I ended up getting the game for free, so I figured I might as well give it a shot. Installed it today and played a few hours. It's a solid, if unremarkable, Metroidvania.
Visually, I think the game looks a lot better in person than it came across in the reveal trailer - the pixel art is super detailed and well-animated, and I'm impressed by how many random visual touches are tucked into the background of areas like the main town. From a technical standpoint, they nailed it. That said, I can't help but feel like there's a lack of personality to the proceedings - however detailed the backgrounds might be, they don't evoke a particularly strong sense of place, and one environment tends to run into the next, which the nondescript background music and same-y looking enemies don't do much to assuage. One of the most satisfying parts of a Metroidvania is the thrill of discovering a new area that feels utterly foreign and occasionally disorienting when you first arrive. Sons of Sparta just doesn't evoke that sense of wonder.
That issue is compounded by the level design which, again - is entirely functional - but lacks any sort of character. It feels like they slapped some levels together and then applied a different tileset to each area to set them apart, but so far, they don't appear to offer any particularly unique challenges, different pacing, or new ideas relative to what came before. This is the usual trap that fledgling indie devs tend to fall into when building these sorts of games, and this one is already feeling pretty repetitive a scant few hours in. There's little sense of danger to the environments - there are no treacherous jumps, no traps, and no real opportunity to get lost in an area that you get the sense you totally shouldn't be in yet. That might be great if you're looking for Babby's First Metroid, but it's an unsatisfying approach to the genre. So far, the game also hasn't done a great job of hiding hidden items or gateways to new areas just out of reach to inspire you to keep an eye out for whatever arcane technique you need to get there - y'know, the best part of a Metroid game? The game typically just puts a barrier between you and a generic treasure chest. You know you need to find something to bypass the barrier, and you know that the chest is just going to contain orbs to buy some upgrades instead of containing some super cool power-up. There's no thrill in the hunt and no tantalizing reward. I've yet to see anything that makes exploration exciting or gratifying.
Combat is pretty solid, which I guess makes sense for the franchise. Movement and attacks are responsive and flow well, but the game doesn't go overboard in terms of technique. You've got a standard melee combo, a dodge, some sub-weapons, and that's about it. The game lacks a bit of "snap" to striking foes and getting hit, but it generally feels good. There are two major issues with the combat, though. First is that the game simply doesn't have enough enemy types. I'm three hours in and I've basically just been duking it out with palette swaps of the same 2-3 enemies the entire time. The second issue is that the game incorporates a mechanic where an enemy will flash a certain color to indicate whether you need to block or dodge their next attack, or whether it needs to be avoided altogether. On the surface, that sounds fine, but the problem is that there are (so far) 4 different colors an enemy can flash, and I cannot for the life of me remember what half of those even mean. It's too much. Problem is, enemies also hit hard when you guess wrong, so this quickly becomes an annoyance. There are also some amateurish design oversights, like enemies constantly being placed towards the edge of a platform that they can't walk off of, meaning that they either frequently block your landing when you're trying to navigate the environments, or they'll get stuck at the end of a platform and combat devolves into jumping and whacking them about a dozen times while they whiff at nothing. You and your enemies also have pretty narrow attack range and you'll usually be right on top of them when striking, which can make fights visually messy and make it really hard to discern when an enemy is telegraphing an attack, which you'll need to pay attention to in order to parry (of course there's parrying). It's not as big of a deal in practice as it might sound, but it smacks of poorly thought out design.
Beyond that, there's an upgrade system for both Kratos' techniques and equipment, replete with crafting. Really, it all feels like too much. I don't want to hunt for random collectibles to upgrade 3 separate parts of my spear or my shield (in addition to needing the right number of orbs, of course), and I definitely don't want that in conjunction with a separate upgrade system for combat techniques that feels like it's just adding functionality that should've been there from the jump. None of the techniques are particularly exciting, either - it's all bog standard. I have not uncovered a single exciting upgrade, because none of it has felt like it meaningfully broadened my ability to explore the world or given me a leg up in combat. It's all just been glorified key hunting. Either commit to truly expanding the mechanics through upgrades or eschew the filler altogether. Less would have been more in this department.
There are also a lot of random polish issues that suggest the game could've used some more time in the oven. The UI for the equipment screens upgrade systems is overly confusing and doesn't flow well, and it's needlessly verbose. The font size is also way too small and is difficult to read even from a moderate distance on a relatively large screen. I've also noticed instances where performing certain actions in some rooms will cause the music to cut out until you leave - a minor issue, but one that could've easily been caught.
So... it's fine. I'm not overly enamored with any aspect of the game, but I'm still more or less enjoying myself. This is 100% an instance of a game that, if not for the IP and Sony slinging it in State of Play, nobody would even notice. For free, it's been a fine time-waster on a Friday night. I would not recommend that you spend $30 on it.
