Developer: Andrew Shouldice, Finji
Store Link: Steam, Xbox
Genre: Action-Adventure
Release: 3rd, March 2022
I played my fair share of isometric adventure games, from those Tomb Raider spin-offs to Hades. They're all the rage right now, right smack into that hype, comes a would be adventure game that's kind of unlike anything I've played in my recent years.
This isn't anything original, but its heavy inspirations drew such passionate people to work on a game this good, I had to check it out. And I've experienced a different range of emotions too, but bewilderment and awestruck were the most common ones. It doesn't care if you're frustrated, it wants you to keep pushing forward, and that's kind of what I tried to do here.
It's a soul like, but also a Zelda inspired game? It kind of shifts between both at times, when I was playing it, that's how I felt about it. I spent the first 30 minutes trying to find a weapon outside the wooden stick I was using to bash enemies, it did some damage, but the game makes a point that you can't even progress to other areas without an actual sword. I was blocked by either ridiculously hard enemies or obstacles like bushes.
But soon as I found it, the game had changed. As if I found revelations. The sword not only increased the damage, making it easier for me to stagnate enemies, but it also carved out the bushes, travelling was now easier.
I took the game's difficulty to be kind of easy at that point, little did I know, soon as these group of spiders showed up, they were putting me really to the test. I did die trying to kill them, twice in fact. Furthermore, I had to also learn what the item picks were and how to use them, they were no descriptions to specify.
Around these places, there seem like objects of interest, that requires me to solve them. But I couldn't interact with them at that moment. So, probably it's some place I had to backtrack to in order to use them when I find the equipment for them later on.
Meanwhile, I was exploring levels, with no map, of course. I had to memorize and figure out where I am supposed to go and where not to, it took some getting used to. Not only that, there was one point I stumbled onto this cave and the audio sound like something was howling beyond, I was being careful before this giant Fennec creature with no flesh showed up, only to greet me with items to buy.
Oh, and speaking of Fennecs, yeah they are everywhere, as in statues and murals even. I am playing this game to free a Fennec queen or priest or damsel in distress, there's no dialogue to speak of and the game only tells you everything with motion and visual segments only.
I kept going, and going. The game introduced me to different kind of explosives, including the ones that freezes enemies or burns the surrounding floor. These were in limited quantities, so I had to make the best use of them, I haven't found a shop that sells them yet.
And, then I finally found a dungeon section that was pitch black, I died, so I figured coming back later would work. That was before I found a lantern, and boy, this helped. I mustered up my strength and went back into that cave, only to deal with skeletal apparitions and a maze with spikes, I had to avoid. But when I thought I had it under control, I died in the most hilarious fashion possible.
Out of that ridiculous, dreary place and back into sunnyside greenery, later on looking at this area via scope, I have realized I still have a long way to go. And that I just clocked in only for 2 and half hours. Also, found the shield, huge help against turrets and blocking attacks. Even deflects them.
This game gave me a lot of hard time, even though it did have these manual inscriptions that guided me as to what I should do, where should I go and how I use the items? The menus look reminiscent of old school Zelda games with ancient hieroglyphic texts and faded color art style.
It's a daunting game, I was thrown off several times since it was also difficult to navigate through levels and figure out where I should be going. But I am partially glad that is the case, because it brings this spirit of adventure where you're headed into the unknown and trying to figure out what to do.
Levels get easy whenever you find something new, but then head to a different area, and the game can be kind of brutal at times. It throws you off at first, but I did keep going. I started to find new items, and found ways to increase the no. of health potion usage.
I mentioned that there was a level I have to come to if I had the necessary equipment, well the further I went through the game, I found crazy things like these as well. Again, information would have helped here, but I am glad at some way or another, I've found out. It still carries the intrigue of being less handholding. There are like guides scattered around, and finding them gives you pages to help guide you, but you're only given little info just to figure the rest on your way out.
Did I forget to mention this is a Souls like? Yes, there are altars, and you resurrect when you die, but you lose a small portion of coins you've earned. Much later, I've found out that I can also increase my health and other stats as well. It's a pretty daunting title, and the challenges got bigger when I've proceeded further.
This feels and look like an old-school game but with this modern touches like smooth animation, and amazing visual effects. It certainly has its charms, especially thanks to the score, which adds harmonic tracks, then transitions to something dark and gloomy when you're in caves. Really contextualize the scenarios you'd be in.
It has shortcomings, mostly the difficulty and how much information gets withdrawn, but it's been awhile since I played something majestic such as this. I'll continue playing this, thanks for reading the post, and do check it out if you can. It's on Game Pass now.
| Positives | Negatives |
|---|---|
| Gameplay gets you hooked | Game can get really hard at times |
| RPG elements evolve as you progress | The lack of information can make things also frustrating |
| Beautiful world building with so much mystery | |
| It's a pretty game with good music score that adds to the ambiance | |
| Getting lost is a good thing sometimes |