This time we leave with the developer Pugwarewhich after several deliveries under the name polar plythe time has come to return once again with an iteration of this series, although for some context we would consider a sequel to Wrapped up in sanity.
Although for the purposes of this sequel it will not be necessary to know the previously mentioned game, so now we can go there with sufficient security, so as not to miss the crucial details when starting this new adventure.
This time we will be faced with a game that we can identify as a Metroidvania-RPG, as the nature of it will put us in the classic 2D settings. One of the essential characteristics of this mix of genres is that we will be able to increase our statistics to obtain a set of skills that will allow us to overcome the challenges that we will encounter along the way.
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In order not to go so far, we will start in a world set in 1898, surrounded by a London very different from the one we know, not in vain we find ourselves in an alternate history that is involved in chaos and panic, it is at this point that our adventure will begin in a rather particular way, although not far from being quite epic.
Technical section
It’s wonderful to realize how well games of the style have evolved MetroidvaniaWe comment on this because the developers are currently using a variety of tools and resources that allow us to show us different artistic styles and this time we are not far from it, on the contrary, the display that we will see is quite striking.
The always loved 2D and pixel art is present, although with slightly darker designs, highlighting black, red and gray colors, although they help to highlight certain enemies or elements of the decor with another range of opaque and not so flashy tones , although the beautiful red generally seems to highlight the fantastic blood.
One of the aspects that you will notice is related to the game of shadow and light that it has. Skautfold: Usurperproviding us with a frame with a few flashes of light, which repeatedly come from the same protagonist, filling the atmosphere with tension and uncertainty, but calm, since there are also areas with sufficient lighting.
Another detail that we cannot omit is that a clear essence is breathed through CastlevaniaIt is not for nothing that we are in a castle and we will have to cross it to be able to progress, each corner and element that we find there has its identity, although it does not hide from where it drew its inspiration .
Last but not least, the icing on the cake in this section comes from the sonic side, offering us melodies that are a complete delight, we will listen to the beautiful piano, calm, relaxing and even at times it will change to offer us tension or relaxation. anguish, although we will also have moments of loneliness.
Moreover, other instruments will also take center stage in our tour, on the other hand, the action feels raw and unreserved, the hit of the weapons, the enemies are felt and even more so if one have fun with headphones. The game has its Spanish translation and although it does not have voice acting, it is phenomenal and helps us understand the lore presented to us.
gameplay
At this point, our story will begin on April 8, 1898, we will dizzily descend into a pit and find our apparent destination, we are just a strange deformed being with little strength, so we can move at this time and search for a body so as not to die, for our fortune we will achieve it by bringing it back to life.
In this way, we will form a symbiosis, Waltham is the being who resurrected the fourth knight Saragatthe latter who fell in battle and now has a new opportunity to continue fighting to liberate a terror-ridden London, both with different goals and sharing the same body.
From this moment we obtain control of Saragat he fourth gentlemanin this way our movement is in 2D and we will go through a kind of tutorial, where we will find out what we can do, the gameplay is as expected, jumping, attacking and the use of the weapon that we will have within reach hand, a sword at the beginning, although later you will get many more.
In addition, to accompany our repertoire of movements, we are going to have an interesting ability, which will offer us a very useful mechanic, the guardwhich we can use to dodge immediately after receiving an enemy attack, in this way part of the bar of said ability will be consumed for brief moments when we activate it.
In this way, when activating this move, we will not take damage, but the bar will drop, but here is the best part, because, if we activate the guard at the right time, we will be rewarded with guard points and we will increase the guard bar again, be able to repeat the action again, feast on enemies.
If, on the contrary, our movement does not have the necessary synchronization and we prolong it, our bar will yield to the point that once exhausted we will begin to lose life, this mechanic offers a golden opportunity to the player, because for obvious reasons one will always seek to hit the guard to be very effective.
But, the guard will also help us to avoid the traps that we will get as we advance, so that with the enemy attack, the same conditions of use will be met in the successful avoidance of the traps, i.e. lose life or gain guard points.
We will also have a reflective shield, which will serve to protect us by converting the attack of an enemy projectile into a weapon to counterattack it. But let’s not forget that we are facing an RPG and therefore we will be able to increase the statistics of our character and we will do it in an unusual way. To raise our level we will need some stones called Dear and of Vitaewhich we will exchange to increase attack, defense or luck, among others, so it is important to collect both resources and that we obtain by defeating enemies (vitae) or Yth through chests or objects as we progress through the scenarios.
We must be careful when choosing which statistics to increase, since some of them are permanent and others can be reset, with these we will be able to increase each ability again as we wish, offering our character to have a balance or to strike For example, raise the attack to its maximum by neglecting, say, the attack.
Before commenting on the weapons and the variety of them, the quantity that there is is impressive and we will unlock them through chests or in quite hidden places, the effort to obtain them can be worth it, but it seems a bit wasted, most quantity doesn’t mean better quality and they can feel a bit repetitive.
So far the game is extremely complete, although it does not end there, since we will have relics that we will unlock in battles to obtain new abilities, many of which are necessary to access areas or fight who would be impossible without them, these could be called passive abilities, there are a good handful of them, so as not to spoil the surprise we won’t offer many details.
Besides, we will have some kind of creatures (in the best style of the relatives of the vampire saga) and that we will unlock in hidden areas, these minions will accompany us when they are active and depending on this it will be the degree of help they will offer us, some being more effective than others, even if in the end they will always be welcome.
Another detail to take into account is that we are on a map that we will go through several times, to go through areas that were inaccessible, in addition to the reference to a castle, the clear reference to the Castlevania saga is obvious, it’s something that doesn’t need to be detailed because these are things that Metroidvania shares and are best discovered for yourself.
With all this description that we have offered you, your character has all the necessary elements for a good fight, the enemies will be a good challenge, each of them has their attack and determined movement, that in the first changes we will have to learn their model to then eliminate with our repertoire of skills.
There is a good variety of enemies, ground, fast, flying, annoying and others, which will be our torture, although we can tell you that there is a good challenge, everything will depend on our ability to control and command every tool possessed by the character.
Finally, the boss fights will be a great delight that closes the sequence of great gameplay, when we get to these clashes we will test everything we have learned and we will suffer enough, but not to the point of giving up the game, we will go for the glory, the title is quite round and offers fans of the genre guaranteed pleasure.
Duration
Skautfold: Usurper is undoubtedly a game that offers a good variety of challenges and fun, the time you spend with the game will depend on your ability and interest in discovering every corner to obtain each weapon (there there are not few), object and skills. The game can easily run around 12 to 16 hours, it will all depend on you and what you want to get out of the game, which is not little in terms of variety.
Now if you want something more difficult and that will definitely increase the level of challenge, you can change some options, like guard removal, speedrun mode or the most extreme of all, the 1HP modethe latter is a real headache, but it will surely keep you hooked for longer.
conclusion
Skautfold: Usurper is a proposal that shines by itself in the face of the large number of similar options, it is not perfect, let alone revolutionizes the hackneyed genre, but it gives us the necessary pleasure like giving it an opportunity and does not not let her pass.
The title story plays in its favor, directing a character who is trapped by the control of another being, already sounds something interesting in itself, also sharing both the same body and an inevitable duality arising and finally see how it develops the relationship between the two, as together they seek to work together to get out of this situation.
All the above seasoned with RPG accents, Metrodivania, with a 2D pixel-art style and mechanics that give us the necessary stimulus to move forward, is a cocktail that lovers of this type of game cannot miss.
*Thanks to Red Art for providing us with the material to carry out this analysis.
Franklin Eduardo
Good
- Metroidvania-RPG style
- The guard system
- boss fights
- remarkable soundtrack
The bad
- Large number of weapons and not the quality of them
- may seem short
- Have no more game modes
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