Lone Fungus Preview

Before I start the preview, I'd like to mention something: Lone Fungus is very similar to Hollow Knight and draws plenty of inspiration from the title. That said, I will do my best to avoid any comparisons, as Lone Fungus is its own game, and deserves to be treated as such.

In Lone Fungus, you take control of the last fungi of its kind as you set forth on a quest throughout an ancient and abandoned city fighting bosses and discovering collectibles. Early on in the game, you'll unlock the ability to fight, along with a designated button to strike downwards that was easily my favourite addition to the genre.

The world is vast, with numerous areas to explore. Throughout these are various collectibles to acquire, including ladybugs at the end of particularly arduous platforming sequences and useful relics that modify an aspect of your abilities. The exploration to find these is fun, and I really enjoyed the platforming elements, with onerous platforming reminiscent of Celeste; having finished it, I love the platforming aspects. 

My main quarrel with the overworld exploration thus far, however, is the lack of guidance. Whether intentional to make the world feel vaster and to put the message of a lone fungus being lost in the world, I found myself constantly struggling to see where I was supposed to go next. Perhaps it's me being stupid, but the world felt far too vast and I felt far too tiny in it, making finding my way around a bit difficult, especially because I felt almost senseless and haphazard in my exploration. This isn't to say that it is bad in the slightest, as Lone Fungus' exploration is one of its greatest strengths thus far, but I do wish I had a semblance of an idea about what I'm doing, what I'm supposed to do, and a clear goal early to understand what my purpose is.

While exploration is great, I'd also like to give massive props to Lone Fungus' fighting system. Although I like the exploration and platforming more — as a tremendous platformer enthusiast — the combat still stands out greatly; the controls make encounters, both common mob and bosses, extremely fun and comfortable. Not only is the combat smooth, but you also have numerous options of approach with varying relics to use to your advantage. The lone fungi cannot attack upwards due to the cap on its head, but it does fight expertly horizontally, with quick attacks that make fights feel fast-paced and exhilarating. Despite how great the fungus fights foes, horizontal combat does not compare to Lone Fungus' pogo jumping, which made a frustrating mechanic first explored in Hollow Knight all the better with quick attacks and a designated button to pogo that made the platforming challenges with it so much more exciting.

Now, if difficulty is more your thing, Lone Fungus has you covered on that front too; you can experience the title in four different difficulties, each with varying levels of toughness. Although I explored the game in Normal difficulty (due to being a newcomer to the title), I was intrigued by the increased challenge for both the Hardcore and Nightmare difficulties. At the moment, Hardcore removes almost half of your health bar disables boss health bars, forcing you to fight enemies completely blind. The extra challenges enticed me, and I can't wait to explore them further — I hope to eventually conquer Nightmare.

Lone Fungus feels like an amalgamation of Celeste and Hollow Knight, and I'm loving it so far. Although it is in Early Access at the moment, it is absolutely worth checking it out if you like the metroidvania genre or are itching for something to play while you wait for Silksong! Enjoyable ability-based exploration, platforming challenges to rival Celeste, and great combat await players that delve into the abandoned world of the fungi.