Maroc - 3RD-STRIKE.COM - A La Une - 10/Apr 03:06

Eko and the Bewitched Lands – Review

According to their own website, indie developer Twin Studios makes “casual games for awesome people”. We consider ourselves to be pretty awesome, so the studio’s latest release should be up our alley, right? With Eko and the Bewitched Lands, Twin Studios are making their debut on Switch, courtesy of publisher RedDeer.Games. At the time of writing, Eko’s Steam debut is still a few weeks away, and with the Switch version still benefiting from a launch discount of a whopping 77% (no, really), you may be considering picking this one up. Should you? Story A very brief opening cutscene sets up Eko’s premise. Our protagonist Eko, an intrepid adventurer, accidentally stumbles upon a witch right as she’s trapping a young girl in a crystal. The scene ends as abruptly as it began, and we find Eko in the wilderness, with no explanation of what we just witnessed. The game doesn’t bother to explain anything else, so we assume that we’re going to save the girl, as we’re the hero of the story, and that is what heroes do. The lack of exposition is something that runs throughout Eko, not just in terms of narrative, but also in terms of gameplay. Graphics The storybook-style visuals are perhaps Eko’s strongest element. The soft colours and overall cutesy atmosphere make for an interesting contrast with just how brutal the game can be. Enemy designs are outlandish and varied, keeping things visually interesting throughout the game’s runtime. The elemental effects in particular stand out. The deceptively simple graphics also aren’t too taxing on the hardware, and Eko runs as smoothly as you’d want for a combat-focused game like this. Sound Accompanying that aforementioned opening scene is a tune that’s going to be at least somewhat familiar to most people: Aquarium, from Saint-Saëns’ Carnaval des Animaux. We didn’t immediately recognise any of Eko’s other music, but if that opening track is any indication, then it’s likely that the soundtrack consists of license-free music rather than original compositions. That’s not necessarily an issue, mind you. Aviary Attorney, for example, exclusively uses license-free music, ironically enough also from Carnaval des Animaux, but the music choice makes sense there, given that game’s premise. In Eko’s case, there is a disconnect between the music and what is happening on screen, as it simply matches neither the events on screen nor the overall atmosphere. Given that the game lacks voice acting and sound effects aren’t particularly memorable, this makes the entirety of the soundscape feel like a wasted opportunity. Gameplay In order to explain Eko’s gameplay, we must first look at where it positions itself in the roguelike and Souls-like genres. This is a game that starts with the assumption that you’re already familiar with how it works without even having played it. Eko takes familiar elements from games like Dark Souls, The Binding of Isaac and Link’s Awakening and Frankensteins these together to create something that never completely sticks the landing. At its core, the game is a top-down dungeon crawler. Taking control of Eko, you move from randomly generated room to randomly generated room. Each of these rooms is self-contained. Most contain enemies, which you’ll have to face in Souls-like combat. Dodging is crucial, as Eko is squishy, especially early on. Exits of enemy rooms are typically locked once you enter them, and more often than not, you’ll end up facing multiple waves of enemies before you can move on to the next room. If you’re unlucky, you’ll end up facing a boss early on in a dungeon and end your run right there and then. This is where Eko’s roguelike elements kick in. Death and failure are an integral part of Eko’s core loop. Upon defeat, you’re taken back to the game’s hub area, where you’ll be able to upgrade Eko himself. Killing enemies rewards you with spirit energy, which can be used to upgrade your weapons. Solving puzzles provides you with magic energy, which in turn can be spent on buffs, such as recovering a little HP whenever you kill an enemy. While these upgrades are permanent, they’re also expensive, and you’ll probably need several runs to purchase a single upgrade. There are also temporary upgrades, like elemental powers, that only last during a run itself. Gold and dungeon keys are also lost upon death, as are items you purchase in shops with that same gold. So far, so familiar. If you’ve been waiting for Eko’s unique hook, then we’re sorry to disappoint you, but there isn’t anything here that makes the game stand out from other, similar roguelikes. Except, perhaps, that the game insists on not explaining anything. There is no tutorial here, with the game expecting you to already know what to do or assuming you’ll stumble your way through by means of trial and error. It takes a while for Eko’s gameplay to gain the momentum it needs to become interesting enough to keep going. Eko isn’t the most complicated game, mind you, but we can imagine a more casual audience being deterred by the game’s punishing difficulty curve. Given Twin Studios’ own mission statement, that’s at least somewhat ironic. Conclusion From a gameplay perspective, Eko is mechanically and fundamentally sound, but the game drops the ball when it comes to onboarding its players. Neither the narrative nor the mechanics themselves are given enough explanation. Add to this that Eko misses a unique hook, and you end up with a game that will scratch the roguelike itch if you’re a genre veteran looking for something else to play, but that doesn’t stand out and certainly isn’t welcoming to newcomers.