Saviorless Review for PC

A few weeks ago, I myself brought you the analysis of Fabledoma game he was in charge of publishing Dear villagers. Today I bring you the analysis of another game from the French publisher, Without a saviora game developed by Cuban indie studio Empty Head Games and this one sees the light April 2 In PC (version analyzed), in addition to Switch and PS5. It is the culmination of a development which lasted more than 7 years and who managed to overcome many difficulties such as daily power cuts, lack of technical equipment or the inability to access financing.

But I can already tell you that it was worth the wait since we are, from what has been played, facing an independent that must be taken into account among those released in these first months of the year 2024.
history

The story behind Saviorless

At the level of history, the game places us in a dark and somewhat dreamlike world in which in the opening scene we see how 3 narrators want to tell us a story. He storyteller The most experienced begins the story by telling us about Antar’s journey to the Smiling Isles, but later, the “interference” of the other two narrators will bring the other playable character, the savior, into the picture. I must recognize the complexity of its history and its abstraction.

Personally, I had trouble following the thread to everything we were told, even if in the end everything “comes together” and has the more or less desired consistency. The story wouldn’t be its brightest section, since I believe the title’s strengths are different. Basically its art and gameplay. So now let’s talk about the playable sensations

Simple but engaging gameplay

We are before a 2D side-scrolling action-platformer adventure. As soon as you see its launch trailer, it will definitely remind you GRAY. Of course, with a much darker tone and with a rhythm, sometimes more focused on the action.

It should first be clarified that There are two playable bases of Without a savior. On the one hand we will have the component purely by platform and, on the other hand, that of actionwhere the main thing will be expertise and the ability to annihilate our enemies.

So the game begins almost entirely focused on the platform aspect. We will be Antar and we will be completely defenseless on our journey to the Smiling Isles. Without weapons and with nothing to do but jump and move around the stage, the only thing we have to do is move to the right trying not to die with the different dangers of the stages and, at the same time , to solve small puzzles that arise. These will be simple and you will know at all times what you need to do. Although it is a game sparing in player assistance and guidance, Its visual language makes it clear from the start what you need to do to overcome this scenario.. And when in doubt, after a first try, the idea of ​​“Oh, okay, this is how it is” or “OK, I should do this or that” will always immediately come to mind.

Perfectly combined platforms and action

As we said, after a start where platforms predominate, the game gradually turns more and more towards the action component. Due to the demands of the story, we understand that directly combating the enemies that stand in our way will become increasingly important. Of course, all this without leaving aside the platforms but rather as an addition rather than a substitution.

Moreover, when this element of action is introduced, it is done with a great touch of innovation. Yes OK the platform side is very classic and it doesn’t discover anything that we haven’t seen in other games, When it comes to combat, the game adds a slight layer of difficulty since our character will have a sort of crown on top which will always be the life bar. But this life bar, in addition to decreasing in the event of damage, will also simply decrease over time. Killing enemies or certain objects scattered around the scene will fill this health bar, so an innovative touch is added in which it will not only be about killing or fleeing from enemies, but you will have to be careful not to lack of life. the bar is exhausted, the game is over.

It is also true that this end of the game will not often pose a problem since the game uses an automatic progress saving system and this one is very user friendly for players. As you progress, your progress will be saved, and failing that jump or dying at the hands of an enemy won’t force you to replay much of the game. Instead, you’ll almost start right back where you failed.

A very well designed difficulty curve

This is particularly appreciated in the final stages of the game, where The difficulty increases and we die sometimes. Without being a soul game or a very demanding game, you will have to execute the jumps and actions at the right time and be very attentive so as not to die trying.

In short, and at the gameplay level, we are talking about a mechanism that seems very solid and thanks to the elaborate difficulty curve, they are interspersed very well, giving rise to a very pleasant and entertaining whole.

In the audiovisual field

If we have talked about one of its strong points, the gameplay, now is the time to talk about it another of its pillars, artistic conception and the audiovisual section. Although the influences of the great GRAY They are clear, Without a savior It adds that more “gore” touch and even with a style somewhat inspired by works like Blasphemous. We also see here an evolution in this aspect from the beginning of the game to the end of it. The tone will change as we progress and become harsher and cruder.
What won’t change will be your artistic beauty that you can appreciate in the images that accompany this analysis. With a very well-used color palette and impressive scenery, it’s a treat to play on the canvas that makes up the different environments that we will explore.

On the technical side…

Playing it on PC, many of you will wonder if you can run it. Rest assured, it’s a game that requires very little machine and I’m sure that most of you will be able to play it without too much difficulty. Furthermore, the game, in the version played, It’s very neat and we haven’t found any bugs or issues chart.

Our game took place entirely on Steam Deck, where it works natively and does not require any additional settings. I only noticed a few graphical errors with the background of some settings and at one point the game lacked sound, but this may not be due to the game itself but rather the hardware .

Analysis without a savior: conclusions

In the end, the 4 or 5 hours which can last you Without a savior They are fully pleasant and As long as you like platformers and action, you should give it a chance. With a curve of great difficulty and an artistic section that impresses, Without a savior He is undoubtedly postulated as one of these independents to be taken into account for 2024.