Laika: Aged Through Blood

This game is horrible. Not in the gameplay, the gameplay is fantastic. The music is outstanding, the art: gorgeous. The story is awful terrible terrible horrible. Not in quality, but in content. Nothing is good, nothing is happy and nothing will ever get better. 10/10

Having 100%-ed the game, here's my two cents.

The game wasn't perfect; as others have said, the boss fights are probably the worst part of the game, and there are bits of backtracking you have to do for quests or items that just isn't fun if you don't photographically remember the map.

On the other hand, the art style and music rock! The story, while a little edgy at points, never crossed that line too far and I was consistently intrigued the entire way. I empathized a lot with Laika the whole way through, and enjoyed the worldbuilding a lot. The gameplay was generally pretty clean and enjoyable, and I didn't experience any glitches. The achievements aren't too hard to get, either.

I definitely recommend this game, especially if you can catch it on sale.

You climb a lighthouse while being chased by an armoured crab... my wallet never stood a chance.
It’s like Katana Zero but with a motorcycle.
I was intrigued by the concept of a “motorvania”, so l had no option but to add Laika on my library. The protagonist being a badass mother riding a motorcycle also had a certain charm to it. The ironic strong anti war messaging juxtaposed with backflipping on a motorcycle whilst mowing down dozens of soldiers also had its part in my decision.
Oh my god, what a ride. Such a masterpiece. This game is brave, in how it approaches story, gameplay, style... powerful and such a satisfying game. When I saw the trailer for this game, it looked like a total blast so I tried out the demo. From the get go, you see how brutal this game can get but I was NOT prepared for the story it would tell. To me, Laika is one of the best narrative metroidvania in recent years, standing shoulder to shoulder with the greats like Ori and Blasphemous.
The gameplay is an absolute thrill. It makes you feel so badass, rushing head first into a crowd of birds just to blow them to hell. Zooming around on your bike and shooting Birds is so much fun and I loved the abilities Laika gets, especially Dash. It made her able to jump at any time and refill bullets with ease. Blocking a bunch of bullets with Laika’s bike and taking out multiple enemies all before touching the ground is amazing. So fu*king sweet. Sometimes I had trouble with aiming since I was playing on Steam Deck, but I never got to the point where I was frustrated or wanted to rage quit. Checkpoints are so so so consistent that dying was never an issue.
Okay okay, so the story. MY GOD. This is BLEAK. Brutal. But it isn’t this way just to be edgy and I truly believe that. I don’t think a game has EVER affected me this much emotionally. When it comes down to it, this game tackles many themes but the main one is emotional abuse and growing up. Dialogue felt natural, I always felt Laika's actions during the plot were understandable, though her world is brutal. I think also the game is called “Aged Through Blood”, because the “curse” in the game is a metaphor for becoming a woman. It’s fascinating to see a game tackle the transition into womanhood like this. We don’t get many brutal post apocalyptic worlds with such a focus on a female story like this. That’s another reason I’m assuming almost every character in the game is female. What other game has a quest where you get menstrual pads for a character having their first period? I don't think any game has tackled the theme of menstruation like this, if ever, and in such a respectful, serious manner as well. Which is just so bold and unique. We shouldn’t be afraid to tackle these topics in game, and I deeply respect LAIKA for being badass and REAL. Some parts of the story are things I will think about and talk about for ages to come.
Additionally given the themes of gendered violence, Laika is also stand-in for women who are forced to bear children which is much more relevant in this political climate.   This game is not afraid to go to those places but it really tells a more emotionally affecting story without holding back. Laika has become my favorite female protagonist as well. And props to the devs for trying something different with a Metroidvania story! The game has a lot more going on than just this but I’d write a more ginormous essay if I started going into it. It’s so deep and complex and for a Metroidvania, having an unexpected story like this is so brilliant and emotionally affecting that I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.
I never felt it was trying too hard, I think it was just a bleak world. But the story it was telling, while not unique on a grand sense, being through the female lens and tackling the discussions they did is SUPER unique for the Metroidvania genre and a gaming in general and should honestly be celebrated. There is also another angle that it feels like a lot of other reviews are overlooking. Laika is part of a dying tribe of people seemingly indigenous to the land. All of the herbs and side quests are part of living as much with this dying land as possible or remembering the dead in some way. Thus, Laika is also the story of an indigenous group defending themselves from an oppressive imperialistic force, while still maintaining the humanity of the individuals of this indigenous group: flaws included. Laika is a perfect game to me, and I don’t care what anyone says about that.
Even without the wonderful story, the gameplay was strong enough for me to enjoy it the whole way through, with a lot of different areas and ways you progress through them. Sure, there aren’t as many abilities as a typical Metroidvania but when you’re zipping around and flying across the screen and flipping everywhere, I was not really bothered by that. I had so much fun getting around and shooting enemies. Honestly, if it was only the story that was good, I wouldn’t have stayed playing, but a lot of the time I was thinking “we have a game with THIS artstyle, THIS gameplay; and THIS amazing story”. It all had to work together for me to be this amazing. I think that one has to know what can be expected from a game and what not. Laika is not a AAA game and the designers had to choose where and how to distribute the effort and the resources in the way of creating the game they wanted. In that regard, I think that the choices made were an absolute success.
I think that the strong points of Laika and what make this game unique and special, are the story and how is narrated, the art with a special mention to the music, and the central mechanic: the motorcycle combined with the shooting mechanic. The designers didn't choose to make an ordinary metroidvania and because of that, some mechanics and game dynamics are not developed as in other games of the genre. They instead, elaborated a very brave story to tell, not common in videogames, exploring sensible topics.
Not only the ones mentioned in my first couple of paragraphs, but also violence, politics, racism... and all of that taking stands, not in a manichean or idealistic way or falling in relativism. The characters, though some of them having very short appearances, are full of colour and personality. The art is outstanding, very carefully made starting from the music (the awesome mechanic of having to search the radiocassettes), the landscapes and scenarios, NPC’s... And the "innovative" central mechanics are overall well implemented and are very fun through almost all the game. It is a perfect game? Obviously not. Feels a bit too long, the backtracking is tedious in some points and some mechanics are not used or developed in their full potential. Beyond all this, the combo between it's strong points make the game original as few can and I seriously think that games like Laika expand and improve this art and are much more necessary to push it forward than most AAA games.
In conclusion, came for the gameplay, stayed for the story. Very powerful story and atmosphere that digs it's claws into you and doesn't let go till you're done, very tragic and brutal but at the same time, stunned that it was able to get this kind of emotional response out of me. The story is a dark, gritty reality that deals with loss, growing up, betrayal, death and genocide. It’s a stark look at a dying world and was compelling throughout. I definitely cared a lot about Laika, and was genuinely moved by the endgame. From a gameplay perspective, when this game is on, it’s on fire. Executing the maneuvers you want to make means laying waste to a dozen enemies in as many seconds and feeling like a badass while doing it. Can't recommend it enough personally, but I'm not a professional reviewer either, just some sap who fell for a video game coyote mom trying her best.
Finally, anyone ever feel that like, us furries are just better at art than other people? What's up with that?
10000000/10

One of the most impactful games I've played in recent years. Laika isn't easy, both in its difficulty and the themes it explores, but its more than worth overcoming its challenges. The gameplay is fun and mechanics don't overstay their welcome. The world tells a story even when the characters aren't talking. And the music is absolutely gorgeous, albeit very melancholy. Spectacular game with an important story to tell.

After completing 100% of the game I can finally say that…
Laika: aged through blood is a light 8 out of 10
The gameplay? GOOD, the soundtrack? GOOD, the cutscenes? GOATED
Although it can get repetitive at times making some of the side quests and trying to get some of the achievements, I also find it lacking both on worldbuilding and the main character and NPCS backstory I THINK that these 2 could easily expanded and told us more about the history and world that we are playing on.
other than that? It's a good game that should be played at least once for the unique gameplay it has.
Also laika can get five big booms
BOOM, BOOM , BOOM. BOOM, BOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!!

Laika's a motorcycle metrovania style game that you can beat in 20 hours. But that twenty hours is one hell of a gripping story in a grim setting with depressing tones mixed with some seeds of hope. It's biggest strengths is the main gameplay itself, the moving story, and the wonderful music you'll listen to and unlock tapes of as you play through. It's biggest weakness is some of the boss design being fights that drag out for quite a while where death has you refight the boss from the beginning every time you mess up. Thankfully not all of those fights are like this and there's plenty of stages to drive through between the big fights either.
I left the game craving much more of the lore and world settiing. It was such a great experience that this review can't do it justice.

I loved this game. The art style is fantastic. The animated cutscenes sprinkled throughout are such a treat. Absolutely beautiful soundtrack. NPCs are fun and entertaining. The writing is wonderful, funny, and heartbreaking. There's a good variety in weapons, though keeping the pistol and shotgun in rotation feels almost necessary. Boss fights were always unique and interesting in concept (though not always in execution).

Now, the things that I did not like.
-The dash comes FAR too late in the game. For this to be a metroidvania that requires you to constantly backtrack, it takes FOREVER to go from area to area, especially when you aren't 100% sure where you need to be looking for whatever quest item is necessary.
-The game desperately needs a better fast travel system. The fast travel points are oddly inconveniently placed. There are large parts of the map that are without them (especially central of the map) and you seem to have to go to those areas frequently. Not to mention the fast travel points ALSO cost a unique currency for much of the game. A currency that you have to gather in the world, and then make at the fast travel point, to use the fast travel point (stupid, STUPID).
-The turn around function is not perfect. I don't know if it needed to be a shorter duration held but MANY of my deaths were because of thinking I had turned around only to ride in the same direction to my death.
-The hook function is dicey at best and extremely difficult to use at its worst and made that whole boat area of the map feel like a pain to get through. It got so frustrating that I considered quitting the game. I'm glad I didn't, but that level of annoyance does not make for FUN. Having the dash there would have made it significantly easier to get through, but that was still 2/3 of the game away.
-Upgrades cost FAR too much. Max upgrade costing 3000 of the currency when you typically get 5 (FIVE) for killing enemies is insane. Especially considering there's like 6 weapons and multiple bag upgrades. I didn't have it in me to grind it out just for achievement sake.
-Nearly all the side quests were ridiculous fetch quests forcing you to go from corner to corner (again, the terrible fast travel does not help this) only to receive basic upgrade material you can easily get from respawnable chests. Make the side quests feel like they're worth doing. I don't care how interesting the NPCs are (and they are all quite varied) if I'm getting useless rewards in return for the quests.
-I initially started this game on a controller, because that's how I expect to play a platformer, but I VERY quickly switched to mouse and keyboard. Godspeed to anyone that persevered with a controller, because having to move, aim, reload with the flips, use the hook, etc all on a controller feels absolutely awful (lol at console players).

I really wish there had been another boss or area like the mines. That was one of the only times that the fact that you're on a motorbike felt fluid and fast. I understand that really isn't the crux of the game, but I still feel like it should have had a greater impact, rather than the start stop start stop precision gameplay.

I know this is a review mostly focused on negatives, but the entire 30-35 hours I spent on this game (a bit of afk) I loved. But there is truly a laundry list of caveats. The game itself was never too difficult, but as I said above, I nearly quit from frustration over a poorly implemented core mechanic. Buy it full price, buy it on sale, just play this game. It really is beautiful. Just mind the bird shit that you will step in while playing it.