☐ ARK: Survival Evolved
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs

---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☐ 7
☐ 8
☐ 9
☑ 10

Mar 24, 2026·16h

Steam User 2592STEAMRecommended

A fun if a bit flawed Metroidvania that doesn't add much more to the formula. As long as you don't mind that, and a bit of jank from lacking details like a map that tells you where to find collectibles or show obstructions that you need specific abilities to remove, then you should have a good time.

Mar 24, 2026·10h

Steam User 1484STEAMRecommended

Only recommend this when it’s on sale, I don’t really think it’s worth $20. $8 for 8 hours to 100% complete it isn’t bad. Gameplay pretty much boils down to press attack button until the enemy explodes, bosses look cools some of them will definitely have you sitting up. Visuals are great and the sound track is a banger. 7/10

Mar 23, 2026·9h·Verified

Steam User 0774STEAMRecommended

8/10

Mar 22, 2026·14h·Verified

Steam User 1326STEAMNot recommended

Comienza interesante pero se vuelve enferemizamente exigente rapidamente

Mar 21, 2026·22h·Verified

Steam User 4831STEAMRecommended

9 years of shadows doesn't sound that bad, that's everyday for a guy like me

Mar 21, 2026·10h

Steam User 3977STEAMRecommended

6 / 10. Ambitious, but plagued with annoying issues

9 Years of Shadows is a really ambitious Metroidvania that tries to go full head with the classic Castlevania series. The graphics and soundtrack are gorgeous and the animation and movement feel very fluent, like that of a very well polished game. But...

The main issue that this game has, is a big inconsistency in timing. Setting the game to VSync, does nothing as the framerate will be allover the place. So, instead you must use a multiple of 60 to have a playable experience (I've used 120 FPS). Why? Because the controller buttons do not register every time. This is a huge issue as the game is fast-paced and require some precise timings for some zones and bosses. It also internally crashes after some cut-scenes making you wonder what is going on. It happened at the very beginning, a few times during the game and exactly after the last boss, making me replay the last boss just to get the last achievement.

The other issue, is the core game mechanic, namely the shared health and mana pool (blood magic). While not the worst mechanic that I've seen by any means, it shows it's limitations in certain boss fights (like the water and fire bosses). While others commented that it requires you to get good at dodging the bosses' attacks, all it does is make you understand the downtime in animations. If you get your light exhausted and there's a few seconds between attacks then you recharge and just yolo. There's no strategy here. You need to understand that certain bosses have a weakness to a certain armor and when you can recharge your light.

To be honest, there are a lot of small quirks with this game that gradually erode your satisfaction with it. While it is greatly inspired by other Metroidvania games it does not copy the fun factor. Here are a couple of the most annoying issues that I've faced:
- there are just two attack combos, X+X+X+Y and a charged X. Do this for 8+ hours...
- game is very linear. While it unlocks new areas based on armors, it is not a free-roaming game
- an over-usage of combos from different armors to traverse certain zones
- map legend is not that useful. There's no indication of whether you forgot something important once you've been somewhere
- some bosses don't have save points nearby
- fast-travelling is a bit hindered. It only gets ok with the last armor.
- unskippable elevator scenes and some issues after elevators as the controller does not register any buttons during these scenes and a short time after

Other recommendations:
- same perspective: the classic Metroidvania-age Castlevania games (Aria and Down of Sorrow, Symphony of the Night, Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, etc.), Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, Super Metroid, the Shantae series, Dust: An Elysian Tail, the Guacamelee games, etc.
- classic linear action-platformer: Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, Castlevania Bloodlines, Faxanadu, the Ninja gaiden (side-scroller) series
- a weird mix of different genres: Dex
- Metroidvanias with different perspectives or themes: Castlevania: Curse of Darkness, the Soul Reaver series, the Resident Evil series

Mar 21, 2026·14h·1

Steam User 7048STEAMRecommended

Maybe it's just because I haven't played a metroidvania in awhile, but I really enjoyed 9 Years of Shadows. While it is definitely not the largest or most challenging metroidvania out there, I found it to be a very satisfying game. I liked the armor system that gave you different elemental powers and movement abilities. I also liked the way that you can match your element to the elemental weakness of enemies.

I also really liked how the game looked. It has a very nice pixel art style that was enjoyable. The story was also decent, but probably not the best part of the game, even if I did still enjoy it.

If I did have a complaint, I just wished there was a bit more to the game. More combat abilities, a wider variety of enemies other than just different elemental versions of each enemy. That and I did have an audio glitch sometimes throughout the game that would repeat a sound in the background until you reloaded a save.

I really enjoyed this game though, it was a fairly quick experience only taking me a little over 10 hours to earn all of the achievements on. It may not be the most expansive metroidvania out there, but I found it an enjoyable shorter experience.

Mar 16, 2026·11h

Steam User 7810STEAMRecommended

6.5/10

After almost quitting the game, I managed to beat the game and even got the platinum because it's a really easy platinum.

I'ts an ok Metroidvania, the mechanic of switching armors depending on the situation is interesting, but I feel it could have been executed better, because it doesn't make much difference than just adding mobility abilities to the base moveset and no armors like every other metroidvania.

Also something I really didn't like was the "Light" mechanic, which works as both an armor for your actual health and mana/stamina, it's specially annoying because for almost any damage it gets completely destroyed and you gotta go out of your way to restore it constantly, it's specially annoying on bosses that require you to do attacks that consume light. This mechanic just feels completely unneccessary, they could just completely remove it and the game would actually be better.

Also bosses while not too hard in most cases, they can be kinda annoying because some are way too tanky, others deal cheap damage with janky hitboxes and unfair contact damage, others straight up telefrag you.

Also there is some jank on the menus and interactions, sometimes inputs don't register for some reason.

Hopefully Mariachi Legends can solve these issues since I noticed it's being made by the same people

Mar 15, 2026·10h·Verified

Steam User 3646STEAMRecommended

I'll start this review by saying this.
I'm not a fan of this kind of game genre, but I do like play game that branch out from my typical favorite and try something new.

I mean I've been discovering many game that I love outside my gems. A lot actually. That list is about to be get even more entry.

How did I find this game?
From browsing the discovery queue

Appealing (Why did I get into this game?)
Have you seen the design? Like holy heck, the main character looked so gorgeous. Then I find out there are more beautiful female in this game. I'm a simple man, I look at gorgeous woman I buy.

The Review;
Gameplay
It's a Metroidvania. Like I said in the beginning I'm not too familiar with this genre. I do like my 2D platformer, but Metroidvania? This was the first... Well that was technically, a lie. I did play Hollow Knight a couple of minutes, but I didn't immediately got hook and I also have played Shantae's series, I got into that only because of... *cough* her dance. But the point is this is one of the genre that I least played. And this was the first one that I enjoy a lot of. Not the story, but the gameplay.

I also wanted to add that whenever I lose to a boss, I never get heated or rage quitting. It was the first time I do that. I did that with Shantae. Multiple time actually.

Overall, it was a fun experience.

Story/Plot
A girl trying to safe the world by defeating the monster created from the castle nine years ago.
That's the simple plot. I suggest you to experience it yourself, because wuuf, what a journey.

Now, let me be straight with you, the story was waaaaay too simple, and I even called out the twist. I guess the gameplay was already fantastic, so I can allow generic story telling.

Characters
Fun!

The significant characters like Europa and Apino were fun to invest in.
Even the insignificant, like the mini bosses that were on the game. It got you curious as to why they are there.

VA
Unfortunately, there isn't any VA in this game so I give negative point on this section.

Animation
Way better than I expected.

Man, I just love how Europa's long armor sway whenever she ran. God, I will miss that small detail. She ran like a total badass with that animation.

Other than that one specific animation, I think it looks fantastic. I mean I grow up with this style of animation, how could I not like it.

OST/SFX
Magnificent! Beautiful! Gorgeous!

I could go on if I want to. Lol

[Bonus]
I have to say there are still glitches I encounter. For example, sometime the Up D-pad to interact with someone or something won't work after I do a quick pause to look at the map. I have to load the place by leave and re-enter the room.

It was weird, but that was a minor inconvenient.

The conclusion;
The good
I'm glad I check this game. I will be sure miss this. Unless I want to try speedrun the game when I have free time.
The bad
Hmmm.... I don't think I have any, beside that minor inconvenient.

Overall I give this game 89/100
Fantastic game with minor issue. I have a blast playing this.

Mar 15, 2026·14h·Verified

Steam User 3575STEAMRecommended

Gostei bastante do game, goste muito do gênero metroidvania.
Recomendado!!!

Mar 14, 2026·18h·Verified

Steam User 3637STEAMRecommended

Jank, but decent, casual Metroidvania.

It doesn't overstay it's welcome, it's easy, it rapid fires bosses at you, and it's pretty tough to miss anything, unless you do what I did and try to cheese the spikes you're supposed to use the last progression item for.

It is jank, the game border, gets overwritten in the pause screen and cutscenes and looks all messed up until you go between rooms, you can't interact with elevators after going into the pause menu so you need to switch screens, some of the npcs are a bit annoying to trigger with the interact button, same for the saving piano. had a boss respawn and fight me again after coming back through the exit door, etc.

so nothing game breaking, and who doesn't love some jank?

I will say I 100%d the game in 11 hours, so get the game on sale.

Mar 14, 2026·11h·Verified

Steam User 8606STEAMRecommended

Um jogo que, por diversas razões, fica significativamente melhor com o tempo; se, para comparação, dividíssemos o jogo ao meio, eu então diria que a segunda metade é melhor que a primeira por muita coisa. Linearidade nesse tipo de jogo é algo que não costuma funcionar muito bem, e esse padrão acontece aqui, mas, pior que isso ainda, é como o jogo tenta emular uma estrutura não linear no começo. A partir da primeira área, três caminhos se abrem para três áreas diferentes, mas dois deles estão bloqueados quase que imediatamente, te forçando a seguir pelo agora único caminho realmente disponível. O jogo é inteiro linear, praticamente, mas nessa “segunda metade” ele assume isso, e essa linearidade ganha camadas e acontece também nas microjornadas do jogo, além de na estrutura geral dele. Depois de pegar as três armaduras que são necessárias para andar por todo o mapa, é quando o jogo melhora significativamente; não somente pelas possibilidades que elas trazem à exploração, mas por mudanças em como o jogo encara essa exploração e navegação, por como o jogo amplia o uso e as possibilidades das mecânicas por meio do level design. Coisas que acontecem não só por causa dos upgrades das armaduras, mas também apesar deles. E, no final, quando pegamos a última habilidade do jogo, ele se transforma mais uma vez. Além de mudanças também no combate, consegue recontextualizar o jogador no mapa e reinterpretar bastante a exploração; algo que não é regra, porque isso não existe, mas que parece ser sempre a melhor coisa, ou uma das melhores, que um metroidvania consegue fazer.

É um jogo que sai de uma exploração, progressão e estrutura de level design muito ruins para um jogo que ressignifica tudo isso e, a partir daí, consegue melhorar todos esses pontos, para um jogo que, no finalzinho, renasce e recontextualiza tudo a partir de um dos upgrades de habilidades mais interessantes desses metroidvanias recentes.

Mar 14, 2026·12h

Steam User 9532STEAMRecommended

pog

Mar 13, 2026·9h·Verified

Steam User 3186STEAMRecommended

nice goons

Mar 13, 2026·2h·1

Steam User 5202STEAMRecommended

Nice little metroidvania

The map could use a few touchups due to line color collision, as well as leaving a blue/red music note at spots you've already uncovered said note.
Perhaps add some way to leave marks on spots you want to enter later on, due to needing some ability to get there.

Combat itself is alright, due to how aggro some bosses are you hardly get to do proper chargeups let alone a x-x-x-y chain, other than that combat pacing was ok.

Mar 12, 2026·17h·Verified

Steam User 6632STEAMRecommended

美术和音乐非常好

Mar 12, 2026·10h·Verified

Steam User 1218STEAMRecommended

一部及格线上的作品，细腻的像素画风，对于渎神的致敬，连狗屎的操作手感都一毛一样。地图是经典的恶魔城设计。

Mar 12, 2026·10h·1

Steam User 3333STEAMNot recommended

Did not finish.

As others have noted, the visual presentation is appealing and the boss designs are cool, but the overall repetitive nature of the level design and combat dragged down the experience for me. Having health and mana share the same pool is obnoxious, and is having to redo everything since your last save point (including re-collecting collectibles, etc) whenever you die. It's also odd that enemy/environmental damage sometimes takes your entire health/mana bar down with one hit, seemingly at random, and particularly during boss fights, forcing you to heal more often than you should.

Anyway, I really wanted to like this game, but eventually it just wore me down and made me lose interest. There are better MV style games out there to play

Mar 11, 2026·6h·2·Verified

Steam User 0269STEAMNot recommended

Je ne peut même pas choisir mes propres touches, certaines ne peuvent même pas être mises (genre Q et S ???). Donc aucun intérêt

Mar 11, 2026

Steam User 2958STEAMRecommended

Good Game

Mar 11, 2026·14h·Verified

Steam User 5575STEAMRecommended

good

Mar 11, 2026·10h·Verified

Steam User 8406STEAMRecommended

The influences are clear: Castlevania, Saint Seiya, and Sailor Moon. 9 Years of Shadows is a Metroidvania with an easily recognizable style. The soul is there, and the desire to entertain is there.
Yet something seems missing; the story is certainly too simplistic, and the armor concept could have been better utilized against the bosses and the environment.
The latest update introduced some much-needed additions, which make the game less tedious and more worthwhile. However, some of these additions, in terms of level construction, make the gameplay less organic and more complex to master. Several people, myself included, got stuck because facing some secondary bosses required powers and abilities acquired only later in the game. While this is normal in Metroidvanias, here it's clear that it was added after the game was released and therefore not integrated into the storyline.
I love the art design of the characters, levels, and NPCs, but more variety in the enemies and, especially, in the actions they can perform would have been appreciated. This would have provided more variety and allowed for better use of the armor's powers.

It's a good Metroidvania, and I hope for a more focused sequel with new armor and powers.

Mar 10, 2026·21h·Verified

Steam User 2934STEAMNot recommended

I bought it long time ago on some sale and forgot about it. Played it today, but its not very good to be honest so im not gonna continue.
Pretty generic, annoying music, not very pretty. There are tons of better metroidvanias, so go play them instead.

Mar 10, 2026·Verified

Steam User 3248STEAMRecommended

Es un buen metroidvania para pasar el rato.
Tiene un par de ideas buenas pero la ejecucion es generica.

Mar 8, 2026·14h·Verified

Steam User 0824STEAMRecommended

[h2] Ця метроїдванія про мистецтво та музику, які зцілюють рани та роблять героїню сильнішою [/h2]

[h3] Сюжет [/h3]
Граємо за воїтельку на ім'я Європа (як би це не іронічно звучало в нас час).
Через велике прокляття, яке знищило кольори у цьому світі і принесло багато горя людям, Європа наважується віднайти ворога, який це зробив.

[h3] Візуальна частина [/h3]
Це найкраще, що є у цій грі❤️
Тут використано анімацію трансформації, таку ж, як зі сцен з "Могутніх рейнджерів" або "Сейлор Мун" — і це справді додає епічності та видовищності.
Незважаючи на піксельну графіку, візуал гри вражає — він водночас стильний, чарівний і неймовірно красивий!
Вкотре переконуюся, що піксельна графіка не про про бідність візуалу, а про стиль🔥
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3678818154
[h3] Механіка гри [/h3]
Це класична метроїдванія: репетативні локації, прокачування навичок, отримання нових сил та бої з босами.
Здібності у грі прив'язані до стихійних обладунків — земля, вогонь, вода та блискавка. Кожна броня наділяє Європу унікальними вміннями.
У збройному арсеналі є лише алебарда. З нею доступні три види атак: легка, помірна та атака, яку потрібно заряджати. Останню можна прокачати щоб збільшити шкоду і також різними обладунками вона отримує різний візуальний ефект.
Система здоров'я у грі нестандартна — замість звичної шкали тут використовується магічний щит, наданий Україною ой, вибачте, Апіно😏. Поки щит активний, він поглинає удари, але зруйнувавши його, Європу можна вбити за 2-3 удари.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3679588094
[h3] Музика [/h3]
Над саундтреком гри працювали видатна композиторка — Мічіру Ямане, відома своїми роботами для серії Castlevania, та Норіхіко Хібіно, композитор із серії Metal Gear Solid. Цікавою особливістю є те, що вся музика налаштована на частоту 432 Гц, що асоціюється із заспокоєнням та зціленням. Цей нестандартний підхід органічно вписується в ігровий процес: кімнати збереження оформлені як невеликі зали з фортепіано, граючи на якому Європа одночасно зцілюється і зберігає прогрес. Музична тема є наскрізною і в сюжеті — Європа допомагає різним музикантам повернутися до театру.

[h3] Мінуси гри [/h3]
Варто відзначити кілька суттєвих моментів:
• Відсутність офіційної української локалізації;

• гра страждає на технічні проблеми: під час переміщення головним літом і завантаження локації вона могла зависати і переставати реагувати. Також зависання траплялося під час пропуску діалогів;

• щодо геймплею — заряджена атака виявилася практично непотрібною: вона вимагає часу на підготовку, а боси своїми постійними атаками просто не давали можливості її використати, через що ця механіка залишалася незатребуваною.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3680746906
[h3] Загальні враження [/h3]
Чесно кажучи, я не очікувала від цієї гри абсолютно нічого — але вона мене повністю захопила. Попри відсутність української локалізації, технічні баги та певні недоліки в механіці, гра все одно справила на мене приємне враження. Вона по-своєму красива і самобутня. А для людини, як я, з особливою любов'ю до візуалу, — це справжня знахідка.

[h1] Please add Ukrainian localization to the game [/h1]

Mar 8, 2026·19h·39·Verified

Steam User 6434STEAMRecommended

É um jogo bem linear pra um metroidvania, também não tem muito desafio com o sistema de cura do jogo, apesar disso o jogo tem uma boa historia e as transformações das armaduras ajudam bastante no movimento pelas áreas do jogo, o sistema de dano de acordo com as armaduras e escudo dos inimigos, melhoram muito a dinamica do jogo.

Mar 8, 2026·41h·Verified

Steam User 5118STEAMRecommended

+ Beautiful.
+ In general, balanced difficulty.
+ Cool abilities make travel fun and not tedious.

? Health/magic system is hit or miss.

+ Some crashes.
+ Later bosses are too hard and fights are too long.
+ I didn't care too much for the story.

Mar 7, 2026·13h

Steam User 1627STEAMRecommended

Visivamente un bel gioco, ma purtroppo prende a malapena la sufficienza per quanto riguarda lo svolgimento, diciamo che è un compitino fatto e finito con difficoltà assente, meccaniche di base classiche e un'esplorazione appena decente. Adatto per chi non vuole nulla di impegnativo, ma visivamente appagante, scelgo di consigliarlo solo per questo.

Mar 7, 2026·14h

Steam User 3459STEAMRecommended

cétésouper !

Mar 7, 2026·10h

Steam User 3331STEAMNot recommended

評分: 1.5/5
難度: 2/5

[h1]強制要用滑鼠+鍵盤玩,不能純鍵盤[/h1]
遊戲要用滑鼠右鍵射導彈而且不能改鍵, 你不能用方向鍵+發射鍵來代替?
然後遊戲雖然能在移動中左右攻擊,但向上攻擊就不能移動,wtf?

第一場 "BOSS"戰, BOSS只會用一種攻擊方式, wtf?

Mar 5, 2026

Steam User 6404STEAMNot recommended

one of the best metroidvania ive ever played
but a manifest of bugs
not atm recommened to buy :)

Mar 5, 2026·10h

Steam User 1654STEAMRecommended

A beautiful game that I really enjoyed

Mar 4, 2026·16h·Verified

Steam User 7184STEAMRecommended

En un principio, me sentía extraño en el juego, por eso de la salud ser un tanto peculiar en este juego, peor una vez entendí su sistema a profundidad, me encantó.

Lo recomiendo a los amantes de los metroidvanias, de hecho no me canso de hacerlo con mis amigos cercanos. Este y la obra magistral de Lost Ruins (otro metroidvania) son de lo mejor que he disfrutado en mi Steamdeck.

Mar 3, 2026·22h

Steam User 3120STEAMNot recommended

No checkpoints = my time not being respected

Mar 3, 2026·2h·3·Verified

Steam User 2630STEAMNot recommended

Some bad game design, unskiabble scene, getting hit removes ability to shoot which makes it impossible to hit bosses.

Mar 3, 2026·3h·2

Steam User 1799STEAMNot recommended

game art looks good an the story fun to follow but the play mechanics feel cheaply done at best

Mar 2, 2026·1h·Verified

Steam User 2505STEAMRecommended

Pretty cool metroidvania. Nice pace, music, exploration.
The armors provide unique abilities, can be upgraded once, and can be swapped on the fly. Armor swapping reminds me of Shantae series with Traaaaaaaansfoooooorm.

Very interesting mechanic where your health and mana are the same bar. So using up mana, drains health, and vise versa. Once you are out of manahealth you can restore it by healing. Heals are unlimited, provided you have enough time to execute them while standing still.
There are a few other upgrades here and there.
Difficulty is average; dont take bosses lightly.

My only complain is there aren't really any upgrades that you can just purchase. All upgrades require unique artifacts and a little bit of gold. I have a TON of GOLD; and I CANT spend it on anything.

Mar 2, 2026·5h·Verified

Steam User 1259STEAMRecommended

A metroidvania with beautiful visuals and abilities that makes exploring the map really fun. It goes way over the top with its visuals and it is such a treat to the eyes. The music was, in contrast, serviceable but not too memorable if I'm going to be honest. I’m so impressed by the visuals as well as the unique abilities you unlock and the boss fights. There are so many bosses and all feel unique.

Mar 1, 2026·45h·Verified

Steam User 5088STEAMRecommended

Beautiful graphics, interesting health system. Got lost a could of times, but overall great game.

Feb 28, 2026·10h

Steam User 9089STEAMRecommended

Si lo recomiendo, solo se me bugeó 2 veces en las escenas, chequen eso xD

Feb 28, 2026·11h·Verified

Steam User 5064STEAMRecommended

Like the bear... teddy bear...

Feb 27, 2026·10h

Steam User 5860STEAMRecommended

Pro:
Coole Grafik
Einzigartiges Setting

Con:
Healing System (Ranged Angriffe kosten Leben)
Difficulty (Spiel ist relativ Einfach, außer der Endboss, welcher Plötzlich sehr schwer ist)

7/10 🗿

Feb 27, 2026·8h

Steam User 0402STEAMNot recommended

傻逼游戏，引导部分就bug玩不下去了

Feb 26, 2026

Steam User 5007STEAMRecommended

Goty

Feb 26, 2026·4h·Verified

Steam User 3229STEAMRecommended

Excellent game, but beware: if you are more a castlevania player than a metroid player, this metroidvania is more metroid oriented, so you will get lost sometimes.

Feb 25, 2026·11h·Verified

Steam User 9603STEAMRecommended

Awesome game!

Feb 25, 2026·14h·Verified

Steam User 8725STEAMRecommended

The game has charm BUT, the map is outdated for a 2023 game, there are olders titles that have better navigation & are what i would consider a well oiled machine, there no slide that helps you dodge which would be a good pair with the back dash most if not all MV genre titles have, the kick is so buggy, the hugging heal is buggy & inconsistent at times, no map percentage nore does it have proper section area names which help when you're looping around which helps you look in the area properly, there were time i got to areas where i shouldn't be yet,"because if you play MV you know there always that one attack the give you those extra pixels to get into the spot at early games aka the whirl slash" so i had to quit the game and reload it so i don't forget i have to go there because if a door is looked and you need to return you'll forget because there's no indication that a door is locked the room is highlighted as if it were completed, lack of highlighted room color to indicate being there or needing to return later, one thing about a good metroidvania game is a good details map options make the game worth playing hell you can't even leave a mark on the map to even remind yourself something is in that area to remind yourself, it's the little thing like that which make you return back to the game, not burnout due to the a inconsistent map layout

Not a bad game i enjoyed it but it does need to control polishing and more featured option in order to feel like it get a very positive thumb

Feb 25, 2026·19h·Verified

Steam User 2016STEAMNot recommended

Arreglen el bug del tutorial que impide seguir avanzando, lleva desde 2023

Feb 23, 2026

Steam User 6666STEAMNot recommended

Mediocre metroidvania, better these days with the patches, still locks up end screen, cba to beat final boss again to get achievement.

Feb 22, 2026·10h

Steam User 5925STEAMRecommended

A metroidvania with beautiful visuals and abilities that makes exploring the map really fun. The combat is a bit lacking and only the bosses oppose any challenge. It can be a little janky at some moments but nothing that ruins the experience.

My only real complaint is that there’s no reason for a metroidvania in this day and age to not mark on the map if you already picked up the item in a room or not.

Feb 22, 2026·12h·Verified

Steam User 5900STEAMRecommended

9 Years of Shadow es un metroidvania fiel a lo que el género puede ofrecer. El diseño en pixel art es hermoso, la trama es entretenida y la banda sonora acompaña bastante bien durante toda la aventura.

No es un juego especialmente complicado, así que no requiere demasiada concentración. Los bosses al principio pueden costar un poco, pero a medida que avanzás y mejorás habilidades, todo se vuelve cada vez más accesible.

La duración es relativamente corta: unas 8 horas pueden ser suficientes para completar la historia principal. Y si bien se puede explorar para terminarlo al 100%, no es tan profundo como otras entregas del género. Aun así, es divertido y cumple con lo que propone.

[spoiler] Lastimosamente, no es un título que invite mucho a la rejugabilidad. No ofrece finales alternativos ni cambios según decisiones. Pero si lo que buscás es entretenerte un rato sin quemarte demasiado la cabeza, este juego cumple perfectamente. [/spoiler]

Feb 22, 2026·15h·Verified

Steam User 9064STEAMRecommended

还是蛮好玩的，相比其他迎合恶魔城大作，流程不算长，boss做的诚意满满，数量很多，但打法太单调了，应该做点机制怪boss,整体来说还是一个非常值得一玩的游戏

Feb 21, 2026·20h·Verified

Steam User 3316STEAMRecommended

Recommended, but JUST barely. Since I can't leave a 1-10 scoring (with 10 being the highest), this one sits solidly at a 6.

Pros:
+ Beautiful level design. Environments are wonderfully detailed, truly a labor of love.
+ Exploration is fun.
+ Neat abilities (knowing your enemies weakness helps with damage output a lot)

Mids:
- Decent story. You're on a quest to restore color to the world with a deeper story buried within. Run of the mill.
- Fast travel is limited, costs money to unlock the warp points, and additional money to use the warp (which is kind of nice since money will always serve a function in the game, I beat the game with about 50 "points" left).

Cons:
-- Health/healing is weird. You have a "light" bar which depletes when you get hit or use certain abilities and replenishes when you defeat enemies. If you run out, there's an "active reload" you can hit to restore some of it. If you miss it, you have no choice but to stand still and try to hug the bear to replenish it. Getting hit with no light bar damages your actual health points. This DOES encourage the player to "git gud" and try to avoid getting hit in boss fights and be mindful when you do run out of light so you are aware of the reload and time it correctly.
-- Internal monologues with EVERY elevator ride are such a chore and truly unnecessary towards the end. Once you go through all of them, Europa just stands there with a "..." as you travel. I can understand the occasional monologue during key events, but on EVERY. SINGLE. ELEVATOR? I ended up using fast travel points when backtracking JUST to avoid them.
-- Game has a few bad bugs that still aren't fixed after being out for years (detailed description below).

The game recommends a controller, but works with a keyboard for those without. One bug is that the game detects keyboard inputs and will break controller inputs. You'll know when yours is broken/bugged when your jumps are cut short (even though you're holding the jump button down) and attacking upward only works 10% of the time. The only way to fix it is to tap a few buttons on the keyboard (WASD/Arrow keys to move or Space to jump), then press a few buttons on your controller. This will shift full focus back to the controller.

Another minor, but common issue are the audio glitches. Tones/beeps will continuously repeat until you quit to the title screen and reload your save. There's no other fix for this.

Lastly, there's a bug in the game that randomly triggers vibration and it will not turn off unless you power cycle the controller. Since there's no real use for rumble in the game, I recommend turning it off completely in the accessibility settings.

100% with all achievements in just under 10 hours. Definitely worth a playthrough if you buy it on sale, but I wouldn't be too mad if I had paid full price either.

Feb 21, 2026·10h·8

Steam User 8827STEAMRecommended

Jogo de certa forma simples, mas ao mesmo tempo é visível o carinho. Vale a pena! Boa jogabilidade e de certa forma rápido de platinar.

Feb 20, 2026·15h·Verified

Steam User 6812STEAMRecommended

괜찮은 면도 있고 구린 면도 있는 메트로베니아.
우선 탐험할 게 많고, 캐릭터가 이쁘고 그래픽이 훌륭하다.
그리고 보호막이란 치트키 수준의 무한 리필 생명 보험이 있어서 난이도는 적당한 편이다.

문제는 조작감이 정말 구리다. 동시 명령 입력이 제대로 작동하지 않는지 행동의 딜레이가 굉장히 길다.
정말 쉬운 패턴이라도 조작감 때문에 가끔 실수하면 혈압 오른다.
그리고 억까 패턴이 좀 있는데, 아무래도 개발자가 보호막을 리필할 수 있도록 한 만큼
맞는 걸 전재로 만든 패턴이나 완벽한 컨트롤을 요구하는 패턴이 하나 씩 튀어나온다.
빈 말이 아니라 완벽한 타이밍에 완벽한 키 입력을 해야 피할 수 있는 패턴이 좀 있다.
저것 때문에 게임 과정에서 열 받은 구간이 꽤 있다.
그리고 빠른 이동이 부실해서 쓸데없이 동선 낭비할 일이 많아 게임이 무지하게 피곤하다.

Feb 20, 2026·17h

Steam User 1675STEAMRecommended

Legit fun Metroidvania.

Feb 19, 2026·26h·Verified

Steam User 4465STEAMRecommended

ภาพสวย สู้สนุก แต่ยังมีบัคขัดใจระหว่างเล่น
เสียงอยู่ดีๆก็ดังซ้ำๆจังหวะเดิม โคตรน่ารำคาญ
บางฉากจู่ๆก็เปลี่ยนฉากไม่ได้แม้จะเดินไปสุดฉาก

Feb 19, 2026·31h

Steam User 4109STEAMRecommended

Un metroidvania básico no tiene nada especial o ni innovador.
Si te gustan el genero lo puedes disfrutar, la jugabilidad responde muy bien.
Cualquiera pude terminarlo sin demasiado esfuerzo.
Eso si los 12 enemigos que hay son muy bonitos (la mayoría son recolor).
Y la música es preciosa.

Feb 18, 2026·16h·Verified

Steam User 0341STEAMNot recommended

업적100% 하고 싶은데 곰인형이 계속 쳐다봐서 못 하겠다...

Feb 18, 2026·14h·Verified

Steam User 3698STEAMNot recommended

The game looks and plays like a game from over 20 years ago, and I've never understood games that lean on nostalgia for the sake of nostalgia.

(I tried to make myself play for at least an hour before reviewing, but I really don't like the game.)

Feb 17, 2026·Verified

Steam User 9925STEAMNot recommended

引导部分到遇见小熊时需要长按RT以继续，掌机游玩时长按RT无响应。游戏都进行不下去，想要好评很难啊

Feb 17, 2026·1

Steam User 1879STEAMRecommended

Pretty good game. Amazing art, soundtrack, and story. The design philosophy is very similar to the Metroid series, even by Metroidvania standards. If you’ve played Metroid, you’ll definitely notice the similarities.
The gameplay is solid too; however, the lullaby and light bar mechanics only really feel balanced for boss fights. Regular encounters and enemies don’t pose as much of a threat as I’d like. The controls could also be improved—for example, by adding secondary mappings and maybe even individual mappings for each armor type. Certain controls can’t be rebound at all. The lack of PlayStation button icons was also a huge letdown for me, especially considering there is a PlayStation port—though that’s kind of expected with most PC games nowadays.
The game could also benefit from a hard mode to add more replay value or provide an additional challenge for people who feel the base difficulty is too easy. A way to replay bosses, which I think is one of the best aspects of this game, would have also been nice.
Overall, these are only minor issues, and the game is still really amazing. I’d give it a 9/10.

Feb 16, 2026·21h

Steam User 4827STEAMRecommended

Neat little Metroidvania

Feb 15, 2026·11h·Verified

Steam User 8375STEAMRecommended

Really good game that's been languishing in my backlog for years. It's not a metroidvania as it lacks the "vania" part of that. No leveling up, no gear or items to manage. More like Metroid all your upgrades are found out in the world in one way or another. Beautiful pixel art, especially on the animated cutscenes. The music is outstanding. The story is just okay, however, but serviceable.

Updating this review because I can't believe I forgot to mention the boss fights. Boy are there a lot of them. While there are one or two clunkers (looking at you purple golem thing with the big shield), most of them are excellent with a huge variety of mechanics to learn. All this culminating in a final boss that puts all of your movement abilities to use and was quite satisfying to beat down.

There are some minor glitches. A couple of times a sound effect would get stuck looping necessitating a quick reload to resolve. You will also find that if you have the interaction icon for NPCs, elevators, etc., and you go into the pause menu/map you have to move away from the object and come back to it to be able to interact. Pretty minor but worth noting. If I had to add a subjective complaint the elevator cutscene is too long, but also not a huge deal.

All in all I had a good time with this game. I completed 100%, barring one achievement I could get in a few seconds if I cared to and one I think glitched out because my save file also says 100%, in about 9 hours. I played on Nobara Linux and encountered zero technical issues related to the platform.

Feb 14, 2026·9h·Verified

Steam User 6665STEAMRecommended

tirando os bugs q eu tive é um bom jogo

Feb 14, 2026·9h·Verified

Steam User 9729STEAMNot recommended

There's definitely a couple highlights in here and it looks pretty good through and through. However, the combat feels very underwhelming, loading screens and elevator cutscenes ruin the pace and every now and then, the map, sound or controls stop functioning momentarily.

Also, there is a major bug at the start of the game that makes completing the tutorial impossible (controller only). On top of that, the story didn't do it for me, either.

Statistically, the majority of players beats about 2 bosses before quitting, which takes about 2 hours to do (at worst). I blame the janky controls and difficult to navigate starting areas for that. On the other hand, 100% achievement completion can easily be reached in the first playthrough, which is nice.

Feb 11, 2026·8h·1·Verified

Steam User 4533STEAMRecommended

Esse jogo é simplesmente maravilhoso! Uma experiência gratificante do começo ao fim. A cada upgrade da Europa , o jogo fica melhor, até chegar ao ápice do upgrade final. Espero que façam continuação!

Feb 11, 2026·33h·Verified

Steam User 9125STEAMRecommended

It's a solid enough metroidvania. 9/10 if you like pixel art, otherwise 7/10. Narrative is mostly inoffensive but never really does more than the bare minimum. Looking forward to the next game from Halberd to see what they've learned from this experience.

Feb 11, 2026·14h·Verified

Steam User 7053STEAMNot recommended

打分：5.5/10

半坨。

（1）闪避方向与人物朝向相悖（这么喜欢搞特立独行？）；
（2）23年的游戏甚至没有退出即时存档，想退出游戏只能硬跑固定存档点，不管跑多远死了全部重来（SB）；
（3）一板一眼垃圾boss战互动设计（低成本独立游戏通病，我已经快被逼得释然了）；
（4）365里路跑图全靠脚（鱼脚也叫脚）；
（5）整整近十秒电梯等待转场（就硬拖）；

白瞎了这还算有特色能让人眼前一亮的美术，我讨厌这样的游戏，妥妥的资源浪费。

Feb 11, 2026·6h·1

Steam User 6716STEAMRecommended

Awesome and underrated. Music is 10/10. Just play it.

Feb 10, 2026·15h

Steam User 2913STEAMRecommended

Feb 8, 2026·17h

Steam User 8733STEAMRecommended

Great game, and very good introduction to the metroidvania genre. The only thing lacking is the story (extremely generic and low effort) and the map could be better.

Feb 8, 2026·10h·Verified

Steam User 8243STEAMRecommended

Obra maestra

Feb 7, 2026·11h

Steam User 0300STEAMRecommended

还行

Feb 6, 2026·13h

Steam User 7109STEAMRecommended

Muy buen juego
Lo recomiendo principalmente porque ofrece la experiencia completa de un metroidvania, no es para nada monótono, tiene buenas mecanicas que le dan la dificultad, cada jefe es único y son tremendamente divertidos.
Los niveles son muy divertidos y el movimiento del personaje es muy original y poco monótono, utilizan bien elementos de otros juegos, entre ellos los metroidvanias más antiguos, la música y el diseño artístico esta precioso, son detallados y destacan de inmediato.

Feb 6, 2026·16h·Verified

Steam User 6465STEAMRecommended

Pretty good game, solid base, does the basics well, BEAUTIFULL art style, music is ok, some tracks are good but nothing more than that, and face the final boss with am ♥♥♥♥♥♥ elevator music playing was verry ant climatic.

If you like Metroidvanias shure is one to play, if you're just a wanderer i would spend my money in some of the more "famous" games of the genre firts.

Feb 5, 2026·13h·Verified

Steam User 7956STEAMRecommended

La historia del juego me parece bastante buena el apartado artistico esta muy lindo.
Los controles no me fascinaron (horrible que no me dejara asignar el boton del mapa siempre se usa con el tab y viene por default el esc en teclado y no lo pude cambiar)
El juego no es dificil la mayoria de los jefes los vences como mucho a la 3ra.
Lo mejor que tiene es el apartado artistico y la historia.
Platinarlo no es nada del otro mundo.
Algo remarcable es es mas que probable que termines el juego y venzas a todos los jefes antes de conseguir la full vida y magia lo cual lo hace medio al pepe, pero bueno.
El juego en si esta bastante bien si les gustan los metroidvanias con buena historia vale completamente la pena.

Feb 4, 2026·14h·Verified

Steam User 6785STEAMRecommended

It's beautiful, a few crashes after beating bosses (like 9 or 10 crashes) and elevator rides(transition). and definately needs a few quality of life updates for tracking progress on collectibles. but other than that it's a solid build. gonna have to give this an 8/10.
combat requires some imagination: you have to take a street fighter approach, using jumping and charge attacks frequently for taking down bosses, be reckless so you get familiar with "radical acceptance"
and get your hands on every accessible collectible so you can always have an edge.
short and sweet. money well spent, glad to see the genre thriving. taking on Frontier Hunter series next.

Feb 3, 2026·58h·Verified

Steam User 4049STEAMRecommended

9 Years of Shadows is a game I started back in 2023 and stopped playing for some reason or another shortly into my playthrough. Usually these things happen to me when too many games I am eagerly anticipating come out all at once and I step away from the game for too long. Well I decided to fix that today and, wow, what a game!

This is an absolutely breathtaking metroidvania filled with some of the most beautiful pixel artwork and fluid animation I have ever seen. This aesthetic style is something I have been missing so much since the Playstation and Saturn era of pixel graphics quality. It goes way over the top with its visuals and it is such a treat to the eyes. The music was, in contrast, serviceable but not too memorable if I'm going to be honest. There are maybe two songs in the game that I really liked and wanted to listen to outside of the game. It's not that the music is bad per se, but it doesn't stand out too well.

The gameplay is simple. You begin the game with two attacks and you end the game with two attacks. Not much variety when it comes to fighting, and while this may be a con to some people (a lot of people judging by the reviews lol), I wasn't bothered by it. Your lifeline is technically two hits and you're done for... except you have an exceptionally OP shield in the form of the light barrier provided by Apino (the teddy bear). You can consume some of your shield power to shoot out a ranged attack, but the bar also depletes when you take hits from the enemy. Once that bar is fully depleted, you then trigger a quick time event in which if you stop the event bar in the green window of opportunity, you fill the bar back up again and can continue slicing and dicing. If you miss time your input, then you have to spend 2-3 seconds of hugging that bear to restore the barrier back, otherwise, the next hit will hurt your health points. Not much of an easy option during the heat of later boss battles. You can also gain some light by landing hits on foes or destroying fluffy red corruption vines that bosses sometimes shoot out.

Once you really get down the timing, you are basically unstoppable. Which is what ended up happening to me. The game turned into a case of reckless abandon where I would wail away at an enemy without a care in the world, get my barrier destroyed, and just bring the barrier back up again by winning the quick time event. It trivialized the boss encounters for me. The final boss was especially a joke.

I played this game on Steam Deck, and while I can say that I was able to beat the game from start to finish on it, I did have a few issues sprout up. During the tutorial section when learning about using the right trigger, I could not progress at all. It's like the game suddenly decided to just ignore my inputs. I eventually got past that only to occasionally suffer from my inputs being ignored when trying to save at the piano or use an elevator. When playing the game, as in walking around and fighting, I never experienced a missed or ignored input. It was very weird. Yes, you can play this game on the Steam Deck, but be prepared to have some wonky stuff happen. The experience is not tailored toward it entirely. It was also unfortunate that a sound effect glitched out toward the end of the game and that sound kept playing through the end credits all the way until I got back to the title screen.

I would consider this a flawed experience, but an enjoyable one. This is not a game that will blow your mind, and maybe you will need to have a little bit of patience with it to truly enjoy it, but I think it is worth the playthrough for the metroidvania enthusiast. This was a great first game from this team and I'm very much looking forward to their next game, Mariachi Legends!

Feb 3, 2026·13h·Verified

Steam User 1742STEAMRecommended

It is a beautiful game. The soundtrack is deep, and it really makes you feel the sorrow and pain that all the NPCs — and Europa (the main character) — go through.

The game is a pretty good metroidvania: quite short, but with a nice and engaging story. The pixel art is so beautiful, and the different ways to travel across the map make it fun and dynamic.

It is deeply recommended for anyone who enjoys this type of game, or for those who want to experience something different and appreciate strong visual art.

Feb 2, 2026·24h·Verified

Steam User 5674STEAMRecommended

Definitivamente una joya oculta de metroidvania, buen arte pixel, buena historia y las transformaciones son un 10/10.

Europa mi vieja.

Feb 2, 2026·8h·Verified

Steam User 7843STEAMRecommended

9 Years of Shadows entrega uma jogabilidade extremamente fluida e prazerosa, com controles responsivos que tornam a exploração e o combate muito satisfatórios. O jogo equilibra bem desafio e ritmo, mantendo a experiência envolvente do início ao fim. Uma excelente escolha para quem aprecia ação 2D bem executada.

Feb 1, 2026·20h·Verified

Steam User 5660STEAMRecommended

Очень хорошая игра

Feb 1, 2026·11h·Verified

Steam User 0427STEAMRecommended

9 years of Shadows is a unique and amazing Metroidvania. I’m so impressed by the visuals as well as the unique abilities you unlock and the boss fights. There are so many bosses and all feel unique. The ability to keep your health up so as not get hit is also very interesting.

I had a few bugs during my playthrough. For example, the “hug” button at the start of the game didn’t work, but after restarting it worked. 9 Years of Shadows is very challenging in my book, and I felt confused about where to go a lot of the time. However, I also had an amazing time. and the final outfit is so so cool!

Completing the bestiary is missable achievement. Kill each enemy type with your halberd to register it. Especially important in boss fights, as those won’t respawn.

Feb 1, 2026·25h·5

Steam User 1503STEAMRecommended

Buen primer juego del estudio, me gusto este metroidvania, sobre todo por que si tiene mucha movilidad para moverse por el mapa, pero tambien tiene varios bugs molestos, como el del principio que no pasas de la pantalla que te pide oprimir rt en el control y que aveces no responde el control, aun asi me agrado bastante, ojala saquen secuela aunque lo dudo.

Feb 1, 2026·9h·Verified

Steam User 8151STEAMNot recommended

It's very sad, I really wanted to like this game, but I bounced off hard from it's gameplay mechanics, they're somewhat unique to some extent, but being unique is not an excuse for a slog.

While the combat is basic, most of my qualms comes with the healing system, fusing your mana and health in the same pool is just bad game design, and healing up the light takes too long, and I'm supposed to be playing a metroidvania, not an action game with active QTE to regain health.

Also, I heavily dislike that the dash is locked to only dodge backwards, so it becomes really inconvenient to time. For instance, you'd normally just face the direction you'd like to dash, but oh no, since you only dash backwards, you just dash into an enemy, Thanks game.

There is also a lot of loading screens that breaks the pace, I do not need to watch Europa's inner thoughts every time I ride an elevator, and the skip button just doesn't work as it should, this breaks the pacing too much, and for a metroidvania designed game where you often have to backtrack, having such loading times will just accumulate annoyance in the long term.

The final nail on the coffin, is that I reached a zone where I thought I softlocked myself, because I can't go back from where I came, only to find out that I magically had to know I could jump on top of an enemy as a platform to continue progressing, the game never hinted me this before (despite having hints on) so I just decided to stop there.

Jan 31, 2026·1h·3·Verified

Steam User 5660STEAMRecommended

This is one of my comfort games.

By far, the best part of this game is the soundtrack.
The art is also amazing.

The most dividing feature is the gameplay. I like it, myself. But I understand when people dislike it. It can be hit or miss.

All that said, go play the GOG version. At least for me, it had way less bugs (hence why it took me so long to actually play the game on Steam).

Jan 30, 2026·8h·Verified

Steam User 2045STEAMNot recommended

5/10

A typical metroidvania with simple gameplay and fairly easy difficulty, but considering the short duration, it was fun to play through quickly, IF THE GAME DIDN'T FREEZE AFTER THREE DIFFERENT BOSSES WITHOUT A SAVE. MEH

Jan 27, 2026·9h·1·Verified

Steam User 0770STEAMRecommended

Плюсы:
Красивая
Разнообразие механик
В целом не душная

+- норм сюжет
Не знаю минус или плюс, но игра не имеет никакой сложности, так как у вас считайте бесконечное здоровье, просто кнопку успевайте нажимать.

Минусы:
Багованный интерфейс, порой запрещало апргрейды делать.
Управление хромает (нет это не мои кривые руки)
Нет смысла в прокачке хп. Игра всегда снимает хп бар всеми ударами.

Я бы игру в целом рекомендовала тем людям, для кого эта игра была бы первой метроидванией.

Jan 27, 2026·10h·1

Steam User 3525STEAMNot recommended

Los jefes tienen demasiada vida , te ganan por flojera y cansancio , no por mecanicas.
Ademas la vida y la "municion" comparten la misma barra, pesima decision de diseño.
Excelente Pixel art , pero decisiones de gameplay muy cuestionables , ademas se me bugeo un par de veces.

Jan 26, 2026·2h

Steam User 2212STEAMRecommended

This is much more a Metroid than Castlevania. It even has different suits with different abilities. I think the game was great and I really enjoyed my time with it.

Jan 26, 2026·16h·1

Steam User 3043STEAMRecommended

Excelente juego y mas que su obvio estilo a los Super Metroid (Nada de Metroidvania, Castlevania le chorio a Metroid) El estilo saint Seiya es espectacular en especial las armaduras, la waifu hace que la orquesta de progres sea ignorable y la jugabilidad es muy buena, lo recomiendo si te gustan este tipo de juegos ya que no tiene desperdicio.

Jan 26, 2026·21h

Steam User 0389STEAMRecommended

Ta weno

Jan 25, 2026·10h·Verified

Steam User 3457STEAMRecommended

This is a decent little metroidvania with some extraordinary qualities as well as some fundamental flaws.

The most obvious thing to address to me is the combat. It is largely unsatisfying and for several reasons. The healing system is so broken it's, to put it in some way, curious to think an entire dev team thought it a good enough idea to build an entire game upon. Basically, you have unlimited heals with very generous windows to use them that render combat nearly superfluous--and by extension, any health upgrades as well. Combine that with the fact that enemies are mostly harmless, with not much variety to them, and you have a game where combat feels more like an obstacle between you and your goal and less like a core gameplay mechanic. The boss fights are fun and well designed, but the design of the healing system ends up taking a lot from them.

That said, the map is fun to explore and discover. I've heard people say it's a nightmare to figure out. I don't understand that. It's a well designed, understandable map with well positioned warp points. I didn't get lost much. Not more than in your average mv, anyway. Progressing through the castle was what kept me coming back to the game. The progression tools (the armors and Apino's abilities) are satisfying to acquire and use, and I never felt bored running around switching across my armors to advance. Getting used to that was a lot of fun.

The movement is, frankly, some of the best I've seen in any game in the genre. It's fast, buttery and with plenty of room to master and optimize the speed at which you battle and traverse.

But the game's biggest strenght is its art direction. It's up there with some of the finest games in the genre. Both the drawn and the pixel art are stunning. The aesthetic is charming. Every character design is oozing with personality and the animations are spectacular. The art of Europa's armors is obviously inspired by Saint Seiya and it pays beautiful homage to it.

There are plenty of nitpicks typical to a small studio's first release. I played it in spanish (the game's original language; or at least, the writer's mother tongue), and there are some spelling and punctuation errors here and there. The story and writing aren't anything special, but they're serviceable enough. At the very least, I cared about Apino; ironically enough, as he doesn't have spoken lines. The music is rather forgettable but there's a couple of bangers. Enemy design is cool at first but lacks punch and variety. Sometimes, when trying to talk to a character or enter a warp point, the button outright will not work and you have to walk back and forth for it to work. Etcetera.

All in all, this is an admirable effort from Halberd Studios. Much love was obviously put into it and, with some more depth and polish given to certain aspects, this would be a very well-rounded game that would be worth anyone's time. As it is, I recommend it mostly to people who want to scratch an itch for a metroidvania and have already played all the well-known ones; as well as to anyone attracted by the game's art. That alone is worth a playthrough.

Jan 25, 2026·18h·Verified

Steam User 7324STEAMNot recommended

Pretty decent 'vania with lots of nods to SotN and some creative upgrades.
However, I can't really recommend it because it's rather poorly coded - I can't count the number of times I've been stuck with multiple textboxes on the screen while trying to skipping text, and they seem to have given up coding the controller rebinding halfway through since it just never saves your custom controls and you can't even rebind all the buttons.
I see little chance the devs will come back to fix this since they're about to release a new game, so consider this as a warning if you intend to buy their next title.

Jan 24, 2026·9h·1