Disclaimer: I Kickstarted this game.
Vernal Edge is beautiful with a solid combat foundation, but didn't do enough with it to keep me invested.
The game looks great. Brilliant pixel art that is fluidly animated. Levels that are lush and varied that remained interesting to look at throughout my play. I liked the variation in the levels themselves, but I wish their 3d representations on the overworld map could be more easily identified.
The design of the levels and structure of the game itself left me somewhat hollow, unfortunately. There is some interesting platforming, but the levels are drawn out and began to feel samey after the first few. I never had a clear idea of why I was in a particular place or what I was meant to be doing, other than moving forward the only way I could.
Structurally, Vernal Edge is reminiscent of Skies of Arcadia, with a fully 3d, PlayStation 1-era world you can fly around in serving as a level selection mechanic. This was cool at first, but there isn't enough going on in the overworld and the levels themselves are too numerous and hard to differentiate. This glorified level selection menu began to feel tedious rather than exciting pretty swiftly.
Combat is very solid and plays like a 2d Devil May Cry. Juggling enemies and dashing into them to keep the combo going is very satisfying with a difficulty curve that was rewarding to try to perfect. Unfortunately most combat in the game locks you in a room with waves of the same 4-5 enemy types spawning, so the solid base doesn't get a chance to show you anything new as the game goes on. It becomes a rote exercise of defeating the same enemies in the same ways over and over. Like the levels themselves, there is not enough of interest spread over too much game here.
The narrative is kind of cute and manages to be mysterious (both in the events and how the main character is related to those events). It wasn't enough to keep pulling me forward, but I was engaged.
This is such a solid foundation that just has too much in the wrong places. Smaller levels, fewer levels, and some more considered encounter design would make this a really fun and engaging experience throughout, unfortunately it doesn't pull me through in its current state!
Vernal Edge is beautiful with a solid combat foundation, but didn't do enough with it to keep me invested.
The game looks great. Brilliant pixel art that is fluidly animated. Levels that are lush and varied that remained interesting to look at throughout my play. I liked the variation in the levels themselves, but I wish their 3d representations on the overworld map could be more easily identified.
The design of the levels and structure of the game itself left me somewhat hollow, unfortunately. There is some interesting platforming, but the levels are drawn out and began to feel samey after the first few. I never had a clear idea of why I was in a particular place or what I was meant to be doing, other than moving forward the only way I could.
Structurally, Vernal Edge is reminiscent of Skies of Arcadia, with a fully 3d, PlayStation 1-era world you can fly around in serving as a level selection mechanic. This was cool at first, but there isn't enough going on in the overworld and the levels themselves are too numerous and hard to differentiate. This glorified level selection menu began to feel tedious rather than exciting pretty swiftly.
Combat is very solid and plays like a 2d Devil May Cry. Juggling enemies and dashing into them to keep the combo going is very satisfying with a difficulty curve that was rewarding to try to perfect. Unfortunately most combat in the game locks you in a room with waves of the same 4-5 enemy types spawning, so the solid base doesn't get a chance to show you anything new as the game goes on. It becomes a rote exercise of defeating the same enemies in the same ways over and over. Like the levels themselves, there is not enough of interest spread over too much game here.
The narrative is kind of cute and manages to be mysterious (both in the events and how the main character is related to those events). It wasn't enough to keep pulling me forward, but I was engaged.
This is such a solid foundation that just has too much in the wrong places. Smaller levels, fewer levels, and some more considered encounter design would make this a really fun and engaging experience throughout, unfortunately it doesn't pull me through in its current state!