Video games have succeeded in becoming part of everyone’s daily life, in this case through a set of adhesions of collective representations that make our reality more daily and fundamental. So much so that there is a very great future ahead of us in terms of game experience development and there are more and more talents who are even closer to being part of a highly competitive sector, developing extremely sophisticated works that manage to raise awareness of many social problems.
And despite the fact that globalization is the result of a long historical process, the take-off of the video game industry in Latin and Central America remains largely unknown to the average European citizen. However, for some time now, this geographical area of the American continent has become the second with the strongest growth in the industry. An industry that once lived in the shadow of others, and which is constantly in search of its own identity with recognizable elements, exploring the different currents and modes of understanding the world in which we live.
In this regard, the people of Navegante Entertainment, a studio based in Mexico, offer us with Greak: Memories of Azur a fantastic side-scrolling adventure in which we will have to play as three brothers to guide them through the lands of Azur at the same time . while facing attacks from an unstoppable invading enemy faction called Urlag.
technical part
Nowadays, art and technology go hand in hand to offer us ambitious visual proposals whose creative limit lies in the very imagination of their creators. In fact, many of us still rub our eyes when we see works like Rayman Legends or Valiant Hearts: The Great War thanks to the versatile UbiArt framework, or authentic goldsmith pieces like Cuphead, an experience inspired by the magic of cartoons of the 1930s. which combines both charm and challenge, with thousands of deaths behind us.
Briefly playing Greak: Memories of Azur, many are the sensations felt beyond its playable mechanics. Its graphic section triumphs for the quality of its movements, the efficiency in capturing a world full of images. And this thanks to the most elementary principles of the medium: the scene combines sets and characters drawn with a lot of talent, and elements that seem inanimate, are endowed with life and make them all breathe. All with the aim of representing a world of fantasy and darkness that will take us to explore underground caves and impregnable fortresses, to dark forests that seem to be taken from series like “Beyond the Garden”.
gameplay
A world devastated by the Urlag invasion and three characters about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime. It is possible that the approach that concerns us is not at all original, because it certainly is not, but for everything else, this work of Navegante Entertainment has become a title in its own right. very satisfying to play as well as visually appealing.
Not in vain, it’s a game that, saving distances, borrows elements from games like Trine to deliver the most rewarding gaming experience that fans of side-scrolling action adventures will love. who forces us to alternate in certain passages between three characters (Greak, Adara and Raydel) to overcome all the challenges we face. Thus, Greak, the youngest of the three brothers, has a sword and a double jump; Adara uses magic to her advantage; and Raydel is a life tank with great offensive capability. In short, they offer a completely different style of play from each other.
In addition, it is enough to press a single button to be able to switch between any of them immediately and in this way adapt to the circumstances of the environment in which we move. So, for example, if a handful of enemies are heading towards us, we will have to select Greak or Raydel to do the dirty work, while in case we come across areas that require a little gray matter (based mainly on interaction with the environment), maybe we should bet on Adara. Either way, each of the three options is more than self-sufficient when it comes to bypassing sometimes interconnected extended scenarios.
Duration
Beyond all this, the adventure that concerns us is completed by several elements that add a layer of depth to what has already been mentioned in the previous lines. Elements that range from cooking, one of the main healing mechanisms in the game that allows us to turn raw ingredients into something that gives us more health and greater regeneration, to a handful of side quests that we will have through the inhabitants of the village and this will force us to go until the last corner of each stage.
In other words, complete Greak: Memories of Azur it may take us around 8 hours to check out, with a good rhythm and without biting the dust too much, even if there are some peaks of difficulty, especially during the first bars, which can suffocate less experienced players. Although, in case we want to repeat the adventure, it is no less true that with all the knowledge already acquired, it can be overcome in half the time.
conclusion
Magical worlds, beautiful creatures, medieval universes, fights for survival… The fantasy genre has left us with beautiful stories, those that transport us to unthinkable scenarios of our reality and adventures in which we could never player. But that’s what video games are for, right? Precisely, Greak: Memories of Azur fulfills an essential function, not only because it serves as an escape valve to existential reality, but also because it is one of those engines that allows us to rectify unsatisfying reality and the fulfillment of unfulfilled desires, in this case, through a proposal based on the cooperation of its protagonists.
We thank Team17 the equipment provided to carry out this analysis.
