There are many games that populate the Metroidvania genre in today’s day and age, particularly on the Steam Marketplace. The Guise by developer Rasul Mono and publisher GameNet is another such game that seems to take inspiration from titles like Ori and The Will of The Wisps and Carrion, however it never feels like it quite nails the same feeling as either of these inspirations.
For those that don’t know, a Metroidvania is a game that draws inspiration from games like Metroid and Castlevania, where players explore a world, earning new powers and rewards that allow them to further explore new areas from previous sections of the game. Over the past couple of years, there have been several games that have given new life to the genre such as Team Cherry’s Hollow Knight. The Guise technically fits within this genre as well, but it falls somewhat flat in comparison to other games like it on Steam.
The Guise has a fairly similar premise: some children that live at an orphanage decide to sneak into their caretaker’s secret room one night while she’s out. Inside this room, they find a witch-like lair complete with a creepy mask (that looks inspired by the helmet from Hollow Knight) and cauldron. One of these children, Ogden, decides to put on the creepy mask where he promptly is turned into a monster, thus beginning the player’s journey and quest to revert back to humanity.
Ogden’s quest is not an easy one, but players are able to acquire new abilities along the way that should make this journey easier. These abilities can be gained through a few different methods. Some, like the Acid Spit, are gained by defeating bosses, while others, like Shadow Kill, are gained by completing side quests in the world.
While combat is perhaps the biggest part of The Guise‘s gameplay, it’s also where the game fumbles the most. It seems that the goal with The Guise‘s combat is to be challenging, but it ends up being more frustrating than difficult. There are many times where it feels like the hitboxes for Ogden’s attacks are slightly off, which can make fighting even the easiest enemies stressful. This can sometimes lead to situations where players will want to avoid fighting by any means to ensure they have as much health as possible going into the boss encounter.
Exploration can also feel somewhat laborious and not thoroughly planned out as well. Early on, players receive a side quest from a child named Maynard. He tasks players with retrieving a part from a powerful monster in order to prove his bravery to the other kids. Players then jump off a cliff, fight the aforementioned scary monster as the boss fight in the very next section, and receive the necessary monster part. However, there is no way to go back up the cliff to talk to Maynard. If players wish to turn in this quest immediately, they need to throw themselves into the nearby water (taking massive damage in the process) to respawn at the top of the cliff to turn the quest in.
While the combat is lackluster, especially when compared to other recent Metroidvanias, The Guise does have some redeeming factors. The artwork in particular is very charming and gives players a similar vibe to that of the Henry Selick movie, Coraline. Enemies’ visual designs also feel quite unique with a wide variety that players can find on their journey to free Ogden from his curse.
The music and audio design are another highlight of The Guise‘s package. The somber piano music that plays as Ogden is exploring the world is also quite spectacular, especially compared to the intense score that swells as players face down the game’s difficult bosses. Sound effects feel visceral and realistic, giving players an extremely clear mental image of what different abilities would sound like if it were happening right in front of them.
The Guise‘s writing is also generally quite strong. In particular, the witchy caretaker’s dialogue with the orphans and Ogden feels true to life and helps players understand her level of affection for the children in her care.
Overall, The Guise is a charming game aesthetically but is, unfortunately, brought down by its general gameplay loop. If these technical issues could be resolved, The Guise would be slightly easier to recommend. However, considering the majority of the game revolves around this combat and exploration, it does lose some points.
The Guise is available now on PC. Game Rant was provided with a PC code for this review.
![\"IT電腦補習](\"http://itteacheritfreelance.hk/test/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/logo2-2.png\"){kind=logo}
www.itsec.hk
www.itsec.vip
www.itseceu.uk
Leave a Reply