Release: 2022
Developer: Berzerk Studios
Publisher: The Arcade Crew
Gameplay Stats: 10 hours, 16/42 Achievements, Ultimate Good playthrough complete
Aesthetics: This game is presented pretty similarly to Shovel Knight. It kinda looks 8-bit, but with widescreen and some other modern conveniences. so it's definitely not from the 80s/90s. The sprites look pretty good and definitely move well. I was kind of blown away by the detail for some of the little cutscenes. The bosses in particular were absolutely gruesome! The pixel art for all of the more detailed characters was really good too. As far as sound goes, the effects do get a little annoying, but they were minimal enough not to bug me too much. The soundtrack is full of bangers which definitely makes up for the repetitive nature of the sounds. I thought for sure that it was made the by the same guy that did Shovel Knight (Jake Kaufman) but after some Googling I found out it wasn't. One of the songs sounds SO MUCH like Strike the Earth from Shovel Knight, it really blew my mind it was by others. Regardless! This soundtrack is definitely on par with the Shovel Knight soundtrack or at least they belong in the same conversation. Bops the whole way through.
Plot: Your character returns from the Crusades to find that demons have taken up residence in his home lands. Some characters change from good to evil over the course of the game, others are trying to use the demons for their own ends. I didn't really find any of this surprising, it wasn't terrible original apart from the first line of set dressing I mentioned above. Kinda funny, kinda neat, mostly McGuffin.
Gameplay: So this is where the game shines to me, even though I think I've been praising it pretty highly the whole way through. This game plays like a bit of a combo of Zelda 2: Adventures of Link and a Castlevania game. The first quest has you choosing your own level ups like in Zelda 2 and I understand one of the alternate campaigns gives you a character that controls more like a Belmont with the sub weapons and all. The screens were mostly pretty fun to get through with some enemies being kinda tricky. I felt like I learned strategies for most of them by the end of the game although at that point it didn't matter much. I had a ton of health and healing while dishing out a lot of damage. It was really satisfying! I do wish that you got the fast travel spell a little earlier but I was really glad to get one at all.
Standouts? I liked that they combined some of the older nostalgia stuff with some newer conventions in this game. They had an old school death system where you revert to your save or a more modern one where you can keep your gained xp/gold with a small penalty. They also have some in-air control which is lovely. I'm not sure I would've noticed just how different this game plays than the originals if I hadn't played the inspirations recently. Zelda 2 played poorly in 2022, but this game is how I remember Zelda 2 feeling when I look back with some nostalgia goggles.
Very fun nostalgia! I like that there is a morality system as well so you can get some replayability. Looked like getting all the achievements would take maybe 6 plays? It was a little daunting. I'd recommend if you have fond memories of old NES classics but maybe not if those games don't particularly appeal to you.
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