Welkin Road consist of a campaign mode with eleven levels, and an “S” ranking system. Each of the eleven levels brings a new mechanic into the game, which adds variety to each level as the game progresses. Players must sprint, walk, grapple, wall jump, and wall run from one checkpoint to the other: until they reach the pillar of light at the end that carries them to the next level.
Each new grappling mechanic is presented through varying colored orbs that hover throughout the level. Players must interact with these orbs through their grappling gloves, and manipulate their own momentum and movements to reach the next parts of the level. There is the most basic red orb, it simply sits in a predetermined position, making it easy to grapple to and swing around endlessly, or change the direction that you swing to land onto a platform on your side. Things get more complex quickly, with orbs like the blue orb, which run out of energy after about three seconds
Welkin Road gives players access to all eleven levels from the start, so anyone feeling adventurous can hop right into the final level and punish themselves by trying to figure out all of the game’s’ mechanics on their own.
There is speed run mode as well, where players can challenge themselves to race to the end of each level, once they have mastered the game’s mechanics, or even just for fun. Welkin Road also features secrets hidden throughout each level, the number of the secrets per level is listed when players start the game, and is shown in the campaign menu screen.
Welkin Road’s mechanics function well, but the game does not feel perfect. The movements feel fluid when wall running, sprinting, and jumping. Jumping upwards with wall jumps felt nearly impossible at some points of the levels as well, but the newest patch has made these motions much easier to complete. The physics of the grappling mechanic felt fluid as well, and stringing together jumps from one orb to another orb was manageable. My real issue was not the mechanics of the game but more so the level designs of certain obstacles. There were many jumps, or grappling sequences in the levels that took almost pixel perfect precision to complete.
The game features a minimalist style, in both its art and music, which I found relaxing. The game is well optimized and lets players adjust the usual settings like contrast, brightness, bloom, resolution, and more. There is only music in the game’s menu but not while playing the actual levels.
