I backed this game on Kickstarter back in June of 2014, and given that there haven't been suuuuper frequent updates (but frequent enough), it was one I'd often forgotten I'd backed. After how much La-Mulana 2 totally blew me away a couple weeks ago, I'd been expecting this game, whenever it finally came out, to be an okay Metroidvania. I woke up this morning to see that I had the backer key for the PS4/Vita/PS3 versions bundle in my email inbox, and I redeemed it and started to play. Some 9-ish hours later I had beaten the final final boss and was watching the credits roll after nearly 100%-ing the game. This game caught me TOTALLY off guard with how damn good it was, and it was compelling and fun enough to have me complete the whole thing in one sitting
Timespinner is a Metroidvania set in a fantasy/sci-fi world where an inter-galactic empire is trying to steal your tribe's time travel device for their own evil machinations. You escape through the time/space portal to their homeworld to start your plans for revenge. In the process, you end up traveling between the current world and 1000 years in the past to try and right wrongs and weaken the evil empire to the point where you can take down the emperor. It's a fairly basic story on the outset, but it is more than it appears on the surface.
If you're someone who hates political commentary or inclusivity in your games, you're going to hate Timespinner, because it has a lot of both done quite well. The story is full of commentary on the evils of fascism paralleled against commentary on the duality of justice as well as what being a hero really has to do with sacrifice. Granted their quests are more or less entirely optional, it has a well-fleshed out cast of characters of all colors and orientations who I thought were written really well. Hunting down the world-building is also more or less entirely optional, but I was so interested to see the history of the worlds involved and how my time traveling was affecting them that I hunted down every last one I could. The spritework is beautiful, the music is always appropriate and very atmospheric, and the presentation as a whole was an absolute joy for me.
The game is also a great joy to play! This game wears its inspiration on its sleeve, as basically all the UI and even the mini-map are straight out of any DS Castlevania title, but quite frankly if it ain't broke, don't fix it, and this game uses those fundamentals very well. The gameplay is like if Symphony of the Night had a baby with Order of Ecclesia, and the difficulty is somewhere in between. All they buttons are even rebindable :D
The Symphony of the Night DNA here is largely found in the way the map has many warps, as well as the present and past timeline maps serving as a kind of mirror. It's nowhere as massive as SOTN's map, but more akin to Harmony of Disonance's front-and-back castle design (although much better, imo, as that game is such a bitch to get around in because you don't have warps). The game definitely isn't as stupid easy as SOTN, but it's nowhere near as hard as OoE either. One of my main complaints, to be honest, is that the game locks hard mode from the start, and it really would've been nice to be able to pick a harder mode from the start.
The Order of Ecclesia DNA comes in how your character fights. Your combat, instead of monster souls, is based around magical orbs you find. Each orb has a certain main attack quality to it that can be equipped in one or both hands (although each hand are the same button and you attack in a fairly standard combo style, unlike OoE, iirc), with each main attack having a certain attack speed associated with it. You keep getting orbs throughout the entire game, and I was always finding new ways to experiment with them. A big help to how you can experiment with them has to do with how they can all also be used to infuse power (but not consume the orb) into a necklace for a special mana-consuming charge ability, or into a ring for a special passive ability. You can use the trigger buttons to swap between 3 different sets of them, and although there were about only 4 or 5 different attacks I really favored through my playthrough, there are like 15+ different orbs to find in the game.
The most unique mechanic to the game itself quite fittingly has to do with time, and this is a time-stop ability you can use whenever you have enough "sand" for it. You get more sand whenever you hit an enemy or break a passing candle stick. Sand is separate from mana, which they don't call mana but call "aura", and it can be REALLY helpful to beat a lot of the harder parts of the game with. That said, I'm so used to my Metroidvanias not having an ability like that, and the game plays so well during the fighitng without using it, I basically never used it for combat. I used it most during the puzzles that require it, as there are several areas you can get a nice treasure in a little early if you stop time just right to use an enemy as a platform to get to. It's a neat gimmick, but it's a very unintrusive and easily ignoreable one.
It also has RPG elements as many recent Metroidvanias do, but I wouldn't say all of them land quite so well. You have your standard level ups, as you get stronger for killing things, as well as the standard Metroidvania hard stat-increase items to expand your max sand, as well as your max aura or HP outside of your level-ups. The main things I took issue with are the somewhat Secret of Mana-style way that your orbs, that is your weapons, also have levels independent of your character. Use a weapon more, and it gets more powerful The power differences between them aren't THAT noticeable, but if you're going for the harder optional bosses or doing hard mode, sticking to one thing that works really well is really in your best interest, and this kind of thing discourages experimenting significantly with new orbs you find.
The last neat feature of this game are familiars you can find, kinda like SOTN. Better than SOTN, though, is that not only can your famliars fight for you, but a second player can hop in and control them as a flying invincible battle partner! It's super easy hop-in-hop-out local multiplayer, and I really appreciate when a game makes an effort to do that kind of thing, especially when it's done this well :D . The only thing about the familiars is that, like the weapons, they level up as you use them, so it kinda discourages trying out the new ones you get (even though there are only 6 or 7, and they're often very well hidden after the first one you can't miss). They also get only 1XP per monster killed, and they have to have landed a hit on that monster for the kill to count towards their XP, leading to often just waiting for them to bop the monster before you mince it if you're trying to level up a new familiar to see how you gel with it.
Verdict: Highly Recommended. This game was a delightful surprise and something I just didn't want to end. It gives most of the Igavanias a run for their money with its quality, and if you like Metroidvanias it simply cannot be overlooked. It's currently on PSN and Steam and apparently coming to 3DS later this year, but they're also apparently looking at other possible port options, so I wouldn't discount it coming to Switch eventually if you can wait that long for a game this good~
Timespinner is a Metroidvania set in a fantasy/sci-fi world where an inter-galactic empire is trying to steal your tribe's time travel device for their own evil machinations. You escape through the time/space portal to their homeworld to start your plans for revenge. In the process, you end up traveling between the current world and 1000 years in the past to try and right wrongs and weaken the evil empire to the point where you can take down the emperor. It's a fairly basic story on the outset, but it is more than it appears on the surface.
If you're someone who hates political commentary or inclusivity in your games, you're going to hate Timespinner, because it has a lot of both done quite well. The story is full of commentary on the evils of fascism paralleled against commentary on the duality of justice as well as what being a hero really has to do with sacrifice. Granted their quests are more or less entirely optional, it has a well-fleshed out cast of characters of all colors and orientations who I thought were written really well. Hunting down the world-building is also more or less entirely optional, but I was so interested to see the history of the worlds involved and how my time traveling was affecting them that I hunted down every last one I could. The spritework is beautiful, the music is always appropriate and very atmospheric, and the presentation as a whole was an absolute joy for me.
The game is also a great joy to play! This game wears its inspiration on its sleeve, as basically all the UI and even the mini-map are straight out of any DS Castlevania title, but quite frankly if it ain't broke, don't fix it, and this game uses those fundamentals very well. The gameplay is like if Symphony of the Night had a baby with Order of Ecclesia, and the difficulty is somewhere in between. All they buttons are even rebindable :D
The Symphony of the Night DNA here is largely found in the way the map has many warps, as well as the present and past timeline maps serving as a kind of mirror. It's nowhere as massive as SOTN's map, but more akin to Harmony of Disonance's front-and-back castle design (although much better, imo, as that game is such a bitch to get around in because you don't have warps). The game definitely isn't as stupid easy as SOTN, but it's nowhere near as hard as OoE either. One of my main complaints, to be honest, is that the game locks hard mode from the start, and it really would've been nice to be able to pick a harder mode from the start.
The Order of Ecclesia DNA comes in how your character fights. Your combat, instead of monster souls, is based around magical orbs you find. Each orb has a certain main attack quality to it that can be equipped in one or both hands (although each hand are the same button and you attack in a fairly standard combo style, unlike OoE, iirc), with each main attack having a certain attack speed associated with it. You keep getting orbs throughout the entire game, and I was always finding new ways to experiment with them. A big help to how you can experiment with them has to do with how they can all also be used to infuse power (but not consume the orb) into a necklace for a special mana-consuming charge ability, or into a ring for a special passive ability. You can use the trigger buttons to swap between 3 different sets of them, and although there were about only 4 or 5 different attacks I really favored through my playthrough, there are like 15+ different orbs to find in the game.
The most unique mechanic to the game itself quite fittingly has to do with time, and this is a time-stop ability you can use whenever you have enough "sand" for it. You get more sand whenever you hit an enemy or break a passing candle stick. Sand is separate from mana, which they don't call mana but call "aura", and it can be REALLY helpful to beat a lot of the harder parts of the game with. That said, I'm so used to my Metroidvanias not having an ability like that, and the game plays so well during the fighitng without using it, I basically never used it for combat. I used it most during the puzzles that require it, as there are several areas you can get a nice treasure in a little early if you stop time just right to use an enemy as a platform to get to. It's a neat gimmick, but it's a very unintrusive and easily ignoreable one.
It also has RPG elements as many recent Metroidvanias do, but I wouldn't say all of them land quite so well. You have your standard level ups, as you get stronger for killing things, as well as the standard Metroidvania hard stat-increase items to expand your max sand, as well as your max aura or HP outside of your level-ups. The main things I took issue with are the somewhat Secret of Mana-style way that your orbs, that is your weapons, also have levels independent of your character. Use a weapon more, and it gets more powerful The power differences between them aren't THAT noticeable, but if you're going for the harder optional bosses or doing hard mode, sticking to one thing that works really well is really in your best interest, and this kind of thing discourages experimenting significantly with new orbs you find.
The last neat feature of this game are familiars you can find, kinda like SOTN. Better than SOTN, though, is that not only can your famliars fight for you, but a second player can hop in and control them as a flying invincible battle partner! It's super easy hop-in-hop-out local multiplayer, and I really appreciate when a game makes an effort to do that kind of thing, especially when it's done this well :D . The only thing about the familiars is that, like the weapons, they level up as you use them, so it kinda discourages trying out the new ones you get (even though there are only 6 or 7, and they're often very well hidden after the first one you can't miss). They also get only 1XP per monster killed, and they have to have landed a hit on that monster for the kill to count towards their XP, leading to often just waiting for them to bop the monster before you mince it if you're trying to level up a new familiar to see how you gel with it.
Verdict: Highly Recommended. This game was a delightful surprise and something I just didn't want to end. It gives most of the Igavanias a run for their money with its quality, and if you like Metroidvanias it simply cannot be overlooked. It's currently on PSN and Steam and apparently coming to 3DS later this year, but they're also apparently looking at other possible port options, so I wouldn't discount it coming to Switch eventually if you can wait that long for a game this good~