Pseudoregalia is such a sublime game. The main thing on display here? The movement. The controls feel absolutely perfect, tight enough that it is fun and rewarding to master, but not so tight that it is at all jenky or frustrating. The movement abilities you unlock during the game compound in platforming puzzles that at times test your skill and mastery to a very high degree.

My favourite aspect of the movement, however, is that none of the upgrades serve as a basic cut and dry double jump. Instead, the game offers other means of advancing your jump; namely the abilities Sun Greaves, which serve mainly as a wall kick but also slightly extend Sybil's jump distance (compounded by Solar Wind, which enables Sybil to perform a long jump whislt sliding) and Sunsetter, which enables Sybil to thrust her Dream Breaker into the ground, then perform a higher jump. There are a handful of areas in the game that can actually be cheesed, although some of the techniques needed to do this might as well be as difficult as completing the actual platforming, but it is still rewarding to pull of a skip and even almost feels like they were left in intentionally. Either way, glitches/cheesing a portion of a game like Pseudoregalia feels perfectly in theme for the art style the game adopts.

Aside from the movement, the game's main focus, the second aspect on display here is the style and atmosphere. I absolutely adore the purposefully antiquated style of Pseudoregalia, and often during my playthrough I could imagine myself having played it on an N64 back in the day. Of course, there are options to enable higher definition on the textures, but I personally prefer the lower-resolution and filter the game has on by default. The diegetic atmosphere is wonderful as well. The dreamscape in which the game takes place is esoteric and liminal. The final encounter of the game as well as the ending add to this feeling further.

I came to write this review immediately after my first playthrough. In that playthrough, I had not obtained all of the optional collectibles available, and there were several locked doors that I ended up having absolutely no idea where the keys could be. I am excited to jump back in and discover what I had missed.

this game made me cry

Molly is the most infuriating thing I have ever had the displeasure of interacting with, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I love you, funny dwarf game.

This game made me experience a feeling no other game ever has... and I'm not talking about a lewd thing.

Very good game, very hard game.

Pretty cool