Cuphead Gameplay Impressions
(threaded x-post from birdsite)
Wrote this up after getting my first A+, gosh bless.
The default controls are quite bad. I recommend putting shoot on RT and dash on LT. It misses a good "fire even without me holding a button" option so something's gonna cramp no matter what. https://awoo.space/media/VTo_Xwfn17_8gak6Y5M
Cuphead Gameplay Impressions
The game has more randomness than it appears. For example, if one phase of a boss has attacks A, B, and C, it'll shuffle a deck of AABBC and do those attacks in random order, and sometimes with timing or velocity changes. Makes it feel pretty different from its NES inspirations.
Cuphead Gameplay Impressions
The grading system could be more encouraging. It does a Devil May Cry thing where you retry a boss over and over, finally prevail, and get a C letter grade. Like "you won but you didn't really win". Not to mention: it feels bad to get an A MINUS. This grade shaming worked in DMC because you *want* to feel like the world is out to get you (because you are a demon who slashes the monsters of hell into a bloody pulp). It clashes with the fun cartoon aesthetic of Cuphead.
Cuphead Gameplay Impressions
There's a reason mobile games give you stars instead of an American letter grade. You have no expectation for what adequacy is, and there's not a clear ceiling, so it's always a reward instead of a judgment. Even DmC 2013 had its grades cap out not at A but at SSS.
Anywho! I do like the game! The visuals, music, and encounter designs are rad. I feel myself getting better. Just throwing my two cents in for why it shows up at, like, #20 on GOTY lists instead of #6.