Metroidvanias are my bread and butter these days. I love a good Metroidvania, a good cozy game, or a good RPG. My favorite Metroidvanias are the ones in the vein of the classic Symphony of the Night-style Castlevania games. Gestalt: Steam & Cinder is a love letter to those classics, with a unique storyline thrown in.

Gestalt: Steam & Cinder puts you in the role of Alethia, a strong warrior in a place called Canaan, the Steam City. She finds herself embroiled in a struggle for the fate of the city, as well as discovering her origins. The story is interesting and slowly unfolds as you unlock new abilities to progress.

Similar to classic Castlevania titles, Gestalt allows you to raise your stats slowly by defeating enemies and leveling up. Additionally, there is a skill tree that you fill through leveling, as well as finding hidden ability points throughout areas. Most secret ability points are hidden behind puzzles, which makes exploration engaging and enjoyable.

The combat is strategic and interesting, with combos, backsteps, dashing, and everything you’d expect from a standard Metroidvania title. It also has the typical Souls-like Estus flasks, along with a meter that allows you to use Alethia’s gun, charging it via regular attacks dealt to enemies.

The main issue I have with Gestalt: Steam & Cinder is twofold. For one, the options menu is very limited. There are two versions of Windowed mode, one is a very tiny window, and one is a very large window. There is no in-between, and for people with monitors at aspect ratios in between the two, you’ll have a hard time finding something that suits you. I only have one monitor, so that also adds a bit of an issue there.

Additionally, other than a few options to toggle health bars, adjust controls, etc, the options, in general, are very limited. So, if you’re a player who needs to customize things like brightness or other visual elements, you’re out of luck. You’d think by 2024 the options menu would be a fairly standard thing across the industry.

With that said, Gestalt: Steam & Cinder is a solid experience that I’ve found myself really enjoying. Yes, it can be a bit grindy in places since there are no difficulty options. However, the story and well-tuned, stylish gameplay speaks for itself. If you love Metroidvanias, it’ll be hard to find an indie Metroidvania that could beat this one.

While I do have a few gripes with Gestalt: Steam & Cinder (as stated above), I think it was well worth the wait. I’ve had my eye on Gestalt since it was announced, and I’m happy with the finished product. If you want to enjoy a love letter to classic Castlevania titles, then Gestalt: Steam & Cinder is right up your alley.

A PC review copy of Gestalt: Steam & Cinder was provided by Fireshine Games for this review.

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Gestalt: Steam & Cinder

$19.99

9

Score

9.0/10

Pros

• Intriguing story and world
• Great Soundtrack
• Smooth Combat
• Beautiful art style

Cons

• Limited Options
• Can get grindy in places