The AA Report: June 2, 2020
I’m doing a GREAT job at staying on top of these… I know. Between all of the new game announcements coming out, demos that are dropping currently in the Steam Games Festival, and things like the itch.io Racial Justice and Equality bundle, it’s been busy over here at the church of skinnedteen. The AA Report and Succinct Review are still going strong, they just take time to produce. But with time, comes good stuff. Hopefully, this is good. Hopefully. Haha.
Without further ado, here are the first impressions of Rising Hell, Driven Out, and UnMetal.
Rising Hell
Rising Hell is a pixel art platformer that I believe was meant to be played specifically like a fighter game. The furious button-mashing combos, combined with the nostalgic sounds of clashing fists that games like Tekken or Street Fighter can only really produce, really drives this home for me. The game is still in early access at the time of this review, so I can only attest to what I’ve seen of it in this state. There are 3 warriors to choose from at the start, all with unique abilities and a set of shared weapons or buffs that can be unlocked with points acquired through progression within the game. Rising Hell as a title is not only a nod to the variety of warriors, and enemies, that you will see throughout your time in the game, but also a direct literal reference to how the game operates – players traverse upwards, sometimes in a very quick and forced manner, through different levels, each being met at the end with an all-powerful demon boss that you must defeat to move forward. Each level itself isn’t entirely too long at this point in the game, but once you complete the entirety of the procedurally generated world, you’ll restart on the next level of difficulty, which… really ramps up as you move through the game. I was only really able to get through to level 2 or level 3 during my time with Rising Hell, but I can attest to the difficulty spike as I progressed – at first, the game felt easy, but I could feel the vice grip of challenge closing in as I entered the 2nd stage, even moreso as I got further into it. Rising Hell is a worthy entry to the rogue-lite genre, and I would say fans of games like The Binding of Isaac or Enter The Gungeon would enjoy checking this game out. Fans of fighting games might get a kick out of Rising Hell as well, because the combat, while not super complex, does give a very retro arcade-inspired vibe off. The early access road map for the game has a lot to offer in the coming months, and if this game looks to be of any interest to you, it’s worth following their development progress at the very least. Needless to say, for an early access title, it’s got a lot of promise, and I think with some time to bake in the oven, Rising Hell will be a pretty popular game in its own right. Rising Hell is available on PC, Xbox One, Playstation 4, and Nintendo Switch, as well as Mac and Linux operating systems.
Buy Rising Hell today on Steam
Driven Out
Driven Out is a retro style swordplay game that I went into expecting one thing, and getting a different thing entirely. I don’t necessarily say this to be a bad thing either, although the game wasn’t necessarily for me. Driven Out takes place in a fantasy world where, more or less, you start as a young girl, working on her farm, when a knight shows up with intent to attack. She picks up a sword, and chases after him, encountering enemies along the way. What makes Driven Out so interesting isn’t the story though, it’s the mechanics – of any game that had the right to call itself “The Dark Souls of-” insert genre here, it would be this game. I’m SO glad it didn’t do this, but it must be said to state the base difficulty of this game is, indeed, a bit difficult. As you encounter enemies, you must learn how to counter their attacks, plan carefully, and learn to read their next move. Enemies can attack with high, mid, or low swings, which you must learn to block and time your counter attacks wisely. Reaction time in the game is interestingly paced, as learning to read enemy telegraphs has a pretty narrow window, and – as to be expected – a young girl wielding a big sword doesn’t exactly have the swiftest motion. The combat of Driven Out can be slow and plodding at times, to the point of agonizing, but I think this is by design. It seems as though the game is trying to capture the feelings of satisfaction many of us once felt playing games on older consoles like Sega Genesis or Super Nintendo, because the game certainly can feel like you’re controlling something from that era, but can also feel fantastically satisfying when you finally beat that first level boss.. must like many of the games from that era did as well. I love the concept of Driven Out so much that I want to give it a good review, but I struggled so much to get very far in the game that I can’t give it the glowing review that I might had my experience been more enjoyable. I will say this: Driven Out is a gorgeous game – the retro art style, the fluidity of the character models, and the subtle changes to the music, which at first felt repetitive, but then built upon itself as you progressed – Driven Out has what feels like a clear intention, and if that’s true, they nailed it. While this game might not entirely be my cup of tea, I can certainly recommend it to people who love challenging games with a retro flair to them, especially if the challenge for you is sword combat. I wasn’t able to get very far in the game, in fact I only got past the first boss and barely into the second level, and the difficulty spike on the werewolf enemies I encountered next was very real. Don’t go into Driven Out expecting to relax. Driven Out is available on PC, Xbox One, and Playstation 4.
UnMetal
One of the greatest cardinal sins I’ve committed as a gamer to this day is having not played a Metal Gear game. I know this, and I intend to correct it. My intimidation towards the series solely lies in the fact that I am a streamer, and playing games on stream with such high critical praise, and a ride-or-die fanbase, can often come with its own set of challenges that drastically change the experience for me. It doesn’t usually stop me, but it does create a different way of approaching the game in terms of needing to be ready to play it. But, I digress. I mostly bring up Metal Gear and my lack of knowledge for the series because UnMetal, by the creators of games like Ghost 1.0 and UnEpic, is a direct homage, and parody, to the Metal Gear series. For the purposes of this review, I played a demo version, available to all on Steam. The game sports the same clever humor players of UnEpic are familiar with already, if not kicked up a notch. Also familiar to players of UnEpic will be the inventory management system, crafting mechanics, leveling up, and clever mechanics surrounding all of these. The core gameplay of UnMetal seems to revolve around stealth mechanics, which makes sense – Metal Gear is by and large a stealth game series with heavy narrative – UnMetal players who are big fans of Metal Gear are really going to appreciate what it has to offer going in. The jokes are on point, the story (at least the demo story) seems pretty solid, and the combat and exploration all leave you wanting more of the game. Controls can be a little daunting, which is something on the roadmap yet to be optimized, and I can forgive the game for still working out those things at this stage, because the attention to detail on the little things seems to be the key here. The demo gives you a cross-section of everything, up to and including a dicier encounter with a miniboss, and leaves things on a nice cliffhanger to make you want more. Indeed, I do – UnMetal sold me, and my community, from the start. I thought the game nothing short of clever, with a solid concept and a familiarly challenging, yet creative, playstyle that is nothing short of respectable. UnMetal is set to release in October of 2020, but the demo is available now on Steam.