Nine Sols

##Quick take

Nine Sols is a great action-platformer because it knows exactly what kind of game it wants to be. It is not just a metroidvania with a parry button. It is a combat game built around deflection, pressure, and boss fights that expect you to learn instead of merely endure.

The current version is even easier to appreciate now that Battle Memories lets players revisit defeated bosses. That mode fits because Nine Sols is at its best when a fight becomes a rhythm you can study, fail, refine, and eventually conduct.

##What works

Combat is the whole foundation. Deflecting is not a defensive panic button. It builds resources, preserves pressure, and keeps you close enough to attach talismans, punish recovery windows, and control the pace. When the timing clicks, Nine Sols feels less like blocking and more like arguing with the enemy's tempo.

The bosses are the clearest expression of that idea. The best encounters layer attacks in readable phases, then ask for calmer execution rather than louder spectacle. Deaths usually point to something specific: a greedy punish, a missed delayed strike, a jump where a deflect was safer, or a heal that should never have been attempted.

The world gives the combat weight. Red Candle's taopunk setting blends Taoist imagery, biotech horror, ritual spaces, and science-fiction decay into something distinct. It is gruesome, but not empty. The story's best moments make Yi's revenge feel smaller than the damage around him, and that helps the brutality land as tragedy instead of edge.

Presentation stays readable too. The hand-drawn art has style without burying combat tells, and the best arenas leave enough visual clarity for very demanding timing. That restraint matters in a game this strict.

##Where it slips

Exploration is the weaker half. The map is competent, upgrades matter, and shortcuts are useful, but most traversal exists to carry you between stronger combat peaks. It is polished connective tissue more often than the reason to play.

The difficulty is also a hard filter. A main ending took 24 hours and felt punishing, and the true-ending path pushes even higher. If parry-forward combat never becomes satisfying, Nine Sols does not have enough gentle exploration or build cheese to soften the experience.

##Who it's for

Play it if you want Sekiro-style timing in a 2D action-platformer and you are happy to repeat hard fights until the rhythm becomes clear. Study bosses, use talismans aggressively, and treat defense as the engine of offense.

If you mainly want map discovery, relaxed metroidvania exploration, or forgiving action, Nine Sols will feel severe. But if precise deflection combat is the draw, this is one of the strongest versions of it.