The summary of ‘The Cuphead RIP-OFF That Gets EVERYTHING Wrong’

The video discusses the development and reception of a game called Enchanted Portals, often compared to Cuphead. Enchanted Portals faced challenges during development, including funding controversies and gameplay criticisms. The game features run-and-gun stages, boss fights, and various mechanics but falls short in areas like gameplay mechanics, animation quality, level design, and sound effects. Critiques include clunky controls, uninspired level design, lack of variety, and unmemorable soundtrack. The video delves into specific elements like boss fights, world designs, and mechanics, pointing out shortcomings and missed potential. Despite its flaws, the video recognizes some positive aspects in certain boss battles and level designs. The narrative concludes with reflections on Enchanted Portals' development struggles, limitations, and the impact of increased support on the game's outcome.

00:00:00

In this segment of the video, the narrator discusses a game called Cuphead and introduces a game called Enchanted Portals, which was widely criticized for being a copy of Cuphead. The Enchanted Portals game was in development for almost four years and was officially announced in 2019. The game failed to secure funding through a Kickstarter campaign due to controversy and similarities to Cuphead. Eventually, the development team received funding from Epic Games’ Epic Mega Grant program. The narrator further dives into the controversy and development struggles of Enchanted Portals, ultimately concluding that the game was disappointing and considered garbage. The video aims to provide an in-depth analysis of the failed attempts to create a successful Cuphead clone.

00:05:00

In this segment of the video, the focus is on the troubled development and release of the game Enchanted Portals. After facing numerous challenges, it was finally released by Perp Games for major consoles. The game, which has been compared to Cuphead, features linear progression without a world map and relies on a menu system. Enchanted Portals starts with an intro cutscene where two wizard kids accidentally create a portal that sucks them and their cat into it. The game primarily consists of Run and Gun stages where the player must chase after a book that gains a face and flies away. The gameplay involves switching between different colored bullets for specific enemies, with red, blue, and green bullets offering varying advantages. However, the lack of instruction on how to change bullet types and the limited variety of bullet types in the game are noted as issues.

00:10:00

In this segment of the video, the speaker criticizes the clunky and unresponsive bullet changing system in the game “Enchanted Portals,” highlighting the awkward mechanics that make it difficult and inconvenient to switch bullet types. The speaker also discusses the lackluster moveset, including a shield and dash mechanic that fall short compared to their Cuphead counterparts. Additionally, the speaker mentions the power mode activation, health bar mechanics, lack of invincibility frames, and the largely useless melee attack. They further critique the visual aspects of the game, noting the mixed quality of 1930s style graphics, inconsistencies in animations, and the use of static images instead of animated cutscenes. The speaker also comments on the background designs, which are deemed more visually appealing than other elements in the game, and points out the shortcomings in enemy animations and level details.

00:15:00

In this segment of the video, the speaker criticizes the animation quality in the game, particularly noting the lackluster death animations and visual inconsistencies. They describe the gameplay and boss fight mechanics of the first boss, The Witch, highlighting issues with repetitive strategies, glitchy transitions, and inconsistent art style changes. The speaker also delves into the shortcomings of the second and third phases of the boss fight. Furthermore, they discuss World 2 of the game, focusing on the abducted wizards, spaceship escape level, and machine destruction level, noting the subpar gameplay experience in these levels. Finally, they reveal a previously undisclosed aspect of the game – the randomized generation of the Run and Gun levels, critiquing the lack of variety and repetitive design.

00:20:00

In this segment of the video, the narrator discusses how the game, Enchanted Portals, uses randomly generated levels in run and gun stages, leading to repetitive and uninspired designs. The lack of killable enemies in these stages causes frustrating gameplay experiences, such as unfair enemy placement and projectile spam. The narrator mentions specific examples of annoying unkillable enemies encountered in the game. The segment then delves into a specific level involving a spaceship and a security system, where the player faces challenges from enemies that cannot be destroyed. The boss fight against a space cow is critiqued as uninteresting and relatively easy, with different phases described. The narrator also points out similarities and differences between the flight boss battles in Enchanted Portals and Cuphead, expressing disappointment in the lack of unique weapons and slow movement mechanics on the broomstick.

00:25:00

In this segment of the video, the Shield ability in the game is discussed as being not very useful in bullet hell levels due to the risk of getting hit. However, the Dodge ability in flight levels, which offers invincibility while using it, is considered more practical. The video criticizes the lack of attack indication in some fights and describes how enemy spawns in Enchanted Portals are tied to level generation, leading to issues like continuous enemy spawning and potential difficulty in speed running levels. The sound design is compared unfavorably to Cuphead, with Enchanted Portals’ controls and sound design making it feel more like a free mobile game.

00:30:00

In this segment of the video, the speaker criticizes the lack of satisfying sound effects in the game, highlighting issues like generic punch sounds for damage and missing sound effects during a western-style boss fight. The speaker discusses a boss fight in World 3 where they encounter a crab boat hybrid and commend the design of this phase despite some shortcomings. Moving on to the underwater phases, the speaker notes problems with telegraphing attacks and an overall lack of sound cues, making the boss fights feel empty and lifeless. The segment also mentions the frustration of losing progress due to a save file issue but continues playing and reaches World 4, appreciating the level design and theming, especially in a fairy tale book-themed area focused on The Princess and the Frog narrative.

00:35:00

In this part of the video, the presenter critiques the soundtrack of the game “Enchanted Portals” as lacking memorable tracks and fitting music for boss battles, contrasting it with the high-energy and fitting OST of Cuphead. The focus then shifts to discussing a specific boss fight in Enchanted Portals, praising one particular boss battle while highlighting issues such as mechanics inspired by Cuphead and a lack of originality. Additionally, further details are provided about the gameplay mechanics and phases of this boss fight, with commentary on the use of lock-on feature in the final phase. The segment concludes by previewing the next world of the game and a brief introduction to a boss fight within it, mentioning the controversy surrounding the initial design choices for the boss.

00:40:00

In this segment of the video, the content creator discusses the boss fight in Enchanted Portals. The first phase involves dodging bullets and an eagle while dealing with a cowboy character. Phase two introduces cactus bullets with thorns, which are challenging to dodge. The final run-and-gun level in the game is particularly long and filled with eggs and projectiles. The final boss, Rocky the rooster, has unique attacks involving light reflection. The content creator also discusses scrapped content from early development, including different boss fight concepts and features that were changed before release. The segment highlights the discrepancies between the initial Kickstarter trailer and the final game, expressing disappointment in the changes made.

00:45:00

In this segment of the video, the speaker discusses the final world of the game “Enchanted Portals,” highlighting the unfinished nature of the boss fights in World 6. The segment includes a detailed critique of two specific boss fights, “The Pianist” and the Cerberus, pointing out their incomplete aspects and missed potential for being engaging encounters. The final boss fight receives criticism for its rushed development, evident through its recycled attacks and abrupt art style changes. Overall, the speaker expresses disappointment with how the game’s end sections were executed, emphasizing the missed opportunities for creating more polished and engaging gameplay experiences.

00:50:00

In this segment of the video, the narrator discusses the final phase of the game, Enchanted Portals, where the boss fight involves an anime-esque art style reminiscent of a school RPG called Prodigy. The boss’s animations are limited, and the player can use any colored bullets despite certain color changes during the battle. The phase concludes with defeating the boss in anime form, marking the end of the game. A potential sequel or DLC is hinted at in the final cutscene. The multiplayer aspect is briefly touched upon, noting longer boss battles and teleportation for off-screen players. The narrator reflects on the game’s development challenges and speculates about the impact of resource limitations on its outcome. Ultimately, the video ends with a discussion on the game’s past criticism and potential alternate outcomes if the project had more support and funding.