Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus Demo Playthrough (Steam Next Fest June 2024)
0I did not expect to ever find a soulsvania I actually like, nor for such a game to steal the show during this Next Fest as far as metroidvanias are concerned. Holy crap.
I generally stay away from soulslikes altogether, but I found Bo extremely compelling, with beautiful artwork, a great soundtrack and smart sound design, clever dialogue, and solid mechanics which make the player feel in full control. The retry loop also seems reasonably quick in the demo.
On top of that, there's a toggle AND slider for screen shake, and low health dulls music but NOT sound effects, so you can still hear sound cues.
Hollow Knight could learn a thing or two from these audio/visual design choices. The one time I tried HK, I didn't even have time to find out whether I'd be deterred by difficulty or time-wasting troll moments - I was instead immediately put off by annoyingly overabundant screen shake and full dulling of audio upon taking hits.
I guess a soulsvania playthrough might actually be in my future after all, thanks to the incredibly skilled team at Squid Shock Studios.