Pseudoregalia has pretty good movement huh? Too bad that's about the most it has going for it! While Pseudoregalia is a decently fun ride, most of that time is spent meandering through environments that are just similar enough to each other to make it easy to get lost, but just distinct enough where you wouldn't call it same-y.
Combat is very bland and boring, you start the game with a three-strike combo with very wonky hitboxes and you end the game with the exact same thing. Your dodge barely functions as a dodge since it's just a slide (I cannot tell if it even has I-frames or not) and the enemy variety is so sparse that avoiding combat is more fun than being in it.
To be fair though, the game's graphical style has quite a bit of charm. And the music also adds to make a much richer experience. In general, I am a complete sucker for the PS1-PS2 style of graphics and models. Pseudoregalia fits in this and definitely jumps out as a game that feels like it was released over twenty years ago when in reality it's a 2023 baby. That's a good thing, I like that.
Now, the movement. I think it's pretty good. There's a lot of hidden tech and as you continue to increase your arsenal it builds into a system that you weave quite naturally and feels very good. The air kick is very interesting and unique when it comes to movement systems, giving you the ability to kick off walls a limited amount of times and into the direction that you are trying to move towards. It gives the power of wall jump without letting it be infinite and making it feel more like a natural part of the kit. The ground pound jump, long jump, basically all the things you can think of from Mario 64 are here plus more. The best part is it all comes without the baggage of Mario 64's clunk! Moving Sybil around without any of the upgrades feels smooth and player-friendly. However, if you don't get those upgrades, it definitely feels like there is something missing. Without the map that was recently added, it is very easy to get lost and filtered before reaching your first movement ability. I know I did at first! But if you can get past that initial chunk where you feel pretty lacking, the movement does become something pretty special. Unfortunately, I think the movement would be better in a different kind of game, but I digress.
Lastly, the story. In stereotypical metroidvania fashion, the story is very sparse and you have to look for it. Unfortunately, Pseudoregalia is pretty short so the story has no time to flourish, and none of the flavor text really does much to give you much of a story. All the story you get is after you reach the final area of the game, where you can somewhat gleam hints at a story, but not much else. In that regard, it makes the journey of exploring the castle kind of forgettable. There isn't really a motivator to keep going or keep doing things outside of the idea that you are playing a game and games are fun. It doesn't bother me when a game's story is complicated or secretive, but it does bother me when there is basically no story at all. Unless you want your gameplay to speak for itself, most games need some main motivator, and Pseudoregalia just does not have one.
Pseudoregalia is a fun but jumbled mess. Most of the game feels clambered together without a good enough rhyme or reason. I understand the idea was to make a dreamy, aetheric atmosphere, but I think it fundamentally failed at hitting those notes when I struggled to discern the differences between each area. Nothing felt coherent outside of the movement, which while really good, could've been better in another game. Though for a solo dev, this is quite impressive, so I still look forward to what they do next.
Combat is very bland and boring, you start the game with a three-strike combo with very wonky hitboxes and you end the game with the exact same thing. Your dodge barely functions as a dodge since it's just a slide (I cannot tell if it even has I-frames or not) and the enemy variety is so sparse that avoiding combat is more fun than being in it.
To be fair though, the game's graphical style has quite a bit of charm. And the music also adds to make a much richer experience. In general, I am a complete sucker for the PS1-PS2 style of graphics and models. Pseudoregalia fits in this and definitely jumps out as a game that feels like it was released over twenty years ago when in reality it's a 2023 baby. That's a good thing, I like that.
Now, the movement. I think it's pretty good. There's a lot of hidden tech and as you continue to increase your arsenal it builds into a system that you weave quite naturally and feels very good. The air kick is very interesting and unique when it comes to movement systems, giving you the ability to kick off walls a limited amount of times and into the direction that you are trying to move towards. It gives the power of wall jump without letting it be infinite and making it feel more like a natural part of the kit. The ground pound jump, long jump, basically all the things you can think of from Mario 64 are here plus more. The best part is it all comes without the baggage of Mario 64's clunk! Moving Sybil around without any of the upgrades feels smooth and player-friendly. However, if you don't get those upgrades, it definitely feels like there is something missing. Without the map that was recently added, it is very easy to get lost and filtered before reaching your first movement ability. I know I did at first! But if you can get past that initial chunk where you feel pretty lacking, the movement does become something pretty special. Unfortunately, I think the movement would be better in a different kind of game, but I digress.
Lastly, the story. In stereotypical metroidvania fashion, the story is very sparse and you have to look for it. Unfortunately, Pseudoregalia is pretty short so the story has no time to flourish, and none of the flavor text really does much to give you much of a story. All the story you get is after you reach the final area of the game, where you can somewhat gleam hints at a story, but not much else. In that regard, it makes the journey of exploring the castle kind of forgettable. There isn't really a motivator to keep going or keep doing things outside of the idea that you are playing a game and games are fun. It doesn't bother me when a game's story is complicated or secretive, but it does bother me when there is basically no story at all. Unless you want your gameplay to speak for itself, most games need some main motivator, and Pseudoregalia just does not have one.
Pseudoregalia is a fun but jumbled mess. Most of the game feels clambered together without a good enough rhyme or reason. I understand the idea was to make a dreamy, aetheric atmosphere, but I think it fundamentally failed at hitting those notes when I struggled to discern the differences between each area. Nothing felt coherent outside of the movement, which while really good, could've been better in another game. Though for a solo dev, this is quite impressive, so I still look forward to what they do next.