Unto The End review from igamesnews.com

Desperate trip

From the opening of Unto The End, We can see the will of its creators to offer us a haunting adventure. The title screen does not consist of a multitude of menus and options. Instead, we see an introductory scene that defines the scene. Against the backdrop of snow-capped mountains, a Viking-like man gathers at the foot of a tree, his wife and son come to bring him a spear and then leave. A fade in black follows to display a message warning us that the game is challenging and that our sense of observation is being tested. After all, the scene picks up where it left off, with the difference that we now have things on our hands. In pursuing a deer, we understand that our original goal was to hunt to feed our home, but everything will change when the ground gives way under our feet. The following fall takes us a few meters deeper into a cave. Our job now is to return home safe and sound.

This journey for our survival will be interrupted by many dangers. The environment around us is hostileFor example, we need to be wary of falling rocks that can occur underground, or even calculate our jumps to get over crevasses. But it is the various creatures that inhabit this world that will be the main threats … In this context The fragility of our character, his loneliness, the catastrophe of his situation are underlined by

a haunting staging. In particular, this includes the lack of music, which leverages improve the sound effects. These have the function of warning us of an impending risk (a collapse, an approaching enemy, etc.), but are primarily at the service of immersion. The blowing wind, the reverberation of the caves, the annoying screams of distant creatures and our gasping for air create an oppressive atmosphere. Another element that characterizes this desire to emphasize immersion is the lack of HUD, which is intelligently replaced with visual or audible feedback. For example, the character’s health is not represented by a stage of life, but by a more or less frequent bleeding after his wounds, which at some point causes a fatal bleeding.

Gun passages under the snow

The climax of the gameplay of Unto The End, the combat system. In the same way as during the platform phases, It is based on a logic of observation / reaction. Don’t plan on going very far with the Martyring of your keys. The enemies are livelier and sometimes much more resilient than us. In order to know that death can occur in two or three blows, it is all the more important to be able to read the opposing behavior and act accordingly. Note that enemies don’t follow patterns that we were just able to learn. Everything is based solely on our ability to observe and adapt.

In order to overcome our opponents, our character has the following areas of action: a high attack, a low attack, an equally high or low guard, the ability to roll or lower to avoid a hit, the throw of a thrown weapon and the ability to make a feint To run. A series of motions and movements that are fairly easy and quick to grasp, but casually add some depth. As we become familiar with the combat system, we will find that there are strategies in place to optimize our effectiveness.. I am thinking in particular of the throwing weapon that stuns our target for a few moments if it manages to reach it, thus making it possible to charge this defenseless opponent and deal a “free” blow. In the same way, several successful successive saves will stun our opponent, allowing us to take advantage of his vulnerability. In another genre, we can see that lowering yourself is a little faster than moving from one guard position to another. A minimal time saving, which can be decisive in the most difficult confrontations. You will understand that the fights are technical and even if it is not necessary to master all of their specifics in order to reach the end of the game (usually feinting is very dispensable). we have to admit that

‘It is gratifying to be successful in overcoming it.

Not all is violence and brutality until the end. If we want we can play it more pacifistically. While it is not possible to avoid all collisions, there are some that can be avoided. For this we must offer a sacrifice to the creature that stands before us. It will be necessary to be vigilant with the proposal that has been formulated so as not to aggravate the situation. We succeed in deriving the right offer from the context of the situation: A wounded creature will likely be grateful to receive weeds to heal itself. Our empathy is measured under different circumstances. As in battles between the species in which we choose, we can choose to intervene to help the abused group in hopes of a reward, or we can choose to let the two camps kill each other just for the sake of it quit survivors … Finally, if we are looking for real moments of calm, we will find them by landing by the fire. These pauses break the loop of the game between the phases of combat and those of the platform and allow us to heal, strengthen our armor or a tonic thanks to the items looted or collected during our exploration.

Up to anger?

Frustration, nervousness, and anger usually form a cycle that is inherent in so-called challenging games. What about until the end? Certainly, A slight nuisance can arise when the tests are repeated against the toughest of enemies. But usually The sense of achievement that accompanies each of our victories overcomes this bitterness

. Finally, there is a welcome accessibility option if needed. It will slow the pace of battle and make it easier to read our antagonist’s movements.

No, the most irritating thing is something completely different. For a game that has all of its gameplay based on observation, it is inevitably very detrimental to have this hindered.especially during intense fights. The sets of the game are divided into several levels: the foreground, the level of our character and the background. Although the aesthetic rendering is successful and we can enjoy the show in the quietest stages, sometimes the action is hidden in the foreground during the fights, making the confrontation illegible. It becomes impossible to anticipate our opponent’s blows, and it can even be difficult to find our weapon if our character dropped it after being shocked. It might have been wise to make the combat zones simpler and more readable. The same problem during certain stages of the platform where the camera hides what is below us and forces us to go blindly forward.

Another good idea that sometimes turns out to be problematic is the system of making offerings to creatures. In contrast to the example described above It is not necessarily always that obvious to infer the item we are supposed to offer them. If we know that the creature in front of us will attack us for the slightest mistake, and that there is only one correct answer every time, we can waste a lot of time on basic functionality.