- 3RD-STRIKE.COM - A La Une - 09/Aug 04:21

Flame Keeper (PS5) – Review

Originally released for PC and Nintendo Switch in 2023, Flame Keeper is an action roguelite that has now come out on PS5. Play as Ignis, a literal piece of coal, whose job it is to save the world of Orbis and protect the Eternal Flame. Enter the world of Orbis, covered in darkness, to bring back its light. Flame Keeper is a fun game packed with many action-adventure elements and challenging enemies, accompanied by great visuals and fitting music.  Story Flame Keeper’s story is rather simple. At the start of the game, a cutscene shows you how enemies land upon the world of Orbis and steal the Eternal Flame. These dark creatures decide to stick around and bring chaos to Orbis. Now it’s your purpose as Ignis to save Orbis from its intruders and restore the Eternal Flame.  Albeit simple, the storyline of Flame Keeper is intriguing and brought to players in a great way through attention-grabbing cutscenes in its fitting 3D art style. However, the characters aren’t fleshed out very well, and the dialogue is limited. On the other side, as Flame Keeper is a roguelite, the storyline isn’t the most important aspect here. The game offers many other factors to make it memorable.  Graphics The visuals in Flame Keeper are great and well-thought-out. The world of Orbis has lost its light due to the theft of the Eternal Flame, and thus, the biomes look rather dark. However, the enemies look bright and vibrant. This makes the world feel alive even though most of it is played in the dark. The cutscenes, too, look great and even have a cosy feel to them. The graphics in Flame Keeper look great. They’re cute and vibrant and dark at the same time. The world around you just feels so alive, even though most of it is played in the dark. The animations in between certain levels look great, too. Sound Flame Keeper’s music might not feel special, but it fits the game well. It’s as quirky as the characters and rather bouncy, which radiates a certain energy that makes you want to keep playing. Even though the world is covered in darkness, the sounds add a certain light and playfulness to the game. Flame Keeper’s soundtrack is enjoyable and definitely adds to the game, but it doesn’t stand out much otherwise.  Gameplay Flame Keeper is an action roguelite in which you play as Ignis, whose purpose is to save the world of Orbis from the dark creatures that have intruded and bring back the Eternal Flame. And as it’s a roguelite, its gameplay is where the game shines. The controls in Flame Keeper are easy to learn, and a decent tutorial shows you everything you need to know. At the beginning, Ignis possesses basic abilities such as dashing and shielding. Using these will cost you stamina, though. Another important thing to note is that your health bar is also used to replenish fire at the various fire pits around Orbis. However, the enemies drop enough health to quickly restore your health bar.  Now, let’s get into those fire pits. You need to ignite them to get to the next run of the level you’re playing. To ignite them, you need to find all the lanterns available in the level, bring them to the fire pit, and light them. Each of these lanterns will provide you with an upgrade that you can use through the rest of the level, but it will disappear when the run is over. Bear in mind that you will have to carry the lanterns one at a time, meaning you will have to run back and forth several times, but due to the fast gameplay, this isn’t disturbing. Next, the combat system is easy, fast-paced, and enjoyable. This is one of the many gameplay aspects that make the game a lot of fun, but it might get repetitive as you progress. The boss battles, however, offer quite a challenge and make up for the repetitiveness of the general combat. In addition, the game offers a sort of hub area you can visit between levels. Here, you can get new abilities, upgrades, and you can access your skill tree. You can use the resources you collected during the levels to upgrade Ignis the way you like best. Resources are found when you defeat enemies or while you explore.  In conclusion, the gameplay in Flame Keeper is easy to understand and well-explained at the start. Combat is easy and fast-paced, and bosses offer a healthy challenge. Collecting resources and lanterns to light the fire pits is enjoyable to do, and levels don’t take too long to complete. The hub area is also nicely done and a pleasure to stroll through in between levels. Conclusion Flame Keeper is a fun action-adventure roguelite that will draw you in for hours. The storyline may not stand out, but the game has many aspects that make it worth playing. The 3D visuals look great, and the music is joyful and fits the atmosphere even though the world itself is covered in darkness. Flame Keeper offers a good balance between dark and light. The combat, however, is the best part of the game as it’s fun and fast-paced. Even so, it feels repetitive after a while, but fortunately, the boss battles offer a nice variety. If you’re looking for a fun action-adventure game, then Flame Keeper should be on your list.