Cathedral Review (Nintendo Switch)
Make your way through more than 600 rooms, and unravel the secrets of your past by finding the five elemental orbs. Cathedral features a vast world, meant for exploring!
Pros:
- Decent pixel art graphics.
- 163MB download size.
- Can rebind controls.
- Metroidvania platformer gameplay.
- The map fills in as you explore.
- Four save slots.
- 2D perspective.
- Savepoints/checkpoints plenty.
- Simple hack and slash combat and you can jump and attack downwards.
- Puzzle elements throughout.
- Uses a heart system for damage.
- A lot of fun.
- Solid controls.
- Coins drop from enemies and loot chests.
- Upgraded gear to improve stats.
- Has a Shovel Knight feel to it from gameplay to the overall presentation.
- Death-you loses a percentage of coins.
- Big boss fights.
- Fast loading times.
- Weapons-you can find and equip multiple secondary weapons with fast swap buttons.
- Altars can replenish hearts and ammo.
- Clever boss fight mechanics.
- You can block projectiles.
- Play how you want.
- Find ammo capacity upgrades.
Cons:
- No touchscreen support.
- Difficult.
- Hard to read some of the icons.
- Checkpoints distances are inconsistent.
- Little in the way of guidance for progression.
- Big damage knockbacks.
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Graphics - 8/108/10
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Sound - 8/108/10
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Accessibility - 8/108/10
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Length - 8/108/10
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Fun Factor - 8/108/10
Summary
When I first saw Cathedral I did think it was another Shovel Knight game due to the appearance, the attacks, and general movement solidified that thought even more, but it is not a Shovel Knight game. It is however a rather excellent Metroidvania platformer, it doesn’t necessarily do anything new but it so playable and fun to play it’s worth a shot. You can freely go backward and forwards, find shortcuts and discover the many secrets. As you find new weapons and abilities more areas open up or alternate paths open in older areas. Boss fights are not straightforward which can be an initial pain but it is a good challenge so you let it pass especially as the checkpoints are relatively close. I just like how you can stumble across new items or upgrades without it being a boss fight reward. It’s the tight controls and clever level design that keeps the game installed and it’s fun no matter the game session length making it a worthy Metroidvania romp.
