There isn’t a scarcity of horrible issues buried deep underground, however, in Historical Weapon Holly, you get to be the worst of them. This roguelike from Purchase, one of many studios behind the Octopath Traveler sequence, places you answerable for a strong robotic that seeks revenge on the people that buried it for 1000’s of years. Reaching the floor and killing all people will take a bit longer than you’d anticipate, although.
At first look, Historical Weapon Holly is a serviceable, enjoyable, action-packed roguelite. The sport consists of ten ranges to play by way of, each growing in issue. Holly begins with a primary ranged assault and the power to open up pits within the ground for enemies to fall into. These might be closed as much as immediately kill most enemies, significantly when you’ve upgraded your assault energy by way of the sport’s model of a sphere grid. It’s an fascinating mechanic and the fight is chaotic sufficient to maintain you for a number of hours, however the sport’s lack of depth makes it really feel repetitive lengthy earlier than Holly reaches the floor.
To clear every ground, Holly should discover and destroy the enemy Gates whereas defending her Altar from the approaching Slayers which have been despatched to cease her. Destroy all of the Gates and Slayers and she or he’ll advance to the following ground. In the event that they handle to kill her or destroy her Altar, then she goes again to the earlier ground. As a result of it is a roguelite, all of the upgrades you’ve bought stay however you’ll lose any sources you’ve collected and never spent.
The truth that you solely go down one ground if you die makes the sport a lot simpler but it surely additionally provides a way that that is all one single run in Holly’s relentless pursuit of the floor. It additionally means you don’t should waste your time on simpler flooring when you’ve upgraded your talents, which is a pleasant contact.
The issue is that a lot of the flooring really feel too related to one another. Whereas there are a handful of recent monsters launched alongside the best way, the identical primary enemies are current all through – they only take extra hits to kill on larger flooring. The structure of every stage is simply too related as nicely, that means there isn’t a great visible marker to your progress. An additional environmental hazard or a brand new mechanic to contemplate on later flooring would have accomplished wonders for Historical Weapon Holly’s general gameplay.
Whereas the idea is enjoyable and fascinating, the plot takes a particular backseat to the precise gameplay right here. There aren’t any large cutscenes or stunning reveals as you progress as much as the floor. The sport duties you with accumulating every of Holly’s reminiscences which have been locked away in treasure chests on every ground, however even doing so doesn’t supply any new perception into her motivation or the world round her. The one factor it does is give your talents a slight improve every time. Helpful however nothing that wasn’t completed by the sport’s talent tree.
Every of Holly’s stats might be upgraded utilizing the gadgets dropped by enemies as you struggle your means by way of the degrees. Some new talents get unlocked, resembling with the ability to float rapidly by way of dungeons or being alerted when Slayers are nearing your Altar, however the primary technique for the sport by no means actually adjustments. You’ll rely closely in your primary assaults for many enemies and your burial potential for Slayers. There’s a slight steadiness concern right here – we completed upgrading each sphere on the talent tree earlier than we obtained midway to the highest, which made the ultimate half of the sport much less partaking.
In all, Historical Weapon Holly would in all probability be thought of a bit simple in comparison with most roguelike/lites, which might be each a mark in opposition to it and in its favour. The Slayers moved slowly sufficient that they by no means threatened our Altar irrespective of how lengthy we spent away from it, and as soon as we upgraded our assault powers the essential enemies by no means brought about us an excessive amount of hassle. As a result of all of the supplies you’ll want to improve your talents might be discovered on each ground, you possibly can rapidly change into overpowered by spending a little bit of time grinding on decrease ranges the place the enemies pose much less of a risk.
All of this isn’t to say that Historical Weapon Holly is a nasty sport. Should you simply desire a simple roguelite that focuses on motion and fight, you’ll in all probability get 10 to fifteen hours of enjoyment right here. Nonetheless, there isn’t something right here that may make the sport stand out among the many slew of different examples on the Swap. It’s too secure and predictable. We had been left wanting a bit extra.
We solely encountered one bug throughout our time with Historical Weapon Holly. After we moved the Swap from handheld mode to docked mode, we bumped into extreme body charge points. These had been dangerous sufficient to make the sport practically unplayable till we closed the software program and loaded it again up once more. This mounted the problem, which made it extra of an inconvenience than the rest.
Historical Weapon Holly can finest be described as serviceable – it isn’t dangerous by any stretch and we discovered ourselves having fun with it for many of our time enjoying it. Nonetheless, it performs its components too straight and doesn’t do sufficient with both its protagonist or its setting to face out among the many different extra bold video games on the Swap. It wants a contact of humour or a way of pressure to it. One thing to provide it extra character and persona. We loved the fight and gameplay, however we discovered Historical Weapon Holly frustratingly forgettable.
Conclusion
Roguelite followers will in all probability be break up on Historical Weapon Holly. Its fight is enjoyable and supplies a great problem for some time, although it doesn’t have the depth or persona to make it a really nice entry within the style. All the things simply feels too secure and predictable for our liking. It simply wanted one thing – a story hook or a extra distinctive mechanic, to make us wish to see humanity perish.