Fatal Claw Review

Fatal Claw is a $24.99 Steam Metroidvania from NDEV GAMES, published by Com2us Holdings, starring Kisha, a cat resurrected by his ancestors. It left Early Access on 26 August 2026 at 07:00 UTC after an 18 November 2025 EA start. This review is an editorial score informed by Steam’s Very Positive rating (90 percent of 177 all-time reviews as of late August 2026; recent were Mostly Positive) and by GameTyrant’s quick review, plus the 1.0 map the EA crowd did not fully have. It is not a paid preview. It is single-player only. Windows, full controller, Steam Deck Playable, 51 achievements. Introductory 20 percent off runs until 9 September 2026.

Score: 8.5 / 10

The score is opinion. Steam’s 90 percent is the crowd. GameTyrant called it a fairly excellent Metroidvania with heart, depth, and a story the author actually cared about. Those two signals agree more than they fight. The deducted point and a half is familiarity, a handful of late fights that can outrun Kisha’s kit, and a map that still expects you to backtrack without a quest arrow. If you wanted a 10, you wanted a game that did not share so much DNA with Hollow Knight. If you wanted a 7, you probably bounced off Metroidvanias entirely.

What it is, without the fake wiki lore

You explore a ruined underground kingdom where Ancients and Commoners once coexisted. You rescue survivors, absorb Engraved Skills from infected enemies, slot Cabitz (Jibbitz-inspired charm stones), and work toward the Fatal Claw weapon and a key to the surface. Official 1.0 regions include Origin Laboratory, Lower Moss Cave, Higasha Tenshukaku, and Aphotic Marsh on top of expansion spaces such as Strigine Quarry, Black Canyon, Higasha Tundra, Lower Elord Castle, Jayma’s Dungeon, and Kannir Belt. Buy the game for these official 1.0 names, not for outdated fan maps.

Hollow Knight, without copying Hollow Knight

Comparisons are fair and GameTyrant leads with them: dead kingdom, upgrade hunting, healing as a scarce resource, chunked health. Fatal Claw is not a Silksong clone with cat ears. Combat is a multi-hit claw kit plus Mutated Abilities (Blink, glide with wall grabs, wall climb, Lyani’s Claws, Silver Chain) and Engraved Skills that charge mana when you attack. Cabitz customization is closer to charm theory than to Nail-only purity. GameTyrant argues the combat is more engaging than Hollow Knight’s, and that magic and healing gauges being separate matters because you are not spending the same pool to live and to spend a skill. This review agrees on the feel: Kisha wants you to keep hitting. Hollow Knight often wants you to wait. Both are valid. Only one of them is a cat in a Kannir drilling site.

Map philosophy also diverges. Carox fills as you walk. You are not buying a blank map from a vendor to make Origin Laboratory exist. Markers and drones (GameTyrant likens the drones to The Lost Crown’s screenshot tools) are there when icons are not enough. That is modern Metroidvania courtesy, not a Hallownest lecture.

1.0 is the version to review

If you bounced in Early Access, 1.0 is the argument for a second look. Lower Moss Cave (Jibanam Trees and tribe, sap that later feeds ending work), Upper Origin Laboratory, Higasha Tenshukaku Interior, and Aphotic Marsh (black sludge, Sorr traces, Silver Chain) are not cosmetic DLC stickers. They change backtracking. Silver Chain in particular is a “return to every marker” tool. Launch also ships the extra-cycle layer: credits then epilogue, Stone of Narrative with exclusive objectives, cycle 34 to 35, afterglow walls, memory fragments. GameTyrant flagged a New Game Plus-style system without spoiling it and estimated a first clear around a dozen hours. Com2uS launch coverage put complete content — endings and hidden elements — around 30 hours, up from about six in the first Early Access slice. Treat both clocks as honest: credits can come earlier; Carox completion takes longer.

Where it stumbles

GameTyrant notes late bosses that are fast enough to feel ahead of Kisha, and difficulty spikes that exist but are not constant. Ortrinde’s floating blades and Irbes’s clumping copies are the kind of fights that produce those comments. Accessibility sliders exist; use them before you write a steam review that you “must git gud.” Platforming spikes are uncommon. Story is denser than the genre average, which is a compliment until a mutually exclusive Stone of Narrative fork bites you. This wiki’s Endings page exists because the game will not stamp True Ending on the box.

Price is $24.99, not the $14.99 figure some outdated pages still show. The 20 percent intro through 9 September 2026 is the actual launch deal. At full list you are paying mid-indie Metroidvania money for a Very Positive EA-to-1.0 trajectory, hand-drawn combat that GameTyrant prefers to Hollow Knight’s, and a 1.0 region pack that is already in the build. That is easier to recommend than a $40 live-service promise.

Verdict

Buy it if you want a single-player claw Metroidvania with a real 1.0 map, Cabitz builds, and an ending system that is weirder (and more honest) than a three-label chart. Wait if you need multiplayer, a Switch cartridge this week, or a game that refuses any Hollow Knight rhyme. Nintendo Switch is a planned H2 2026 console target, not a 1.0 SKU — see Nintendo Switch. Handheld that exists: Steam Deck. Then use the Walkthrough Hub, Bosses Hub, and Updates Hub when the marsh eats you. Official store and community: Steam, fatalclaw.com, Discord.