First and foremost, I should be thanking my friend QuentTheSlayer for gifting Pseudoregalia to me a few months back during the Steam Winter Sale, go check him out, and thank you very much, Quent. I had heard about this game a little before that through a quick "check out these games!" sorta video, I thought the art looked pretty nice and I was intrigued by the concepts I had heard and the gameplay I had seen. It wasn't until another friend of mine also played through it recently and started singing its praises that I had finally decided to devote myself to it and boot it up.
It's a 3D Metroidvania type of deal, with a huge emphasis on its range of movement options that you will unlock throughout the game. That's easily its most notable aspect, the movement in Pseudoregalia can be absolutely stellar, with every ability having all the right tools to make platforming fun, as well as allowing you to challenge yourself upon coming across an obstacle that might seem impossible. Chances are, with the right amount of experimentation, you'll find a way through. I've always been a sucker for strong movement in any game that allows it, so naturally I'm gonna like what I'm given here.
I have a hard time praising much else, though. While yes, the platforming is fun when the opportunity arises, the actual world you will be exploring with your techniques can get very tedious to walk through. I even played this game after the map update, so, while I'm sure I didn't have it as bad as I could have, it still wasn't the best. The map does a somewhat poor job with its sense of direction, given that it's just a map, giving no details on your actual location. Very often would I find myself entering a room, only to immediately back out of it once I realized I was on the wrong path to my destination. Some rooms can also just prove relentlessly large in scale, with exits spanning multiple different walls and corners, as well as elevations.
To add even more, exploration can start to feel a bit aimless after enough time. There's not much of a story being told here, outside of the very beginning and the very end. There are a few pieces of lore strewn about with tombstones and bookshelves, I suppose. I just never felt I had a very clear goal the entire time I was playing, the number one collectible, being the Major Keys, aren't locked behind anything besides some quick platforming challenges, and collecting them still doesn't feel all too grand.
Maybe that's for the best though, since combat seems to be the least centric component of the game. The most you will ever gain to your weapon is the ability to charge an attack, and a projectile (which, even then, is still used more for hitting far-off switches than actually fighting). I guess you also have the option to toss your sword, but I can't recall any instances of it being necessary, nor can I think of any reason I would actually want to do that.
In combat, basic enemies will usually fall to a few slashes, and sometimes you'll come across an enemy that requires a few more. There is little impact to your hits, with the complete lack of animation on contact or upon death. They will instead shake a bit, and then slowly fade out once they've taken too much damage.
I do think I was also a little overhyped on the final boss. I definitely enjoyed it (and it was definitely the most fun I had while fighting anything in this game), but it's very simple to learn and adapt to, and by the time you've figured that out, it'll be over just a few moments later. The boss falls, you get a quick little conversation over a white background, and are swiftly sent back to the title screen to no fanfare. Just feels really abrupt and anticlimactic.
I can still remember having fun from time to time with Pseudoregalia, it's just that those times were always in rather short bursts, before I had to return to my clueless wandering around the map. I'd still recommend it, of course, but I think I went into it a little overly enthusiastic, and came out just a bit worn out and disappointed. I will still look forward to the dev's next project, Electrokinetic, though.
i think Sybil mighta awoken a little something in me
It's a 3D Metroidvania type of deal, with a huge emphasis on its range of movement options that you will unlock throughout the game. That's easily its most notable aspect, the movement in Pseudoregalia can be absolutely stellar, with every ability having all the right tools to make platforming fun, as well as allowing you to challenge yourself upon coming across an obstacle that might seem impossible. Chances are, with the right amount of experimentation, you'll find a way through. I've always been a sucker for strong movement in any game that allows it, so naturally I'm gonna like what I'm given here.
I have a hard time praising much else, though. While yes, the platforming is fun when the opportunity arises, the actual world you will be exploring with your techniques can get very tedious to walk through. I even played this game after the map update, so, while I'm sure I didn't have it as bad as I could have, it still wasn't the best. The map does a somewhat poor job with its sense of direction, given that it's just a map, giving no details on your actual location. Very often would I find myself entering a room, only to immediately back out of it once I realized I was on the wrong path to my destination. Some rooms can also just prove relentlessly large in scale, with exits spanning multiple different walls and corners, as well as elevations.
To add even more, exploration can start to feel a bit aimless after enough time. There's not much of a story being told here, outside of the very beginning and the very end. There are a few pieces of lore strewn about with tombstones and bookshelves, I suppose. I just never felt I had a very clear goal the entire time I was playing, the number one collectible, being the Major Keys, aren't locked behind anything besides some quick platforming challenges, and collecting them still doesn't feel all too grand.
Maybe that's for the best though, since combat seems to be the least centric component of the game. The most you will ever gain to your weapon is the ability to charge an attack, and a projectile (which, even then, is still used more for hitting far-off switches than actually fighting). I guess you also have the option to toss your sword, but I can't recall any instances of it being necessary, nor can I think of any reason I would actually want to do that.
In combat, basic enemies will usually fall to a few slashes, and sometimes you'll come across an enemy that requires a few more. There is little impact to your hits, with the complete lack of animation on contact or upon death. They will instead shake a bit, and then slowly fade out once they've taken too much damage.
I do think I was also a little overhyped on the final boss. I definitely enjoyed it (and it was definitely the most fun I had while fighting anything in this game), but it's very simple to learn and adapt to, and by the time you've figured that out, it'll be over just a few moments later. The boss falls, you get a quick little conversation over a white background, and are swiftly sent back to the title screen to no fanfare. Just feels really abrupt and anticlimactic.
I can still remember having fun from time to time with Pseudoregalia, it's just that those times were always in rather short bursts, before I had to return to my clueless wandering around the map. I'd still recommend it, of course, but I think I went into it a little overly enthusiastic, and came out just a bit worn out and disappointed. I will still look forward to the dev's next project, Electrokinetic, though.
i think Sybil mighta awoken a little something in me