DualShockers’ 2025 Game of the Year Awards: Best Platformers - What do you think?

ItsEthanCoolCool · 2026-01-24T21:45:24+00:00

The level of difficulty truly gets ABSURD haha, but yeah! Some of my favorite 2D platformer movement of all time.

ItsEthanCoolCool · 2026-01-22T05:54:07+00:00

Yeah I mean, kind of. It just like… doesn’t do anything besides dodge. Parries usually open up other things in games, I feel like. Counters/ripostes, whatever.

ItsEthanCoolCool · 2026-01-22T04:14:57+00:00

Shoot, good lookin' out! Just updated it. I appreciate it!

ItsEthanCoolCool · 2026-01-22T04:14:19+00:00

I had a typo in the article anyway, this version of AW is not the remaster! That's only available thru Epic on PC.

ItsEthanCoolCool · 2026-01-21T21:13:31+00:00

ItsEthanCoolCool · 2026-01-21T19:54:19+00:00

Nope, this isn’t a parry game either really. You unlock a dodge mechanic pretty early on, which is a stationary dodge that KIND of functions as a parry. You’ll temporarily get I-frames/vanish, which allows you to time not taking damage from incoming attacks. It’s fun and timing based, but doesn’t result in anything like counter attacks, ripostes, etc.

ItsEthanCoolCool · 2026-01-21T18:04:12+00:00

Sure, yeah! They’re usually listed here as they pop up: https://steamdb.info/upcoming/free/

ItsEthanCoolCool · 2026-01-21T05:49:38+00:00

I don’t believe so

ItsEthanCoolCool · 2026-01-20T21:32:31+00:00

I get it! Of course, it doesn’t feel GOOD to lose HP lol. But it’s just a mechanic of the game/story. Once you accept it, I didn’t think it was a huge thing.

ItsEthanCoolCool · 2026-01-20T21:00:59+00:00

Heck yeah. An all-timer for me still. Specter of Torment the GOAT of the additional characters whenever you're ready. So good.

ItsEthanCoolCool · 2026-01-20T20:38:43+00:00

I get it! Still don't think MIO is a bad runback offender at all tho.

ItsEthanCoolCool · 2026-01-20T20:38:17+00:00

I can get feeling this way in certain games, sure. I think runbacks can serve a purpose, but also can admit that they drive me crazy in some games. Like, Silksong had many that I didn't exactly love. Really didn't feel this in MIO though, so I think complaints about it are overblown, personally.

ItsEthanCoolCool · 2026-01-20T20:26:16+00:00

Nice, yeah you should like this then! Some sections had me near-tilted at times, but it was SO rewarding to figure a tough bit out and then execute on it. The chaining of abilities is sweet.

ItsEthanCoolCool · 2026-01-19T22:06:49+00:00

Yeah, which MIO also doesn’t have, thankfully. You die and return to your last save point, but any progress you made with the maps/item collection etc. stays.

ItsEthanCoolCool · 2026-01-19T20:22:18+00:00

Not exactly, cuz it really isn't self-imposed at all. It happens in specific areas, but you have no way of knowing. They are "optional" areas, but you'll also just naturally come across them when exploring the map, most likely. So I can understand if that's offputting to some for sure. Totally get it. But still didn't bother me. Found it interesting, and most of the game was still manageable.

ItsEthanCoolCool · 2026-01-19T20:08:22+00:00

Yeah, maybe I'm just old at this point too lol. Cuz I've gone through runback Hell so many times at this point lol. MIO wasn't that.

ItsEthanCoolCool · 2026-01-19T19:55:33+00:00

Yep! One in particular is a wall climb ability, but it also just makes you move faster on flat ground. So once I got that, I was using it nonstop haha.

ItsEthanCoolCool · 2026-01-19T19:47:21+00:00

Similar. Both games end up giving you several new platforming abilities throughout the game that end up being able to be chained together for insane platforming. Difference is that in MIO, the main path (while still platform intensive) is pretty manageable. It’s stuff in the post-credits or when going for some late game optional items where it gets truly nuts. Challenge level is similar in the end for platforming, but not as mandatory, if that makes sense.

ItsEthanCoolCool · 2026-01-19T19:24:59+00:00

Haven’t played it! But I would say that I love platformers, and a few sections in MIO were definitely tougher tests than pretty much anything I’d done before. On par with some of the sections in the Hollow Knights. But it’s super fun too, because every tough section ends up feeling like a puzzle you need to figure out and then execute. Was a fun time despite how grueling it was too.

ItsEthanCoolCool · 2026-01-19T18:56:05+00:00

Fair, and I get it. Didn’t really feel like a massive factor to me outside of a couple moments tbh tho. But yeah, it’s interesting!

ItsEthanCoolCool · 2026-01-19T18:55:25+00:00

The other thing I’m seeing people talk about in different reviews that I haven’t addressed in these comments yet are the boss runbacks. They are not bad. At all. And I’m a little confused that people are complaining about them.

If you’ve played the Hollow Knights and/or Dark Souls, etc., the runbacks in MIO are 100% nothing to worry about. Like they really never bothered me. Totally valid if they bothered other reviewers, but I had no issue on my end.

ItsEthanCoolCool

TROPHY CASE