While I’m fine with needing to think outside the box and work for the best ending, but there’s just no way to figure some of these things out other than a strategy guide. You also need an item later that for some reason just isn’t there if you stop to see how the poor man is doing. If you don’t talk to him, then for some reason he does just fine and meets back up with you later. For example, at one point you have to just completely ignore one of your friends who gets thrown into a dungeon after you. However, saving that character and getting the good ending requires you to jump through completely nonsensical hoops. Okay, fair enough it’s actually pretty cool that the game has some replay value, given that it’s fairly short.

I’d gotten the “neutral” ending, so to speak, and there was a “good” ending waiting for me. ***WARNING: this section contains spoilers!***Īfter beating the game I learned that Cave Story actually has another ending, which you can only get by saving a certain character. The Bad: Problem-Solving is One Thing, But. I didn’t just want to advance the plot and get to the ending, I really wanted to learn more about it. The world of Cave Story is interesting, with a deep and apparently dark past, and the people who live in it seem genuine. Good writing is also the reason why the main character’s amnesia really works, rather than just coming off as a storytelling device. When you find yourself wanting to help these non-sentient lines of code, that’s when you know that your heart is in it. However - for me - the mark of a great game is when it takes me beyond just wanting to win, and instead makes me want to help. All of that can be boiled down to just good writing. The Doctor and his minions were kidnapping them one by one, and I found that I really wanted to help the few who remained. In talking to the Mimigas, I got a sense of real fear and desperation. It’s fast, sometimes frantic, more than a little challenging, and man is it fun.Ĭombat and exploration are all well and good, and Cave Story does a good job with them, but I think the best thing I can say about this game is that it made me care about what was happening. Picking the right weapon can make all the difference as you try to plow through swarms of enemies, run and jump away from their attacks, and not fall into the death traps that are sprinkled around just for good measure. There’s a fair variety of weapons to find throughout the game, from the basic Polar Star pistol, to the powerful rocket launcher, to the… hard-to-explain Bubbline. The fact that you start as a blank slate means that you, both as the character and as the player, are curious and receptive to these new things.Ĭave Story plays a bit like a Mega Man X game, with gameplay centered around platforming and intense jump-and-shoot action, but it has a style all its own. Each area you explore and each character you talk to adds a bit more to the story. The story is fed to you a piece at a time as you see more of the world and talk to the people in it, and it keeps you wanting to learn more. The protagonist isn’t defined by his amnesia, it’s just motivation to get out there and see the world. While Cave Story does use the overdone “main character has amnesia” trope, the game doesn’t obsess over it. This is my hope.” That moment really set the tone for the rest of the game. That much became clear just from the starting village, where after a little poking around I found a map inscribed with the words, “So long as you always maintain a sense of exploration, you will someday find the way out. Progressing the story is all about finding the right people, places, and items, and along the way you learn how your character fits into all of it. The Good: Action, Exploration, Heart, and a Really Catchy Theme SongĬave Story is a Metroidvania platformer, and exploration is the core of the game.

Cave story review