3/5 ★ – sirreldar's review of Cuphead.

Cuphead is most commonly known for its super challenging difficulty, ‘30s-era aesthetic, and hand-drawn watercolor artwork. Despite hearing overwhelmingly high praise for Cuphead, I was hesitant to commit to the game due to the equally common opinion of its difficulty. I will say that Cuphead did not disappoint, and met my expectations in all regards. I thought the gameplay itself was very fun. Movement was snappy, most controls felt consistent, predictable and responsive. Bosses were generally unique and interesting; each was carefully handcrafted with their own unique themes, movesets, phases, and gimmicks. A variety of weapons and abilities added a dimension of strategy that was fun to experiment with, and many felt designed to be situational or accommodate player preference. The bosses were generally quite earnable, but some phases were randomized, which added another layer of challenge. The “airplane” boss fights were a fun change-up from the more common platforming levels. The story gave some context to the rest of the game, but was not particularly unique or interesting to me. It was not bad, it just felt a bit contrived. I do not consider this to be detrimental to the game at all. I progressed through the game so slowly, it was actually a bit refreshing to focus entirely on learning the bosses and practicing the combat, without trying to also keep track of a complex or deep story. The aesthetic was excellently done. The artwork, character designs, environments, and music were all clearly crafted with an abundance of care and love. Each detail fit into the game wonderfully and worked to build a truly unique and remarkable world. Even the UI design and film grain effects complimented the world and its overall design. While I am indifferent to that particular era, it was nonetheless unique and fun to experience. As for the difficulty… the rumors are all true. This game was HARD. Most fights felt fair, although a couple bosses had some attacks with virtually no tell. Thankfully with enough trial and error I could learn to evade those attacks with other methods, such as recognizing attack patterns. Fights often required paying attention to 3 or 4 things at once, which I really struggled with. Despite the games general fairness, screens were often overwhelmed with projectiles, large explosions, and sudden attacks. This constant barrage of attacks, while also trying to attack the boss, made for very hectic and challenging boss fights… especially coupled with the very small player HP and no ways to heal. Overall, I think Cuphead is an excellent game, both in theory and in execution. For me personally, I struggled far too much to really enjoy it most of the time. Beating bosses was rewarding, but typically preceded by several hours of pain and frustration as I struggled to get good enough to beat the boss. By the time I finished the game, I was relieved to be done. I had no motivation to clean up any of the Run ‘n Gun stages that I had skipped, no interest in playing the DLC, and no desire to try the game’s hardmode. Overall, I would recommend Cuphead, but only to those who are exceptionally good at platforming bullet hells, or to those who genuinely enjoy extremely tough games. To anyone that is easily frustrated or prefers more casual games, I would absolutely not suggest this game.