Nine Sols review

pcgamer.com:

What is it? A sci-fi metroidvania with sublimely satisfying, parry-driven combat.
Release date May 29, 2024
Expect to pay $30/£25
Developer Red Candle Games
Publisher Red Candle Games
Reviewed on ASUS ROG ALLY, Gigabyte G5
Steam Deck Verified
Link Official site

Six months. That’s how long poor Red Candle Games spent trying to come up with a combat move for their debut metroidvania that was as unique as Hollow Knight’s downward slash. Personally, I would have given up after six minutes.

Thankfully these developers were made of more disciplined stuff and their efforts have paid off magnificently. Because I’m struggling to think of a combat system I’ve enjoyed in a 2D game more. A lucky Dead Cells run might just beat it for moment-to-moment pleasures, but for the satisfaction of mastering the fine art of slicing and blowing things up, I think Nine Sols’ swordplay had every Soulslike of 2024 beat (yes, even that one).

You play as Yi, a feline samurai who looks cute, but is actually as shadily motivated and untrustworthy as my actual cat. After taking a seemingly fatal tumble off a cliff, Yi cashes in one of his nine lives and recovers in a village full of humans. But when the village engages in a spectacularly violent ritual seemingly conceived by someone who’s seen Hereditary one too many times, Yi abandons the village and starts exploring a mysterious facility. From there he’s basically seeking out a series of wonderfully charismatic utter bastards worthy of a Metal Gear game so he can slice them all into ribbons.

Red Candle Games’ first major achievement is successfully squashing Sekiro’s parry-or-perish combat into two dimensions. Incidentally, if you’re not a fan of parrying, take 90 points off the review score. You can muddle through for a while with the dodge button, and there’s a small window of forgiveness either side of a perfect parry where you'll still take the damage but very slowly regenerate it back (Wow. Thanks.). But these small concessions aren’t going