Narita Boy Analysis – Chromatic Aberrations in a Virtual World

The creator needs our help, and only Narita Boy is able to defeat the threat that is subjugating the digital realm.

Experiencing alternative stories is a wish that every player is always looking for. But also, if these stories are based on digital worlds, with a thousand references to the technology around us and with an 80s aesthetic, it can be a fantasy come true. Stallion hackers threaten our world, and Narita Boy is the only one capable of stopping this disaster. Are you ready to embody the chosen one? So grab your trichrome sword and get ready to deal with any alteration that appears in this virtual environment.

Player One loan

Studio Koba is the Spanish developer in charge of the development Narita boy. As I mentioned, we will be the chosen one. The only person who can stop it, an enemy born from the unfounded fears of the Creator and who will not hesitate to destroy the Digital Realm to take control of the trichrome. Luckily, We will have the help of several allies commanded by Motherboard, the supervision program which sounded the alarm in the presence of such a threat.

It touches to monitor the source code

The digital realm is not just an excuse to present an environment full of sprites and with a particular aesthetic. The study took care to detail all traditions surrounding your game. There isn’t a time when we don’t find hardware and software technicalities, digital verbiage, and programming hints among so many other things. It is not only that they reflect these very specific terms, but that there is an intrinsic philosophy that goes beyond what we might hope for. In fact, if you are not very on the subject, in some dialogues, you may get lost a bit with the delusions and paranoia that the characters exhibit.

The trichrome is the genesis. The beginning and the end

Fortunately, in the playable Narita Boy, it’s easier. In fact, it can sometimes be too simple. We are faced with a classic adventure, where we will have to go through the different parts that make up the trichrome in search of the alterations it has caused. In other words, you will have to roam the digital worlds until you find the enemies at the end of each phase and kill them. For this, outside of our competence with techno-sword, we will have other attacks that we will learn little by little.

The control of our protagonist is special. He is not a smart, nimble character. In fact, you only have to jump to realize that Narita Boy does not respond instantly. He suffers from a slight delay due to having to push first. The same thing happens with the sword stakes, or when we use the shotgun. It takes time to react, you have to anticipate enemy attacks so as not to be injured. Even so, I also tell you that nothing happens if we die. Studio Koba doesn’t punish the player much with death, and we’ll spawn in virtually the same spot where we died.

Activate the Narita Boy protocol

Exploration is also an important part of the adventure. There will be a few times when we will have to come back after our steps after collecting a floppy key that opens a door for us. The problem with all of this is that at no time do we have a map to facilitate the location of the locks or secondary roads. Learning the names of each area is very confusing, and finding the door that matches our key can be tedious if we get lost.

This is without a doubt the worst part of the title. We found a go back it has no reason to be. When we return to any metroidvania, it is because we have acquired an ability that allows us to access areas previously inaccessible. But that doesn’t happen here. Most of the time, we retrace our steps with a new key, and we don’t notice any progress in our hero’s state, nor any justification for taking these walks. For that, better to do a linear adventure, or at least not that complicated with so many keys involved.

Manual adjustment while driving

Without a doubt, the audiovisual section is one of the first things that catches Narita Boy’s attention. Everything the studio manages to do with pixels is wonderful, and most importantly The chromatic aberrations presented by the adventure are striking. Not only that, at all times the game emulates a “retro” feeling, as if we are watching everything on a tube TV. We notice it in edges of the screen, where the image is distorted and blurry. A sort of comma that makes the proposition unique.

Not only the visual effects are the only striking aspect of the title. Each district has its own palette of colors, its own personality and its inhabitants. All with a very well worn art that you will see in every image of this analysis. If to top it off, we accompany this visual explosion with a soundtrack to match, the experience couldn’t be more rewarding. Of course, as with the technical details of the story, you prefer to play with these visual effects, as it can saturate if you are not a fan of aberrations.

Narita Boy Conclusion

Studio Koba has succeeded in creating a unique proposition in its narrative and in its audiovisual section. Narita Boy transports us to a virtual universe full of references to the technicalities of programming, hardware and software. Plus, the game itself creates a very deep digital philosophy that any retro-freak will appreciate. And all this seasoned with a visual style of the 80s, where chromatic aberrations, coma and blur are the order of the day.

In the playable we find something simpler. An adventure where you have to explore the scene in search of the next accessible area while crushing all the rivals that stand in our way. Too bad the go back be so uninteresting and so chaotic If we don’t mind getting lost in your stays, we will undoubtedly enjoy every moment that the Digital Kingdom has in store for us.

We thank Team17 for the code provided to analyze the game. If you are interested in the proposal, you can get more information by visiting the official study website Click here.