Mable & The Wood

You start out with a sword, for instance, that allows you to turn into a fairy and briefly fly while the sword remains anchored. Press the button again and the sword zips back to you in a straight line, cutting through whatever is in the way. As Mable beats various bosses, like a giant spider and rock monster, she gets their powers, which all work in a similar way. It’s creative and distinct, and also frequently frustrating as hell.

In the end, Mable and the Wood isn’t a bad game. It takes a familiar concept and throws in something different with combat and traversal, and it works for the most part. I just think some of the execution and sense of direction was handled poorly. I almost expected after beating a boss that I would have to spend 20 minutes trying to figure out where to go next after getting a new form to use, and that’s not ideal. People looking for something different will find it here, just know that it comes with some issues, but altogether, it is a decent experience.

As usual, I find myself wanting to like games which just straight up annoy the shit out of me. There are some nice ideas here but I just got too frustrated after a while trying to get past sections which were just so much trickier than others, and required a lot of swapping of powers, and pulling off what amounted to combos of moves I just couldn’t swing with.

An inventive take on the Metroidvania formula, but is let down by some awkward platforming and combat.