Cuphead

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Hey, guys. What do you all think of the run-and-gun game Cuphead? What it is about, per wikipedia:

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The game's presentation is definitely something else, but I'm not a fan of the gameplay. For me, the idea of the bulk of the game being boss battles is questionable as it is, and it doesn't help that the devs decided to lock out the game's ending unless you beat every boss in Regular Mode. That's the main reason I never finished the game.

I've spent a good bit of time with it, so I'll speak up here....

The game is *very* heavily inspired by an ancient Genesis game called Gunstar Heroes, which is why it's so extremely focused on boss fights. Gunstar was.... well, damn near the same game almost (though with a very different level structure). All of the concepts were the same, though Gunstar's slide attack is replaced in Cuphead with that strange parry move. Gunstar was also more explosive and a bit harder. And holy heck, were it's boss fights legendary. The fight against Seven Force still goes down as one of the most amazing things I've seen from that era. Heck, one of the best boss fights ever. Gunstar was made by Treasure, and pretty much every game they ever made was like that.... one boss after another, each more creative and loopy than the last.

Cuphead looks to achieve success with that formula by also then adding it's unique artstyle to draw people in, which it pulls off well. However, I dont think the game is as good as Gunstar was. Many of the boss fights are oddly simple and the run-n-gun stages were kinda... meh. As I understand it the run-n-gun stages are literally an afterthought; as in, thrown in at the last second so that the devs could say "hey it's not ALL boss fights", and it shows in the stage design, which isnt very good.

The boss fights are okay despite the mechanical simplicity of them. They're decently creative and challenging. Something I dont like are the shmup bosses. Dont get me wrong... I'm a big fan of shmups in general and have played about a bazillion of them. But here, it feels like it was shoehorned in, and it really isnt fleshed out very well.

And while there's a variety of items you can buy, there honestly isnt all that much to do in the game. If your skill level is already high enough, you'll plow through the game in a couple of hours, and.... that's it. It really has no replay value at all.

Gunstar Heroes always holds my attention easily, but I found my attention wandering with Cuphead. To be fair, I'm used to games that are *much* harder than Cuphead ever gets, so it's not exactly a big challenge for me, which contributes to it not holding my attention very well.

Also worth noting that there's next to no story to it. This game is *purely* about the gameplay and those unique visuals, and that's it.


The big warning though: if your skill level ISNT high enough, you are going to get stuck. Often. MANY players end up getting incredibly frustrated at the game, which never lets up. Alot of big games these days have basically trained players to expect victory without ever having to develop much actual skill.... Cuphead, in a similar fashion to something like Dark Souls, says "screw that" and just beats your head into the ground, though it's less time-consuming than Dark Souls. But MUCH more repetitive.

So yeah, your own personal skill level plays ALOT into this one. If you're already at a high skill level, this isnt going to hold you for very long. If you arent, it's going to flatten you over and over and over until you get there, and that has the potential to frustrate, so just be aware of it before deciding to buy.

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Cuphead is excellent. Some of the battles have flaws that will leave you frustrated (the beehive one is a notable example) and the last run 'n' gun stage is hellish but as a whole the game is great and absolutely beautiful in its presentation. The game is difficult, and most of that difficulty is down to learning patterns, but I don't think it's especially technically difficult and there are a few bosses (not just in the first area) that can be put down on instinct alone.

One thing I'll say is that you should pay attention to which guns you use. There are two optimal options and a whole bunch of traps.

It looks hella cool! I really want to try it soon.