Sundered

The core of Sundered is fundamentally flawed from the outset, and randomly generated levels are often a bugbear of mine. But layered on top of this is a fantastic, gorgeous action game with heaps to do. All told you’re looking at a good 15-hour run through, and those whose thirst is still not quenched as the credits will no doubt be pleased that each playthrough is different. If the thought of eating a beautiful crunchy red apple appeals to you, and you don’t mind the worms wriggling inside, Sundered might be worth a shot.

Solid mix of Metroidvania and roguelike with epic boss battles, but often very conservative and sometimes slow-moving.

The roguelike elements didn’t quite work out for me, but I’m sure Sundered will find its audience. Though I learned not to hate them, I would have preferred if the game stuck closer to tradition. It becomes a good game, but until you really become acquainted with how it works, it can be a frustrating and monotonous slog.

I do not want to imagine how good the game would have been with a fixed level layout. Hopefully Chasm and Deadcells - both Metroidvanias with random levels - will get better soon.

Beautiful but flawed, Sundered is too frustrating early on to be fully satisfying. [Issue#265, p.62]

Some especially beautifully designed environments and epic boss battles are not enough to overcome the repetitiveness of its level design and the especially frustrating hordes of minions which attacks from 360 degrees, while ignoring physical walls.

Sundered is a game with great graphics but uninspired and monotonous design. The unfair difficulty and the poor handling of enemy distribution make Sundered a missed opportunity.

Sundered is a metroidvania game half-backed. It lacks in variety and has some flaws tied to the combat system.

Sundered is a collection of ideas and genres that on paper blend together well but, in this case, made for uncomfortable bedfellows. Passion and talent are on display however, and I'm hopeful for what we see from Thunder Lotus in the future.

Sundered has the basic foundation for a metroidvania/roguelike hybrid down pat, but its poor handling of enemy distribution and the otherwise fine combat that comes with it sadly drags it down. If you’re willing to make it past several hours of brutal horde attacks, there’s a gorgeous and well-crafted action-platformer to enjoy, but those turned off by lengthy grinding or chases through barrages of enemies had best look somewhere else. There’s fun to be had, yes, but you may not have as much of it as you hope for from this cosmic horror.

Too bad. This could have been a really nice take on games like Metroid and Castlevania. But a beautiful art design simply isn’t enough. The fighting system is as superficial as it is unfair sometimes. But then dying seems to be a calculated gameplay element as well.

Sundered is another example of a good concept that was poorly realized. During the first five minutes the game is nice, but after that you have to force yourself to play it.