Note that if you're not into retro games, you might not be too into the graphics of this game... at all.
Pulled straight from my review on YoYo Games:
First, the graphics.
The graphics aren't amazing by console or pc or any kind of budgeted standard. This is now irrelevant, because there was no "budget" that I know of, for this game. Daniel Remar spent years of his life on this thing, got some voice actors, and Dan Byrne McCollough and Chris Geehan (WHO ROCK THE HOUSE, I MIGHT ADD...), plus Captain Goodnight, LifeForce (and I think there was one more?), and there was no money involved. (...Again, that I know of, haha). Even so... a few talented artists might lend a helping hand right...?
Actually, Daniel held his own pretty well here. It's stylized to the max, and its slick animations are the real kicker. While screenshots may make the game look worse than it is, seeing it in action is real easy on the eyes.
Sound:
I've already commended Chris Geehan and Dan Byrne McCollough.... not to mention, I have the two listed in my own musical influences, PLUS... have created a song DIRECTLY INSPIRED from the two of them... but dude, I've still gotta hand it to Assassin Asha / Sentinel's boss theme! And the credits theme is pretty killer (and fitting, for both the pacifist and one-woman-army endings somehow), though like Daniel's said I think closing in on a million times, they didn't record it for Iji. As for the sounds themselves, they are epic, and are well-mixed - I never once heard the music and sounds fighting themselves, and even games who seemingly breathe money, have actually had problems with.
Story:
Everyone's gonna have their own opinion about the story. Some are gonna say it's cheesy, or contrived / they've seen this before, but honestly, I didn't get any of those vibes at all - I LOVED the story: it oozed out just how much time and care was put into it. He could have taken it any number of truly cheesy and contrived ways. If there were no Komato, you wouldn't care what happened to the Tasen. Or, if there was no Assassin Asha, then you wouldn't have to worry about Dan (as for "what" could [or could not, in fact], happen, I'll omit that spoiler). See what I mean? It's carefully planned, and well-executed.
Interface:
I knocked the score down slightly for this one. The menus are very well-made and easy to navigate, but the HUD was what jumped at me a little - at first, it really did feel kind of crowded. Not very much, but enough to be noticeable, in particular "Jump" and "Armor." But like I said - only slightly. It all fits, and it's all readable. Even if it "feels" crowded, it's not so much so that you can't get used to it, not to mention you get used to it pretty quickly.