Cathedral

 Switch
Cathedral Image
Metascore
71

Mixed or average reviews - based on 20 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
6.5

Mixed or average reviews- based on 8 Ratings

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  • Summary: Explore a vast world. Wake up in a world with no recollection of how you got there. A world full of secrets, hidden rooms, dungeons and towns. Make your way through more than 600 rooms, and unravel the secrets of your past. From the sunny beaches of Brightwind in the south, to the coldExplore a vast world. Wake up in a world with no recollection of how you got there. A world full of secrets, hidden rooms, dungeons and towns. Make your way through more than 600 rooms, and unravel the secrets of your past. From the sunny beaches of Brightwind in the south, to the cold regions of Icepeak Mountain to the north, the map will always be your friend. Find map fragments along the way, and use the map to see which parts of the world you haven't visited yet, where you are supposed to go and which parts you missed the first time around. Use the elemental orbs to find the answers to who you are. The orbs, placed in ancient times by the demi-god known only as Ardur, is protected by five fearsome guardians. Meet these challenging bosses head-on in combat, and see if you can best them!… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 20
  3. Negative: 0 out of 20
  1. GameGrin
    Mar 24, 2021
    85
    A pure metroidvania which doesn’t get bogged down with superfluous mechanics, instead choosing to explore and push every facet of gameplay to its limit.
  2. Switch Player
    Mar 10, 2021
    80
    There may be little original content in this adventure, but Cathedral collates a lot of classic gaming principles to wrap them up successfully in a retro-inspired Metroidvania tale. There’s plenty of ground to explore. Can you handle one more knight?
  3. Pure Nintendo
    Apr 1, 2021
    80
    Cathedral is a welcome addition to the Nintendo Switch library. It was a lot of fun solving the puzzles and finding my way around the cathedral and surrounding areas.
  4. Nintendo Life
    Feb 18, 2021
    70
    Cathedral is a well-made and enjoyable action-platformer that’s sure to please fans of the genre, as it showcases lots of strong level design, tough difficulty, and plenty of rewarding secrets. Even so, there’s a sense that something is missing here to take the experience a step higher, as it’s the epitome of ‘just’ another entry in an already crowded genre. All the same, we’d give Cathedral a recommendation to anybody who enjoyed Shovel Knight (or its many imitators) and is looking for something to hit that same appeal. Cathedral very likely won’t be your favourite action-platformer, but it’s got more than enough going for it to be worth your time and money.
  5. Meristation
    Apr 4, 2021
    70
    Cathedral is a nice tribute to the 8 Bit era. It does not innovate at all and it can do something boring but in general it is a well executed product.
  6. Hey Poor Player
    Mar 4, 2021
    70
    In the end, I have very mixed feelings about Cathedral. I appreciate the style and concept, and even find the game fun a lot of the time. But all that is put at risk by questionable design and unbalanced difficulty. If you’re not afraid of a little pain, you’ll likely have a lot of fun. Those that are adverse to annoyance will need to decide if this game is worth the price of admission. That said, I do hope that developer Decemberborn AB is able to use my critiques to make a more balanced Metroidvania in the future. Because rough spots aside, there’s a lot that I enjoyed here.
  7. DarkStation
    Mar 17, 2021
    50
    Cathedral lacks vision where it counts. The title is focused on appealing to the hardcore with its retro presentation and difficulty that borders on irritating. The visuals and audio are certainly reminiscent of titles from the past, however, they lack that special polish that would elevate them beyond the superficial way they ape how games looked and sounded back then. Level design lacked care in checkpoint placement and enemy locations as well as quality of life features, which stacked tedium upon tedium. Overall, I have trouble recommending Cathedral; though it certainly has a niche appeal, its faults made the experience less than satisfactory.

See all 20 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 6
  3. Negative: 1 out of 6
  1. DecoyDoctorpus
    Mar 7, 2021
    10
    I feel like it is important to state from the outset, that although this game has received positive reviews overall, there is a kind of errorI feel like it is important to state from the outset, that although this game has received positive reviews overall, there is a kind of error in the assessment. The general thrust of the reviews is that this is a good Metroidvania, but that it fails to bring 'anything new' to the genre - and as such does not arrant a very high review score. This is not correct, and in my opinion, there is something new and fresh feeling in this excellent game. of course, as a Metroidvania, there is something formulaic - but the presentation and delivery of this title does not feel imitative or repetitive. For an indie title with a very small team, this game (the map) is also pretty massive, and it takes way longer to clear than the typical indy Metroidvania does (length wise, it took me a bit longer to complete this than it took to complete Ritual of the Night (35 hours approx), and i have complete Momodora: RutM (a great game) 4 times on all settings and that has clocked less time than 1 Cathedral playthrough). Reading some professional reviews, you can tell they did not actually play through the whole game because some give a completion time of 15-20 hours. I suppose they just extrapolated from the typical lengthier Metroidvania, but there is no way someone is doing a 15-20 hour clear on first playthrough unless they are sitting with a playthrough and boss guide, and racing through the game like that. Average competent gamer is looking at a 32-38 completion time. There are good 100% challenges there for those who like 100%ing a game - which, without a guide, i can see taking 40-45 hours.

    One worry for this type of game though, is that it is easy to overlook such a title because of the influx of 8-bit style platform type scrolling games that start to look similar. DO NOT miss this title because it looks like just another 8-bit indy game. If you enjoy Metroidvanias (and hard ones at that), then i cannot imagine you would dislike this game or find it average. It is extremely challenging at times, even to the point of extreme frustration, but not to the point that it is insanely impossible or anything. The items that are acquired are interesting and feel satisfactory when found. Of course the obligatory double jump and dash items are there, but with the other more unique items, they really make for challenging and fun platforming sections and puzzle solving.

    The chiptune music is excellent, and so is the map design in general. I really, really recommend this for someone looking for a new, lengthy Metroidvania, that overall feels fresh and a bit new. You probably wont find a better value for money Metroidvania on the market given the length. No way in this world this game deserves a 6/10. It is full of charm and made with heart, passion, intelligence and dedication. For me this game is a 10/10.    … Expand
  2. schh
    Mar 26, 2021
    10
    Tight controls, massive map, great music, challenging. Anyone that loves metroidvanias is gonna love this one. Probably a few that don't loveTight controls, massive map, great music, challenging. Anyone that loves metroidvanias is gonna love this one. Probably a few that don't love them will love it aswell. Ive played every metroidvania worth its salt and i still got 37 hours out of this one for a single playthrough. I didnt go completionist on it neither. Worth every penny.… Expand
  4. metzzarn
    Feb 28, 2021
    9
    Great gameplay with responsive controls. The map is massive and at least 20 hours of gameplay
  5. omgalberto
    Apr 3, 2023
    9
    As someone who enjoys playing 2D games, this game is excellent! I recently finished it and wanted to give my two cents.

    In general, this    As someone who enjoys playing 2D games, this game is excellent! I recently finished it and wanted to give my two cents.

    In general, this game is more challenging than most 2D games. Most people might expect a level of difficulty closer to Shovel Knight (because oh look, it's a knight! ), but this surpasses it for sure. The enemies are numerous at times, the platforming can be tricky, and the bosses are usually a test of patience and skill, but it never feels unfair for the following reasons

    · There are several power-ups to purchase
    · There are several upgrades/weapons you find as you run around
    · There's a bank system that protects your gold (deaths remove gold, so having this makes death almost meaningless)
    · Potions get refilled on death
    · While bosses can be difficult, there are observable patterns in their attacks and you will eventually succeed if you carefully examine them and take your time
    · You can double your health for a small fee in most towns
    · Most enemies have a pattern as well so you can learn to best deal with them

    My only small complaint is that I wish there was more lore to the Knight. While there is a story going on and most characters have a purpose and name, the Knight is just " the knight that fell from the sky". Sure it's mysterious, but some hints of who they are would have been nice.

    Besides that, I really enjoyed the game. It's well polished, it's challenging, it's fair and it's just fun.

    9/10!    … Expand
  6. Nikopro245
    Dec 23, 2021
    6
    Too long and too laborious. Bigger maps and longer playthrough arent necessarily better games. Had they had made this game a bit smaller andToo long and too laborious. Bigger maps and longer playthrough arent necessarily better games. Had they had made this game a bit smaller and tighter, focusing a more on improving the 8-bit graphics, audio and execution it would have been an overall better experience. This game got worse the longer I played it...it started as an 8-9 and went down to a 6...

    Positives
    + some nice variety of areas, enemies
    + plenty of little secrets to uncover
    + OK pixel art and audio
    + some smart boss fights to figure out

    Negatives
    - too much time wasting traversing due to map design and time wasting on some puzzles
    - drags on and on
    - random difficulty spikes in places

    In all, metroidvanias should be fun explorative journeys that know when to call it time out...    … Expand
  7. ElCriticon5
    Jun 8, 2021
    0
    This is one of the most insane difficult games I played in the last years. It is beyond frustration already on the level of madness. At firstThis is one of the most insane difficult games I played in the last years. It is beyond frustration already on the level of madness. At first I thought it is a good idea to revive some old school 16-bit game style on my switch but when playing this one I got so annoyed and pissed off that I was close to dump the Nintendo switch console into the garbage. There is a reason why Nintendo is so successful with its games because they are on a playable level. This one is not. Never again I will buy a game from this company. Save yourself the worries.… Expand