However, making an action video game that is difficult is very simple. It is enough to put a leonine victory conditions and enemies that do not need to be particularly clever, while causing a level of devastating damage. What is really hard is getting it to have a brutal challenge but, at the same time, it is fun, engages and makes us feel like continuing instead of leaving it. Cuphead
gets all that and much more. It surprises me how a study that begins its journey as is this team composed of two brothers has such clear ideas. And I say this not only because of its ability to successfully translate such an ambitious aesthetic vision
, but also to consolidate a scheme that does not punish us with each death but that teaches us the way, that does not frustrate us but that stimulates us and that makes us feel that, even though everything seems uphill, in reality it is a accessible to enter a genre with particular reputation for hardness.
Why have I started talking about this? To show that, yes, you can start an analysis of Cuphead without focusing on its aesthetics. And it is that, although it is the first thing that strikes the most attention, the fact is that the debut project of Studio MDHR is much more than that. It is a fun, addictive and very difficult title. A jewel that seems from another time but that has the virtues of having learned all the tricks and resources of today. And those are virtues of great merit.
Gameplay commented
Tea time
The story of Cuphead is as simple as expected, and has that premeditated tone of innocence and ingenuity of the works of animati
The Cuphead map hides combat and levels with elements of platforms, but also some secrets and characters with things to give us.
Thus begins a hard road in which we have to face gigantic creatures of very imaginative design and that will make things very difficult for us. Nobody said that the thing was going to be easy, but I have good news: Cuphead is hard, but it is also fair.
Each section can be exceeded in between just under two minutes and a maximum of three … If the thing gets longer is that there is something we are not doing well. But believe me, it will be three minutes of maximum intensity where there is not a second to hesitate and no chance of failing by pressing the wrong button, for example.
It’s fun, addictive and very difficult
Even the most deliciously naïve-looking threats, such as putting a couple of vegetables in an orchard or a sort of Pin-Up in true Betty Boop style, are devastating. The first because they have a monstrous size and an unusually aggressive attitude for a vegetable, and the second because it can become a dangerous bull or flying sirens of harmful intentions. I a
The store is essential when it comes to making our character progress. In it we can buy weapons and health enhancers.
And it is that practically everything in the world of Cuphead hurts us: the precipices, the small enemies, the great ones … Everything. And we can not sleep because we only have three lives , that is to say that if we are touched or we receive an im
pact for three times we will have lost the game and we will have to restart from the beginning of the level. The only ones that do not cause us harm are those characters that we are crossing in the general map and who either have something to say rather unimportant, or they give us something: coins . With them we can access to unlock different weapons or enhancers, and these allow us to customize the experience so that the character fights or moves more to our liking.
Of course, everything has its counterparts. For example, we can buy a life more to be more resistant, but at the cost of all our shots do less damage than with the three standard lives … Or interested in a weapon that automatically points to enemies,
but also causes less pain to our opponents than the normal, so you have to assess. The good thing is that we will alternate between one and another weapon at the push of a button in full action, and it is also very positive to be able to overcome phases already finished with new gadgets or weapons. Too bad that you have to kick the entire stage to go to the oldest, whether they are bosses or levels.
