Review for ScourgeBringer. Game for Linux, PC, Mac, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 21/10/2020
From the North-East of France, the duo of the Flying Oak Games team, in collaboration with E-Studio, are keen to make their voices heard in the panorama of a 2020 so tragic due to the virus that still does not let go, as loaded with indie titles that are firmly maintaining a prominent position in the world of videogames. Thanks to the Steam platform - which has always given life to the genre - and a Nintendo Switch that consolidates its ability to enhance independent titles, it can be said without the possibility of denying that the last two years have produced a series of indie pearls that are not indifferent.
Today, after a long phase of sharpening and testing, ScourgeBringer appears on the videogame market, published by Yooreka Studio and Dear Villagers and proposed on Nintendo Switch, Steam and Xbox One.
The storyline of a fast and fun indie title like ScourgeBringer doesn't need to be particularly complex and the guys who developed the title know that. Despite being stripped down, in fact, the story contains what it takes to function: we have a happy world, an intrusion by a mysterious alien monolith, the disappearance of everything that tries to hinder it and of course a capable and fearless who will venture inside the artifact to understand what is happening and how to counter it.
Armed with a sharp blade, her agility and a firearm, our silver-haired protagonist will throw herself headlong into the monolith to save her world, facing every enemy that stands in front of her ready to die ... and it's good that you are too, because in ScourgeBringer you die a lot, really a lot.
ScourgeBringer is in fact an indie roguelite with procedurally generated patterns and various enemies and different attack patterns. The concept of roguelike and roguelite is now understood by all but just to make a summary let's say that the difference between the two lies in the punitive aspect of death: while in the first dying means losing everything completely, in the second death gives an acquisition of permanent features that will allow the player to have a few more chances in subsequent runs. ScourgeBringer therefore belongs to the second genus, but don't think that this makes the task easier: the extreme speed of the action, the multitude of enemies on screen and the difficulty calibrated upwards are elements that will require time, experience and power-ups to be mastered.
Moreover, the speed of the action and the smoothness in the movements of the protagonist, enemies and bullets is such that if you attempt an approach with your head down, you will perish in a few minutes. Although the speed leads you to splash from one part of the entire game area to the other, it will be convenient for you to face the enemies one by one, memorizing their movement patterns and dosing the skills in your possession.
ScourgeBringer is in fact an indie that uses the whole game screen. The protagonist can immediately use a double jump, a multiple plane dash and can run on walls. As if that weren't enough, every time you attack with the blade you stop in mid-air, and this means that you can practically fly. This mix of components means that the player is led to move from one target to another in a frantic dance that if badly managed leads immediately to death. Bullets from enemies often fill the screen and therefore any wrong movement will lead to the loss of precious life.
You have to focus on one enemy at a time by memorizing the pattern and the moment of attack (highlighted by an exclamation point) while keeping an eye on all the other elements present: this is the only key to success to master ScourgeBringer. Fortunately, the options, which can be changed at any time, will allow you to decrease the level of difficulty by interacting with the speed of the bullets and with the consumables left by the enemies to defeat, even allowing a sort of "God Mode" where you will be invulnerable.
The maps, generated procedurally, include in addition to schemes full of enemies a sort of thread that is always similar. We will find merchants, altars where to acquire momentary power ups, mid-level bosses and final bosses. Wisely spending energy and droplets of blood - the game's iconic currency - turns out to be a fundamental element in continuing the adventure. The bosses are very inspired and well laid out, but before they acquire the ability to deflect the bullets they are practically impassable.
In any case, resign yourself, the first departures only serve to accumulate resources to improve the basic characteristics and are as useful as they are inevitable.
After each death you will be sent back to a sacred tree where you can acquire permanent upgrades and other information about the story, not relevant to the gameplay but interesting from the point of view of the protagonist's story. Acquiring upgrades becomes essential and some of them are more important than others: the ability to repel hits and to activate the combo counter are in fact fundamental. The first to be able to survive and the second to power up: we therefore advise you to activate them as soon as possible.
The gameplay attack landscape is completed by a long-range weapon - which recharges with physical strikes - and a fury bar that allows you to take out all enemies on the screen. Feature perhaps obvious but no less effective.
The graphics are something already seen but not for this to be underestimated. The dark colors with bright elements are well suited to the gaming experience and enhance a gameplay that focuses on speed. the design of the backdrops and the enemies are successful and rich in details but in the long run some elements of the opponents are perhaps too repeated. It almost denotes a sort of recycling, as if the ideas were run out, but even this "defect" does not affect the gaming experience. Fortunately, the attention to detail is really high and we can say that the final result places ScourgeBringer at the top of its category.
On the Nintendo laptop - console we used for the review - the project is still very successful, without smudges, pleasant and fun; ScourgeBringer proves to be a long-lived title that expresses its potential well.
ScourgeBringer, the latest effort from Flying Oak Studios, is a fast-paced and fun title with a strong roguelite component well exploited. Without being frustrating, the title forces the player to repeat runs that thrill one after the other. Net of an already seen graphics and some overly exploited and repeated enemies, ScourgeBringer convinces and thrills by managing to glue the player to the screen, challenge after challenge. As always, Nintendo Switch is the ideal platform to fully enjoy the possibilities of the title.
► ScourgeBringer is a Platform-Adventure-indie game developed by Flying Oak Games E-Studio and published by Dear Villagers Yooreka Studio for Linux, PC, Mac, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, the game was released on 21/10/2020
