Batbarian Review | Light in the Darkness
DANGEN Entertainment, a publishing house for independent developers, is becoming one of the most interesting companies to watch.
Beyond the success of Bug Fables, they have published Batbarian, an explorative platformer/Metroidvania developed by Unspeakable Pixels.
Aesthetics
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Resting in the ruins of a forgotten temple |
The pixel art graphics use a style that I define as "granular", that is, instead of following convention and rules to imitate the graphics of 8 or 16bit machines, it prefers to use a substantial number of pixels. While it's not bad to look at, it can cause problems keeping an eye on the protagonist, especially in the most intense fights with several bullets on the screen or if you play at some distance from the monitor, which frustrated me a lot during the second act. In addition, due to the context, the game is very dark and difficult to see, although you can light it all up in the accessibility menu.
Not much to say about the animations, they were done well enough.
There is no dubbing, all speech sounds are emulated with various sound effects, but not unique to the individual characters.
The music is serviceable, it gladly accompanies you throughout the adventure without bothering you.
The sounds aren't bad either, even if at times they seem a little too squeaky and high-pitched for my taste.
In summary, apart from a few defects on visibility, the game is nice enough to see and hear.
Game Mechanics
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Statistics are earned with a pseudo slot machine |
Like many other exponents of the genre of explorative platformers/Metroidvanias, the main scope of this game revolves around the exploration and re-exploration of old and new areas, plus overcoming challenges on platforms in the meantime.
The barbarian you are going to play has 3 stats: attack, defense and awareness. Attack increases damage dealt, defense increases life, and awareness increases loot earned. These stats are increased in two ways: by finding items in hidden chests or by leveling up after earning enough experience points, the latter is strangely implemented as stats are awarded pseudo-randomly through a single column semi-slot machine.
I really don't understand this choice of advancement, perhaps to give some suspense? In any case, this system is passable, without infamy and without praise.
During the adventure you will gain some followers who can help by doing damage to the enemies, each one of them has a custom attack that varies according to the chosen character. They have a stamina bar that recharges by hitting enemies and you can increase their stats by finding or buying items.
In my experience, only one of the two, the one with the ranged attack, is really useful and I ended up using it for most of the game.
Another fundamental mechanic is centered on throwing fruit and rocks. The rocks activate the switches too far to reach, the fruits influence the movements of the bat, which will immediately go to the last fruit launched. You need to aim carefully as both elements are used continuously in solving puzzles and battles. In fact, what the game uses a lot is your trusty bat companion, who can emit a magical light with different functionalities, such as activating switches or immobilizing specific enemies. Later in the adventure, it will be able to emit an aura of heat or cold, evolving the approach towards enemies and puzzles.
The ability to put marks on the map is a feature that I love, it keeps the exploration smooth and cuts away the frustration, I hope it becomes a standard for the games of this genre.
Most of the time you will be looking for the next boss to fight, you will solve puzzles and you will face speed challenges, obviously everything is spiced with platforming, as already mentioned before.
The game saves on two occasions: resting at a camp or automatically before an important part. You can load the game from either one at any time. Most of the time I used the automatic one, the camp one I only used when I was at a disadvantage too great to be able to remedy.
Little to say about the game world, it unlocks in a standard way to games of this genre, you find a skill and use it to unlock the next area or overcome the challenge that required it.
The title is divided into two acts, with the second act being extremely more difficult than the first, especially in the boss fights. The best ending is reserved only if you perform a series of very specific objectives, plus there are some variations that can be unlocked if you take note and explore well. In case you feel overwhelmed, you can activate several accessibility options in the menu.
I have never felt the need to use them, but in case you find yourself in difficulty they can lend a hand.
The patterns used by the bosses are clear, it is completely possible to defeat them without taking damage using a slower and more methodical strategy.
The only currency present is made up of gold coins that can be collected. They are spent on a merchant who sells various items: upgrades that increase life, items that grant new abilities, bags that increase the number of transportable fruit and other things.
Collecting nearly 80% of the collectibles, I finished the game in 14 hours.
In short, the mechanics on offer are good and have amused me enough to get through to the end.
Narrative
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Pieces of lore will be found throughout the game
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In a fantasy land full of magic and populated by barbarians, we will follow the story of the main protagonist, just recovered from a long fall caused by a band of angry ogres, and his or her journey in search of an escape route from a gigantic cave. But something does not add up, strange events will happen and you will constantly have the feeling of being observed.
The incipit is nice, but it takes some time to develop completely, the first few hours were a bit slow, over time they managed to take the right pace.
There are several stories told in a subtle way, they are not addressed directly by the player, but if you pay attention to the scattered notes you can see a precise succession of events that gives hints about what happened to those who came before us. You will find many notes and messages left by different expeditions, now extinct civilizations and references to the primordials that wandered the world, in addition to the knowledge that the other characters are able to give.
I found this very interesting and actively searched for more information during my session.
The characters receive a simple but engaging characterization, also the relationship between the main protagonist and the bat shown through movies and dialogues is really cute. You can also choose lines in specific situations, ranging from simple questions to more witty expressions.
All in all, it was nice to see the interaction between the various heroes.
In conclusion, the proposed narrative has some unexpected tricks up its sleeve that involved me for most of my session.
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