Within the first few minutes of playing Ultros, you should have no questions in your mind that you haven’t seen or played anything quite like it before. Roughly feeling like a Metroidvania through the lens of an acid trip, the game world is visually rich, layered, lush, and incredibly colorful. While there’s no doubt at all it makes for a wild gaming experience though, it would be a mistake to say that it’s always an ideal one.

When playing through Ultros there’s never a question as you play that many decisions were made about its development that consciously appear to defy norms. The view is more pulled in, allowing you to better see the game’s art design that is simply incredible, but there are occasions where being able to see more around you could be helpful. On the whole the game’s combat is also a bit simpler than most, though as you earn upgrades you will feel more capable. Just at times you can feel ill-equipped against bosses and you’ll end up simply repeating the patterns that work, which can make it feel less rewarding.

Unfortunately, there’s also a bit of a cost to the visually lush environments and all of the detail, and that has to do with clarity. The layering of the background and foreground elements, as well as all of the detail of practically everything, is truly stunning… but sometimes it’s a struggle to tell what you can jump on or interact with, and it can be easy to outright lose items that drop or miss crucial details visually because of it all. You can persevere and get through the issues, but it can all be a bit much at times. I’d also say that when it comes to getting around the feel of everything takes getting used to, and elements like the double jump, once you get it, are just odd even though workable.

Put it all together and there’s no question that Ultros absolutely breaks out of the typical Metroidvania mold in almost every way, but not always for the better. If you’re down for the beautiful chaos of it all, you won’t likely be disappointed. That said, if your preference is for more consistency and familiarity in your forays into the genre, this may be one where you’ll want to sit it out.