Metroidvania, a subgenre of gaming that is often overused. However, when done well, you can have a great game on your hands. Developer Disaster Games Studio and publisher Selecta Play bring you Morkull Ragast’s Rage.

“A 2D video game that combines platforming and action with a touch of exploration in which we control Morkull, God of death and darkness and lord of the Ragast, whose main mechanics lies in the breaking of the fourth wall, which will allow Morkull to communicate with the player in various ways.”

Hollow Knight, I’m thinking it and you’re thinking it. Morkull Ragast’s Rage looks very much like Hollow Knight. It’s art-style, it’s tone, it’s setting and more. Hollow Knight is an excellent Metroidvania, it’s one of then best on the market. So yeah, it makes sense to pay it homage. But whereas Hollow Knight is a beautifully crafted and well-balanced title, Morkull Ragast’s Rage isn’t. I adore the premise and plot for this one. You play as the titular Morkull, the god of death and he knows that he is in a video game and he wants out. This means self-referral and fourth-wall breaking humour… which I am a big fan of. This is something that Morkull Ragast’s Rage does very well.

Unfortunately, while the story and humour are great, the gameplay is not. Aside from several bugs and glitches, like Morkull getting stuck on invisible walls and such – the hit boxes are way off. Enemies become sponges and there’s even a half a second lag between you pressing a button and the character reacting. This is particularly off putting as parrying is a major aspect of the game. In fact, some enemies require parrying for you to attack them. That half a second delay makes timing your parry next to impossible to time right.

Hollow Knight is a difficult game, but that difficulty is carefully balanced and it comes from careful design. Making progress in that game feels like a pleasure – even when it is punishing. Morkull Ragast’s Rage difficulty comes from poor and lackadaisical design, bugs, annoying enemies, laggy controls and more. If you are inspired by and paying homage to something as good as Hollow Knight, you need to bring your A-game. Alas, the devs here have brought their M-game. Morkull Ragast’s Rage isn’t a terrible game, it’s just not a particularly good one either – in very middling and when there are already some fantastic Metroidvanias available to play right now, Morkull Ragast’s Rage isn’t going to stand out from the crowd.

With some polish, Morkull Ragast’s Rage could be a pretty decent game. But as it is right now, it feels like it has been released unfinished, like it’s a pre-alpha build.