REVIEW : Batora: Lost Haven (PC)
Everyone is dead, and only you, Avril, can save the planet. Batora: Lost Haven follows a hesitant teen on a cosmic trip after everyone she cares about has died. She has the enviable situation of not having adults instructing her what to do, which means she can be anyone she wants to be – good or terrible.
Recently, numerous genres have been tossed into the melting pot to extract the greatest flavours, and this title incorporates a little sprinkling of a karma system to make it one sensual dish. What the hell am I talking about? This demo has a lot going on, yet it all works well together.
Stormind Games (Remothered: Broken Porcelain) and my best friends (don’t ask, they’ll deny it) Team17 have collaborated on a hack and slash, action RPG, and twin-stick shooter. On the surface, it appears to be an arcadey Diablo-style game with simple controls and pick-up-and-play gameplay.
Avril, on the other hand, has the gift of duality. That means she can switch between two natural forces: the sun and the moon. This appears to be a combat-oriented feature at first glance, however her abilities aid with problem-solving. But first, Batora: fisticuffs in Lost Haven.
Avril has two distinct personalities. The solar power is melee-based and derived from her physical strength, whereas the moon power is ranged and derived from her cerebral strength. If she loses either in the midst of battle, she dies and you are returned to an automatic checkpoint; there are no immediate resurrections.
Batora: Lost Haven features button-based attacks, or if you’re using a controller as I did (hi, fellow cool person), the right stick is used for attacks rather than camera movements, and it’s quite effective. There’s a dodge button and a button that allows her to switch between her sun and moon powers on the fly. Furthermore, holding down the left trigger will activate a special attack that may be directed with the right stick.
The puzzle pieces are the final aspect of gameplay. The first puzzle was simple: either tease your confidence or break you in (I wage it was both). Avril will flip states to melee a colour-matching switch one moment, and then shoot a switch between sliding panels and even telekinesis the next. This place reminded me of Timelie, which is a good thing. These puzzles were a feature that added to the fights.
Keep in mind that this confused rambling is about the Batora: Lost Haven demo, so it’s not a final write-up, but it’s a decent test for what’s to come. The aesthetics are superb, and I must admit that the cutscenes in the game are of Final Fantasy quality. I wasn’t a fan of the voice acting, particularly that of the title character Batora. The volume seemed to rise with each of her words, as did my obvious scowl.
The in-game dialogue, which felt a little like a visual novel, was also nicely rendered, and the tale itself showed potential. Returning to the “choices matter” point, you have the ability to mould Avril’s path – karma – by being good or bad, and you will be rewarded accordingly.
In this situation, you’ll gain runes that may be used to improve your skills and other abilities, and they’ll undoubtedly be useful in the long term.
