Cathedral Review (PlayStation 4)
For our Cathedral Review we make our way through more than 600 rooms, and unravel the secrets of your past by finding the five elemental orbs. The cathedral game features a vast world, meant for exploring!
Cathedral Review Pros:
- Decent pixel art graphics.
- 408.9MB download size.
- Platinum trophy.
- Works on Playstation 5.
- Can rebind controls.
- Metroidvania platformer gameplay.
- The map fills in as you explore.
- Four save slots.
- Chiptune soundtrack.
- 2D perspective.
- Savepoints/checkpoints plenty.
- Crates and enemies will respawn when re-entering a screen.
- Simple hack and slash combat and you can jump and attack downwards.
- Puzzle elements throughout.
- You can mark/unmark the map.
- Uses a heart system for damage.
- A lot of fun.
- Solid controls.
- Coins drop from enemies and loot chests.
- Upgraded gear to improve stats.
- Overall game progression percentage is shown on the map screen.
- The mini-map can be turned on and off.
- 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.
- Use projectiles and shields.
- Can find upgrades to abilities.
- Collect map parts to find secrets.
- Tutorial pop-ups as you play.
- Find and unlock shortcuts.
- Play how you want.
- Find ammo capacity upgrades.
Cathedral Review Cons:
- Difficult.
- Hard to read some of the icons.
- Not always clear where to go.
- Checkpoints distances are inconsistent.
- Climbing ladders are slow and clunky.
- The detection for grabbing onto ladders is a bit off.
- The air mechanic of using it to go higher is so fiddly and annoying to get right.
- Little in the way of guidance for progression.
- Big damage knockback.
Related Post: Mokoko X Review (Steam)
Cathedral:
Developer: decemberborn
Publisher: decemberborn
Store Links –
- Graphics - 8/108/10
- Sound - 8/108/10
- Accessibility - 8/108/10
- Length - 8/108/10
- Fun Factor - 9/109/10
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 is 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.
