Fatal Claw, the debut title by Ndev Games, came out surprisingly quickly after a successful Kickstarter campaign in October of 2025. Having reached its 1.0 launch roughly two weeks ago, at the time of writing, it hasn't even been a year since that day.
Pitched as a hand-drawn 2D action Metroidvania starring a young anthropomorphic cat, the game immediately brought Team Cherry's Hollow Knight to mind—and there is nothing wrong with that whatsoever. It is a great game that captured the hearts of many, but one can't help but wonder how will Fatal Claw stack up?
The Story:
For those who have experienced it, talking about the story of Fatal Claw is not particularly easy. Hollow Knight's story is incredibly cryptic, requiring you to piece things together as you play rather than being handed a complete narrative. Fatal Claw's story, on the other hand, is not cryptic at all. In fact, it is told very clearly throughout the game. However, it is still a story meant to be uncovered through exploration, with plenty to discover along the way. Because revealing too much would venture into spoiler territory, I would like to avoid saying too much.
However, here is what I can tell you:
The game opens with the protagonist, Kisha, lying on the ground. A group of four ghost cats argue over whether they should revive him, acknowledging that they must not interfere too heavily with the laws of nature. Then, a slightly larger ghost cat appears—likely their leader—and notes that they have already intervened. With that, they decide to turn back time and bring him back.
Flashes of future events streak across the screen in rapid succession, the number 34 appears, and a voice expresses hope that Kisha will protect what he holds dear. Kisha then wakes up in a dilapidated laboratory and sets out to explore the world. Before long, he discovers that a strange disease is sweeping across the land, mutating the inhabitants in horrific ways and driving them to violence. Sound familiar?
From that point on, it is up to you to uncover the origin of the disease, determine how to stop it, and put an end to it once and for all.
I must say, however, that the hidden ending reveals a truth about the narrative that left my jaw on the floor. I will not spoil the details, but for a story that initially seems so derivative of Hollow Knight, it surprised me in the best way possible.
The dialogue is voiced in an invented fictional language, which sounds like gibberish to our ears, but each character possesses a distinct voice. Visually, the game is stunning, and Kisha himself is a thoroughly adorable protagonist. Whichever artist handled his character design did an outstanding job.
I also appreciated the brief inclusion of animal-related puns, such as "fur-riend" and "owl" instead of "I'll." These playful linguistic quirks added a charming touch. Regrettably, the writing dropped these puns fairly early on, and I could not find any additional instances during the remainder of my playthrough. It is a bit of a shame, as they gave the presentation an endearing quality.
Finally, I would have loved to see an animation viewer included. The game is packed with beautiful, hand-drawn scenes of varying lengths, and having a dedicated theater mode to revisit them without replaying the entire campaign would have been a great addition.
Gameplay:
The title is a 2D action Metroidvania, the gameplay puts you in control of Kisha as you make your way through a variety of enemies and platforming challenges. Starting with a basic jump and a three-hit attack, you slowly unlock more abilities and items to upgrade Kisha's arsenal, making him noticeably stronger and more versatile.
The map is divided into several regions, each further broken down into individual rooms. Every location looks unique, to the point where I could tell you at a glance which region any given screenshot was from. Along the way, you can discover treasures or find Stones of Immortality—checkpoints where you save your progress, adjust your Cabbs loadouts, respawn after dying, and eventually fast travel.
The game is packed with side quests to complete and secrets to uncover. The world design is exceptional and encourages exploration in the best way possible: secrets are hidden well enough to make you feel clever when you spot them, yet distinct enough that you never feel lost or hopeless.
Enemy variety is another high point, and learning how to handle each type is genuinely engaging. Every region features its own distinct roster, with creatures rarely—if ever—overlapping between zones. Furthermore, every single enemy possesses unique attack patterns you must master.
One detail I particularly enjoyed is that every aspect of the world—characters, items, enemies, and environments—features its own lore entry. After you defeat a specific enemy type a set number of times, Kisha adds a personal note to its entry. Rather than presenting generic technical stats, these entries reflect Kisha's personal thoughts, helping to flesh out his character.
Defeating foes yields currency used to purchase goods from merchants scattered across the map. These range from Cabbs (which function like Charms or Relics) to stat upgrades and Canium, a resource used to enhance Kisha's abilities.
You will also encounter cartographers who offer to reveal sections of the map for a fee, though you cannot tell beforehand whether a vendor is selling data for a region you have already mapped out yourself. On one occasion, I spent 100 currency on a map reveal only to realize I had already charted that section manually, which felt quite frustrating.
Naturally, you can discover these same upgrades simply by exploring and defeating bosses. You do not need to uncover every hidden nook to reach the credits—in fact, accessing every area on a initial playthrough is impossible—but thoroughly exploring everything the game offers is half the fun.
As implied, the game expects you to complete multiple playthroughs to witness different endings. Each new run resets the narrative progression while preserving your character upgrades and map unlocks. Any duplicate treasures you pick up are converted into a special currency, which you can spend to reveal requirements for alternate endings or reset your Canium to respec your build.
I highly appreciate two specific design choices regarding this system. First, if you prefer not to farm duplicate treasure across multiple runs, you can simply purchase these unlock tokens directly from merchants for 200 currency each. Second, completing an ending with higher requirements automatically unlocks any lower-tier endings tied to that path. For instance, if a route requires rescuing up to four characters, rescuing all four will simultaneously unlock the variations for rescuing fewer, as well as none at all.
However, the late-game design has a few notable flaws. While you can re-engage bosses and rewatch cutscenes on subsequent runs, the game offers no guidance on where key objectives are located, making navigation tedious. Furthermore, a crucial quest item can only be collected once per run, yet saving every character in a single playthrough requires three of them. Because the game never explicitly explains this mechanic, it is remarkably easy to lock yourself out of the best ending without realizing it.
Finally, while learning boss patterns on a first attempt is enjoyable, retrying them is far less pleasant. Every boss encounter begins with an unskippable five-to-ten-second intro animation. While that might sound minor on paper, sitting through the same brief cutscene across several retries quickly becomes aggravating.
All things considered, after completing the game to 100%...
Should you play it?
Fatal Claw is a remarkably well-designed and beautiful game. With a story that caught me by surprise several times, a striking art style, and gameplay that feels tight and genuinely fun, it is a title I simply could not put down until I had completed everything it had to offer. It is not often I 100% games I review for this blog.
However—while this might not bother a casual player—as a reviewer, I cannot help but feel that the game borrows far too heavily from Hollow Knight. Taking inspiration from a great game is nothing to be ashamed of; iteration is how art evolves, and the title remains the gold standard. Still, I honestly feel that Fatal Claw took a bit too much without introducing enough of its own identity to step out from that massive shadow.
Because of this, if you loved Hollow Knight and Silksong and are looking for something new to dive into, Fatal Claw comes as an easy recommendation. It would also come as a very easy recommendation if you simply want something that won't be as hard as one of those. It will certainly scratch that itch. Conversely, and it truly pains me to say it, if you have yet to fully experience them, you would probably be best off playing those first.
VERDICT: Recommended
Reviewed on PC
Review Copy was Provided
Available On: PC
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