REVIEW : Ultra Age (PS5)
After several years of drought, it seems that hacking slash is making a comeback. Although Capcom and PlatinumGames have dominated this fast-action genre in recent years, it appears that new suitors are arriving to be the next surprise of these games with combos, waves of enemies, and very modern systems. First, team Ninja recovered its Ninja Gaiden trilogy; there are several Chinese productions such as the long-awaited Lost Soul Aside or project, the recently announced Soulstice, and even the peculiar El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron has returned by surprise … And now Ultra Age, another title for consoles -PS4, Nintendo Switch- and soon for PC that on paper fulfils everything that could be expected from a 3D action-adventure: lots of sword combat and a minimal dose of roleplaying progress for its protagonist.
The power of crystals
Ultra Age stars Age, a character with the usual clichés of anime design – he is a kind of cross between Final Fantasy and Devil May Cry – who must fight to prevent the extinction of the human race in a futuristic and post-apocalyptic world that offers so many robotic dangers like fantastic beasts. He will not be alone at all, as he will be accompanied by a small Helvis droid – similar to Nier: Automata -. The argument tells us about how humanity has been divided into two after the ecosystem changes: those in a space colony and those that remain on Earth; When the latter cut off the supply to the Orbital Arc, Age must take matters into his own hands.
The truth is that history, as it happens in these cases, does not go beyond the pretext to face enemies and present some rivals. It meets the minimum required, although, of course, Ultra Age lacks the charisma that its competition squanders, be it a Devil May Cry, Bayonetta, or Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. Still, it would be a bit unfair to demand Next Stage – a Korean team with 11 employees where the majority debuts with this game – the same as the sector’s heavyweights.
In short, Ultra Age does not deviate much from the more classic formula: linear scenarios with occasional forks and arenas that close to force all enemies in the area to be eliminated – others are optional, and you can skip ahead – a dose of Minimal exploration to find resources through scenarios that recreate forests, deserts, and futuristic facilities. In addition, Age has a hook similar to the one Nero provided in Devil May Cry 4 that can be used to overcome some small sections of platforms and bring small enemies closer, a tool that, when used well, will not give our opponents a break.
In terms of control, we will have two primary attacks, double jumps, and a mysterious movement with a small window of invincibility. Unfortunately, the developer has studied the bases of hack’n slash, and little or nothing of what we will see here is incredibly new. Still, she also ensures that the foundations are more than decent:
- The combos are simple and easy to do.
- You can launch the opponent for the air.
- We have unique attacks.
- The Helvis robot will help us regain health when things start to go wrong.
We would say that the difficulty curve is not completely adjusted, gamers of the genre will have no problems adapting to Ultra Age, but if it is your first hack’n slash, you will suffer a little more than necessary, in part because the save points are more scattered than usual in this genre. As a result, it is easy to get frustrated in some areas. This is so because the developer has thought about slight roguelike progress, not because of the route – which is not generated randomly – but because the basic idea is to repeat part of the area, get new resources and improve your equipment or character if necessary. In our opinion, for this type of arcade game, it is convenient for them to have more control points that make it easier to quickly repeat that battle that has caused us problems instead of a role-playing approach.
There is one aspect in which Ultra Age tries to do something a little different: the different types of swords that we can associate with the pad buttons. Some elemental blades that are “recharged” with crystals – which include a time acceleration mechanic to regenerate more – and that are aimed at different types of enemy, something that in the background is still the same as the various weapons of others hack’n slash, with the option to change edges on the fly. Each type of sword has a network of nodes with enhancers that improve attack and other aspects so that it will be possible to enhance the blades that we use the most. This part of skills, learning new combos, and installing modules are not that it converts to ultra Age in a true RPG, but at least it adds a layer of customization that allows you to mould Age and his robot a little to our liking.
All the positive of the combat is diluted a little with the rest of the world that he proposes to us, and that is where he reveals the limitations of the budget. Even if there are small rewards scattered around the stage for the most curious, the whole development consists of traversing a few corridors, facing a handful of enemies in arenas – sometimes too small – and tiny else. Too many generic aspects in theme, characters, and gameplay, all seen in many releases higher than Ultra Age point by point, so even if this title does not make big mistakes, it feels like it is decades late.
Graphically fair
Regarding the Ultra Age graphic level, the same could be said of other of its sections. “Good but…” without attracting attention. Post-apocalyptic jungles, facilities, and ruins that at times may remind you of Nier: PlatinumGames Automata in linear version, colourful effects typical of Unreal Engine 4 with explosions, particles, and lighting, complete with forgettable designs for that mixed bag of enemies – robots and monsters – or the protagonist himself, who looks like a discarded hero from Final Fantasy XV. The music does not attract attention, but at least it brings solid themes for the combats.
We have mainly played the PS4 version on PlayStation 5, and in the technical aspects, it complies without fanfare -although the detail change on stage or LOD is too visible-, running at 60 fps. We also play it on Nintendo Switch, which cuts out scenery detail and loses sharpness, but the most significant concession it makes is the frame rate at 30 fps, which is not exactly ideal; We almost preferred more visual sacrifice intending to reach a better framerate. Ultra Age has demos available on both consoles so that you can check the performance for yourself.
