Imp of the Sun is a Metroidvania that takes place in a world inspired by Peru.  You play as a fiery imp named Nin whose goal is to defeat the Four Keepers and end the Eternal Eclipse.  We begin the demo high up in the mountains with the eclipse in clear view behind us.  I began by talking to a few people, including Suyana, a young girl who can give you advice from a distance thanks to her grandpa’s invention, and the ghost of an explorer named Qari who has all sorts of uses, such as being able to save your progress and allow you to level up your HP, Inner Fire, and Attack Power.  And I must say, I really like the character designs in this game.  Aesthetically, the game looks quite good, but what about the gameplay?

Nin himself is a nimble little dude that can attack with his spear and double jump and basic things like that.  During the demo, I also learned the ability to throw my spear and slide through narrow passages, plus Nin already has the pre-existing ability to restore health when you hold X (similar to Hollow Knight).  To use certain powers, though, you must expend Inner Fire, which basically acts as your magic meter.  Since Nin is made of fire, your Inner Fire can be restored by standing near sources of heat, like sunlight or torches, but it won’t regenerate in darker places, like underground or in dark jungles.

The first half of the roughly 30-minute demo was fairly easy.  We explored some caves and sought out keys and hit switches to progress.  The game became more difficult as we entered the jungle, however, which had us fighting some rather aggressive ghosts and mermaids.  It was here that I began to struggle with the combat, as I’m not sure Nin controls as well as I would like, particularly when it came to attacking enemies in the water.  Try as I might, I had a difficult time fighting the mermaids without falling into the water myself, and so I resorted instead to just avoiding them entirely.  In fact, when looking up reviews online, a lot of people agreed that the controls aren’t the best, so it’s certainly not just me.

The demo also ended so abruptly as to be comical.  Looking back at my footage, it appears that touching this unidentified glowing object causes the demo to cut to the “Thank you for playing” screen.  It’s not a big deal or anything…most demos just end in more logical places, such as after a boss fight or the end of a level, not suddenly the moment you touch an object you hardly knew was important.

Imp of the Sun feels a bit like Ori and the Blind Forest, though admittedly not as polished, and Nin’s movements are certainly not as precise as Ori’s.  Seeing as I’m a big fan of Metroidvania games, I really wanted to like this game, and on the most part, I did.  But considering I struggled so much with the controls during the first 30 minutes, I’m not sure I want several hours of that, even if the game is pretty short, at only 4-10 hours.  In case you’re still willing to give this game a chance, however, Imp of the Sun is available on all major consoles and PC for $19.99.