Astalon: Tears of the Earth

I thought it was just a platformer, but no, it's a metroidvania....
I haven't played this game for a few days now and I feel great, although after the first launch I didn't want to turn it off for a long time...and when I did turn it off, my brain was like - well, you'll turn it on tomorrow, right? Right???
1. YOU will die and burn.
2. Here you need to grind mobs for a couple of coins.
3. There's leveling, attack, defense, special moves, extra help with farming money, and other features.
4. 3 heroes to choose from, and no, you won’t be able to play the entire game with just one hero.
The warrior hits tentacles to advance. The mage hits spheres to cut through and open a path. The archer jumps off the wall.
Tactics: a warrior strikes tentacles; we pass through them, they become overgrown. An archer discovers secrets. A mage discovers new things by cutting through the old path.
There is a fire where you can change your character, talk, and save the game.

The beginning is cool, okay, and then it starts: 30 HP, one poke knocks off 5-6 HP, THEY GIVE NO HP! There's one ball for 3 rooms, breaking it gives 5 HP. Died? You start over, no checkpoints, and the fact that you saved at the bonfire doesn't matter. Remember Castlevania on the Dendy? It's the same thing, except there's a checkpoint there... You constantly have to change heroes - a mage or an archer, a warrior, etc., when, there are tentacles. There are secrets, hidden rooms, and you're so happy you see where the secret is, happy if you have the character who will help you get to it. No character? Go to the bonfire and change it there. Did you change it? Go back, which means, at minimum, you'll get a poke or two, at most, you'll die. Died? Start over from the first block, and that secret is on the tenth, okay, you swore, but you still got to that secret, what do you expect to see there - get? 200 money, HP - restored to max., a new ability, an item? Well... at first they'll give you about 30 money, then items, and so you get an item, what does it do? But there's no description, well, okay, but you can buy a description of all the items in the store... I bought it, and nothing, a melted definition and that's it. Look, I have shoes with wings - can I fly? Can I jump from great heights without dying? There's one place where I jumped without these shoes - I died, go there and check? And if it doesn't work? I'll die and start over, awesome... just make a bar above your head, you took such-and-such a step, such-and-such an item worked, NO! You're trying to figure it out like a kid on a Dendy, you should be able to figure it out... but there's no time for all these checks.
What's especially annoying is: You find a secret passage, continue along it, and you need a key: blue, white. Okay, you find the key in the starting area, so you go to open that door, anticipating that there's definitely something valuable there... but then you go to the next level, where the mobs are stronger than you. Couldn't they have made it a requirement: 5 attack, 5 defense, or are you sure you want to open the door? So, using that key won't open the passage in the starting area, but you'll be forced to run around this reinforced area to find the key and bring it back to the starting area.
When I open the map, a location I've already been to starts flashing. What's that? Did I miss something there? Did I miss it? I go back there, check everything, and there's nothing there, but the light still stays on. Turns out keys can be not only locked or in hard-to-reach places, but also IN PITCHERS! Awesome!
When you save at a campfire, you save your progress when you quit the game, not when you die. It must have been really hard to do on Normal — if you die, you start at the campfire; on Hard, you start over. So, when you die, you start over, running through all those locations again, trying to get to the place where you died. DO YOU REMEMBER WHERE YOU DIED? After all, when you die, the map doesn't show you where you died...
The location with the boss counts as a location, yes, you will walk through this empty location, you won’t be able to miss it, super.
Switching characters — yes, the bonfires are close together, but the mobs aren't sleeping, they're just waiting to kill you. Go switch characters? Get a hit or two. Switched? Come back — if you get there... HP is calculated as a shared value here, not like each character has their own. And you're thinking, why do I need them? I basically played as an archer — she can hit the entire map, jump off walls, and open secrets.
I found a secret, and in it... notes? It says "You can now listen to music from the main menu." That's why I can't hear the music... Then I remembered I'd muted the game while listening to other music. What can I say, stupid... But kudos to the developers for explaining what it is, but not the collectibles. What's next? Artwork, monsters, locations, etc., photos from the developers? After that, I realized it was all over.
Tips: Spend time grinding the starting mobs, invest everything into defense; it will keep you from dying so quickly, then start playing normally. There's also a black cat (a secret item) who will give you the "Bestiary" book. Found a mob, kill it x number of times, did you kill it? Go to the cat, he'll give you money and make your grind easier. I won't spoil where it is, but if you need to know, let me know, I'll give you a hint or tell you where it is. Regarding the transitions between bonfires, maybe there is such an item; I just haven't found it yet. Who knows, since it won't say so.