Developer: Attu Games
Publisher: Attu Games
Reviewed on: Switch
Code Received.
Metroidvanias, as much as I hate the term, are a dime a dozen these days. I’m typically a fan of games that take the level design and progression of Metroid while also mixing up the formula. Feudal Alloy attempts to do this, and much more, but unfortunately falls short of being exceptional in just about every regard. It’s not a bad game, however every element feels a little half-baked.
You play as Attu, a mech that is controlled by a gold fish, or is the fish named Attu and you control the mech ? I’m not totally sure, but the point is that this odd medieval-themed world is inhabited by fish controlled mechs. As Attu, it’s your job to venture out into the dangerous world to collect sunflower oil to help keep the elderly mechs lubricated. That is pretty much all there is for story. You are presented with this slightly over explained exposition, then dropped into the game.
Out in the world you will jump, cut, and bomb your way through various enemy robots. As a mech you must monitor your heat gauge, which works as a stamina bar. Every time you swing your sword or perform a special action you generate heat. If you generate too much you can’t perform those actions until you cool off. This happens automatically if you rest, but you can also consume coolant to give yourself some wiggle room. It’s a novel twist on the standard stamina system, but ultimately works exactly the same. If you over heat in battle, you will become vulnerable, so you must balance attacking and cooling.
The combat is very very basic. You swing your sword and hit things. As you progress you will get upgrades that allow you to dash and block. This mixes up encounters to some extent, but only slightly. The other tool at your disposal are bombs that have elemental effects. Throwing an ice bomb will freeze enemies in place for a short time, for instance. It’s a pretty simple system that just doesn’t feel all that great. Combine that with a large amount of repetition, like running from a distant save point to a boss fight, and it all gets a little tedious.
None of the jumping, dashing, chopping, or blocking is as responsive as it needs to be. As a result most combat encounters come down to wildly swinging your sword or throwing a bomb, hoping it connects with the enemy. This also extends to the various platforming puzzles. The jump doesn’t feel precise. Combining jumps with the dash move, over inst-kill spikes, results in frustrating bouts of trial and error. It’s not even clear sometimes what part of the geometry you can stand on because of the art style’s perceptive. When I won an intense battle or completed a tricky platforming segment it felt more like luck than skill.
This imprecision extends to the weapons, armor, and upgrade systems as well. Each piece of armor or weapon has an attribute that buffs either your damage output, how quickly you cool down, or how much oil (health) you have. It doesn’t tell you exactly how much it will improve it, however. There is also no way to directly compare pieces of equipment, so in order to tell what you already have buffed you have to unequip it to inspect it. It’s this kind of basic usability that is missing throughout. It even extends to the RPG upgrade tree which features upgrades like “A nice new cooling pump” with no indication of how much it will improve your cooling. It makes upgrading and acquiring new equipment underwhelming as their effects are often obfuscated.
Despite sometimes playing tricks with your eyes, Feudal Alloy‘s art style is the game’s strongest suit. It’s all hand drawn, and you can tell. The environments and characters have thick outlines, and the animation is silly and a little stiff. The only complaint here is variety. There are very few environments in the game and many of the rooms end up looking the same. I did enjoy picking out how clever the artists were in hiding the little fish inside every one of the enemies, however. Each piece of armor you find also changes the look at Attu, which is a nice touch. All in all the art is fantastic and does a good job of conveying the ins and outs of the world.
Feudal Alloy has a lot of interesting aspects on paper. A hand-drawn Metroidvania with an RPG skill tree and a quirky premise. Unfortunately, nearly all of it’s parts fall short upon delivery. It tries to check off too many boxes without nailing down any particular thing, which results in a mediocre experience over all. Many of Feudal Alloy‘s shortcomings could be overlooked if the reward at the end was substantial, but more often than that the reward isn’t worth the journey.
