I am only a little bit past my first successful run, but I feel like my opinion's likely cemented at just past the 12 hour mark.

I feel like if anything this was an exercise in realizing how much I just don't vibe with rogue-likes very much, but that's hardly this game's fault. Because either way, this is easily my favorite rogue-like. I just couldn't help but feel like this would've been the easiest 10/10 had there been a proper full action RPG version of this. (Though maybe that just means I should get around to playing Transistor).

Because the action is REALLY snappy, quick, and ridiculously satisfying once you start gelling with it and mow through a group of enemies that previously gave you issue. And it does this without pulling its punches, too, cause there can definitely be a slippery slope of giving the player so many options that enemies that don't get boss battle immunities just can't keep up with. Because boy can even common groups of enemies catch you off guard if you're not prepared.

The game is also just all around gorgeous, with lovely art direction, style, character design, and above all runs silky smooth. It's just stellar all around, there. Every run kind of has that inevitable point where so much shit is happening onscreen that it's a little hard to follow (especially in the Temple of Styx chambers).

The extensiveness of the customizability is stunning, however, with 6 weapons in total (maybe more? I still don't know what Titan's Blood does but they keep hinting at it doing something to weapons), and all of the Boons you get from Olympian gods interacting with them in different ways. Even basic attack and special modifiers have totally different dynamics depending on the weapon you're using. The spear's special isn't all that, not the best for applying status effects due to somewhat limited range, but getting status effects applied by the special on the sword is pretty huge, given the sword's special is a big fat AOE.

I had a build where the Doom status would apply on the aegis' special attack, so I wound up pouring more modifiers into the special until I was throwing the shield more often than I was actually using it like a shield. My first winning run's build is one where I got Demeter's crystal laser cast early on, and eventually it became my main weapon since I could fire another before the first one even ran out. And none of that's getting into the Nyx's mirror upgrades, each level having another side to it so you can pick and choose a general loadout before you even start. Eg. I preferred casts just have a flat cooldown than messing with the mechanic of forcing the crystal out of whoever it got shot into.

I almost don't want to directly comment on the story still, since I'm at large still experiencing it, since I would imagine there's a handful of conversations with [Spoilers] at the very end to experience before the story is officially declared "over, for real". But the game is very charmingly written, particularly enjoy how the stakes are simultaneously high and low at the same time, which feels on-brand for something themed around Greek mythology. And the voice acting is top notch on top of that, the gods having plenty of personality, how much cooler Asterious is than Theseus, the works.

I'm probably gonna keep playing this for a while, it's in general built around losing over and over again, with how many things unlock over time, characters you run into and have conversations with, etc.

I'm bad at bullet hells, as it turns out.

I might feel the itch to come back to this one eventually, but it's pretty quickly dropped off my radar and that isn't a good sign for a rogue-like you're meant to power through by nothing more than your own stubborness.

It's objectively good and fine, all things considered. It's hard to mess up running and shooting, mechanically, and they have a funny fistful of quirky firearms to spice things up, but nothing that's charmed me enough to keep wondering what else is in the game beyond a barrel gun that shoots fishes, because haha visual pun.

As such I have already been finding the game not only so repetitive it's gotten boring, but also feeling like it ramps up in difficulty too quickly. The furthest I've gotten, from what I gathered, is halfway through the game, and I dread to imagine how much more crap they can cram onto the screen if that's the case. Just straight up an ADHD-induced fever dream.

It's just in that class of 6/10s where I can see why it has the renowned reputation it does, just it doesn't feel for me.

The main theme kicks ass though. THAT gets a 10/10.