Well, we’re back again and a glutton for punishment: the Cathedral: Crow’s Curse demo is here. Very similar to its predecessor (a.k.a. hard-as-nails), the level design follows the same sort of planning, though combat and platforming offer a lot more finesse. If you thought the first game was a challenge, wait until you play this demo on Steam.
The first thing you’ll notice is how much more attractive it is compared to its older sibling. The visuals are less 8-bit and more 16-bit, with ballet-like movements as you speed run through repeated areas. Not that this is a speedrunning experience, but upon death, you return to the last statue/checkpoint, and if anything like me, you might find the parrying aspect tricky.
For context, I hated Sekiro. I love FromSoftware, I love feudal Japan, I hate parrying as my timing is worse than a fart in a high-rise elevator. The same for most rhythm games. In Cathedral: Crow’s Curse, when you’re attacked, you can block the incoming damage, though holding it there for too long, and they’ll break through, rendering you unstable. To literally counter this, a well-timed press of the block will parry the hit and create an opening for you. The same applies when you’re unstable, as you can get a second wind and launch a counter.
This doesn’t go according to plan, however, as despite its retro looks, Cathedral: Crow’s Curse’s animations are silky smooth, and the enemies aren’t going to wait for you to ponder. While they’re deceitful swines, it doesn’t always take too many hits to finish them off for some quick loot; however, if you’re unable to find the rhythm for parrying, you may end up ‘speedrunning’ to find the next checkpoint in fear of an endless loop. Which brings us to the next obstacle: platforming.
Unlike the first game, jumping is much smoother with an array of wall jumps and hanging. There are quite a lot of precision areas that require plenty of aftertouch and utilising your skill set, such as dashes and whatnot, and it can be a bit of a juggle. This isn’t a bad thing, as I found the platforming aspect the greatest part of the experience, though on occasion, I would wiggle the Steam Deck as if it would improve my jumping in anyway (spoiler: it doesn’t, and you end up looking like a goon). There were also a few moments of hammering the jump button in frustration, though not as bad as spamming parry and hoping for the best. A definite skill issue.
Besides those aspects, Cathedral: Crow’s Curse is a natural progression from the first game and looks, sounds and plays better than before as one might expect. To be fair, the biggest similarities are the expansive world maps that are somewhat of a labyrinth, and the title. Other than that, this is a great standalone and well worth playing. It won’t cost you anything to play the demo, and thankfully, the flying enemies aren’t as vindictive as before. Yay! Less hair-pulling.
