Fire in the Beastlands

Among the 1,000 games I own on Steam, Fire in the Beastlands is the biggest hidden gem I've played. As I write this, the game has only 16 reviews, which is insane considering this is a 2D metroidvania almost as good as Salt & Sanctuary. Are there issues? Sure, the combat isn't as good as Salt & Sanctuary, the art can look quite crude in some parts, and certain dark areas rely too much on leaps of faith. Still, the exploration is excellent, there's tons of secrets to find, and the whole game just oozes an amazing atmosphere. I finished the game in 20hs, clearly missed a lot of stuff and I'm now exploring it again in New Game+

[h2]I hate being negative about a solo developer’s passion project, especially one with such a distinct hand-drawn aesthetic, but Fire in the Beastlands was a deeply unenjoyable experience for me.[/h2] There’s clear ambition here—an interconnected world full of secrets, shortcuts, and hidden paths. Exploration is meant to be a key draw, and in some cases it is... but most of the time, it feels punishing. Many secrets are mandatory and blend into the environment so well that it’s easy to miss them. If you miss one, you’re either lost or severely underpowered, and the game gives you no indication of where to go. Every path feels like the wrong direction due to how locked out everything feels. Navigating the world is made worse by overuse of darkness mechanics. You often need a torch to see anything, and some areas are pitch black without the option to use one. Falling to your death because you couldn’t see is not tense—it’s just frustrating. Movement feels stiff, especially once wall-jumping is introduced. Miss a jump? You die. Add in traps that are easy to forget or miss, and just moving through the world becomes a chore. I never felt encouraged to explore—just forced to, and punished if I didn’t spot a corpse hidden in a bush that held the one key I needed. Combat isn’t any better. The stamina bar is incredibly small, even after upgrades. Dodging and blocking both use stamina, and regenerating it is painfully slow. Most fights boil down to either stun-locking an enemy or trading blows and hoping you survive. It’s not satisfying, and the best strategy usually becomes tanking damage instead of skillfully avoiding it. Even with gear upgrades, combat never feels rewarding—just exhausting. Progression also feels rigid. Enemies that were unkillable become beatable once you upgrade your weapon or stats enough. That’s fine in theory, but without guidance, you just die repeatedly in areas you weren’t meant to be in. One boss I reached even summons another boss mid-fight that can’t be damaged unless you have a specific damage type—something I only discovered from a wiki. In short: the game constantly makes you feel like you’re going the wrong way, punishes you for not seeing the “right” path, and has combat that’s more of a burden than a challenge. I really tried to enjoy it, but I genuinely had a terrible time. [h3]Pros:[/h3] [list] [*]Passionate hand-drawn art [*]Interconnected world design [*]Tons of secrets (if you like that) [/list] [h3]Cons:[/h3] [list] [*]Progression is vague and overly punishing [*]Movement and platforming feel stiff and unforgiving [*]Combat is slow, limited, and not satisfying [*]Torch/darkness mechanics are tedious and overused [*]Bosses often feel unfair instead of challenging [/list] [b]I respect the effort behind Fire in the Beastlands, but I didn’t enjoy a single part of it.[/b]