Ultros is a metroidvania with a distinction. That is likely to be a straightforward phrase to throw round, however Ultros actually does stand out. This bold title takes the standard exploration and battle mechanics that we all know and love and thrusts them right into a psychedelic world.
The very first thing you’ll discover when enjoying Ultros—and even by merely spying the screenshots—are the visuals. This colourful world is actually hanging, with pinks, greens, blues, and each different shiny hue splashed throughout a lavish dream-like panorama. It makes for a trippy world that begs to be explored. The detailed background is usually too detailed, making it difficult to distinguish between one thing in entrance of you or behind you. Let’s simply say, I attempted (unsuccessfully) attacking the wall a number of instances, considering {that a} creature was about to have interaction with me. It was, in actual fact, a creepy mural upon the wall. Oops.
There’s a barely weird story to accompany this intense look. It includes a heroine trapped in an unfamiliar world. As you progress, she meets different trapped entities, all of whom have fading reminiscences. It seems the longer you stay on this mysterious place, the extra you lose your self. On this means, your objective is easy: discover an escape. Oh, and destroy every little thing when you’re at it.
The gameplay, in some methods, feels acquainted. As with all metroidvania price its weight in salt, you progress left, proper, up, and down in a sprawling, maze-like, 2D panorama. Every new room provides to your increasing map, and there are hidden pathways, save factors, enemies, and upgrades alongside the way in which. The distinction? Properly, there are literally a pair, each of which might make or break the sport for you.
Firstly, our heroine (who actually, actually seems to be like Vega from Road Fighter, by the way in which) possesses the power to eat her enemies as soon as defeated. Sure, “eat” as in eat. This odd attribute threw me off at first, with a easy “Eat” command displayed alongside my fallen foe. Wait, what? It seems that consuming enemies revives you. It’s additionally an vital foreign money of types, being traded in for upgrades. It’s nonetheless bizarre, although.
Secondly, there’s a easy gardening component at play. As you progress, you gather seeds which might be planted at designated spots. These turn out to be bigger crops over time, granting you well being or creating new pathways if you later revisit them. The caveat is that the appropriate seed must be in the appropriate place to correctly influence the story, and it isn’t straightforward to know the place to position them or bear in mind which is which. A later skill to dig up and transfer seeds helps, but it surely’s nonetheless a chore that could be a significantly better concept in concept than in observe.
The audio is a stand-out side, that includes subdued tones coupled with some beautiful violin work. It gives a darkish soundscape that juxtaposes the brilliant visuals, and it’s beautiful to hearken to.
On the Swap model, there are some prolonged load instances that may influence gameplay. It’s not the worst I’ve seen, but it surely’s there. I’m not one who worries a complete lot about low framerates, however leaping doesn’t really feel as clean because it might, both. Maybe it would run a little bit higher on the Swap 2.
Total, Ultros is an bold metroidvania that stands out with starkly contrasting visuals and fascinating gameplay components. It’s nearly an excessive amount of for itself with quite a lot of concepts that don’t at all times work. It gained’t be for everybody, however for those who’re within the temper for one thing means off the overwhelmed path, you’ll discover it right here.
