Mighty No. 9

Developer: Comcept, Inti Creates
Publisher: Deep Silver
Release: 2016
Platform: PC (played), PS3/4, X360/One, WiiU
Genre: Action

There’s hardly anything left to say about Keiji Inafune’s Mighty No. 9 convoluted (and well documented) development. But as for the final product, gut feelings aside, there’s a faint soul to be found under the game’s debris; it’s just that it never quite shines through to the point of fulfilling its promising sparks of life in any front in particular.

Everything falls short due to a widespread lack of polish plaguing every aspect of the game. Beyond the most blatant tech issues (performance, vfx particles/shaders implementation, the eventual game-breaking glitch), even good ideas are held back by such hindrances–especially when it comes to balancing and fine tuning shortcomings. For instance, it rewards the player for keeping a fluent (and satisfyingly so) pace up with buffs, but the very same buffs disrupt the intended flow (more speed or damage affects traversal in both direct and indirect ways); levels and bosses sport interesting gimmickry premises but, for the most part, they overstay their welcome; a shoehorned stealth level towards the endgame annoys (instead of bringing something fresh to the table) the player who got that far by mastering entirely different skills; and so on.

Designs are genuinely interesting.

As said before, it has strengths. When it flows, it feels remarkably good–maybe to a “good 2D Sonic level” degree, even; the characters/enemies designs are great, and the hint system (which pitches a formerly defeated boss against the next best level) intertwines plot, level design and appeal smoothly; battle/weapons mechanics are interesting enough without being hard to grasp.

In the end, an honest approach may grant Mighty No. 9 isn’t the dumpster on fire one might think for its infamous reputation. But it’s surely undercooked–despite the amount of time and money spent (mostly by faithful backers) on it.