Written by Patrick Orquia
Title: Alwa’s Awakening
Developer: Elden Pixels
Publisher: Elden Pixels
Genre: Metroidvania, Platformer, Action, Adventure
Number of Players: 1 player
Release Date: September 27, 2018
Price: $9.99
Also Available On: Steam
Retro 8-bit pixel art aesthetics and indie games go hand and hand. There are hundreds of games utilizing this style, and who can blame their developers? It was loved by millions in the golden age of gaming 20-30 years ago, and if worked then, it would work now.
Enter Alwa’s Awakening, another one of these games. But unlike the others, this game seems to aim to resemble 8-bit games as closely as it can. From the way everything looks to the iffy in-game physics and questionable hit boxes, this game has it all. And of course, what good is a good-looking game without an equally good soundtrack? Yes, this game has it as well. The chiptune music sounds authentically 80s, and they are all catchy as hell.
So it looks good and sounds good. Does it play good? The answer is yes, the game is of the metroidvania platforming variety (another typical indie game checkbox, checked!). It’s about a little girl named Zoe who has to travel across the many interconnected areas of the land of Alwa to save it from an imminent danger brought upon some evil being called Vicar, out to enslave everyone. In other words, the most clichéd plot ever. Nonetheless, the story is just there to give you a background on why you have to play as Zoe and do all the stuff that you have to do in the game. You’d probably forget the main protagonist’s name right away once you start the game. It is that unimportant.
But let’s go to the important part: gameplay. The game play like any of your typical platformer games. If there is a platform, you jump to it. If there is a ladder, climb it, defeat enemies, rinse and repeat. But of course, this is also a metroidvania game, so you will encounter some dead ends: a platform that there is no way to be reached, a gate that requires a weapon or power you don’t have yet, or an undefeatable enemy that will kill most likely kill you because, again, you are too ill-equipped to progress further. So you have to go back the other way and explore alternate paths. Rinse and repeat.
One (probably not-too-unique) unique aspect of the game is its focus on solving area puzzles. And in order to solve these puzzles, you will have to acquire different magical powers to be added to your magic wand. You will then have to use these powers interchangeably, depending on the situation. You can either create a green crystal block that you can use to safely traverse spikes or as an added height to reach platforms; or a floating blue bubble that you can stand on to avoid enemy attacks or to reach high places; or an orange electric bolt to shoot distant enemies or open certain gates. You will have to acquire these powers one at a time as you progress in the game and you have to think and rightly decide when to use each of them.
As mentioned earlier, the goal is to stop the game’s big boss, Vicar. But before reaching him, you will have to defeat his Protectors, four of them, to acquire Ornaments to open Vicar’s lair. These protectors are the bosses in this game. The boss fights in this game look like your typical old timey boss fights wherein you have to try your hardest to evade attacks while also attacking when the opportunity opens. These boss fights rely heavily on memorizing attack patterns and where the boss will be next, again, typical of the olden games. Attacks and movements are telegraphed in advanced, as usual, but of course it could take time to keep everything in mind. Upon defeating the bosses, you wind that particular Protector’s Ornament and you’re off to the next one.
This game’s interconnected areas have save zones in strategic areas, where you would respawn after getting your ass kicked by some enemy or you drown or get hit by a spike. You have at 3 hit points which get diminished upon every hit you take from an enemy (except when you hit a particular type of spike or you drown on water/acid/lava). Some enemies would drop hearts upon defeat, and each heart replenish one hit point. Saving replenishes all three hit points. Once you have acquired magic, you will also have a magic meter, and each use of magic depletes it, but it regenerates right away, varying in speed depending on which magic you used. Aside from magic, you can also collect blue orbs scattered everywhere. These blue orbs level up your orb power, with the sole purpose of depleting the hit points of a boss before even the fight starts. You only get to take out a hit point per level. It’s better than nothing, because boss fights tend to become really tough without proper preparation.
Overall, Alwa’s Awakening looks, sounds, and plays like an authentic 8-bit video game from the 80s-90s, and the awesome people at Elden Pixels take pride of this, and they have the right to do so because the game is really good and enjoyable to play. So put your old school gaming hat on and explore the land of Alwa for an 8-bit adventure to nostalgia.
REPLAY VALUE: High
PROS
- Looks, sounds, and plays like an authentic 8-bit video game
- Subtle but effective use of HD Rumble which signals a secret area or passage is nearby
- Has a warp system that aids in backtracking
- Easy-to-follow map that marks all save points and warp points
- Has an Assist Mode which enables an easier gaming experience: items are marked on the map and you get to quickly respawn where you are when you die
- Has a death count, which tallies the number of times you die in the game. This either encourage you to try harder or induce anxiety, because dying is no fun. But it’s cool to know how many times you messed up in the game
CONS
- Bland story
- The visuals look 8-bit but nothing special about it; it certainly could have looked better
- The game allows you to do a “low jump” by quickly tapping the jump button (a longer press does a long or high jump)… this is not clearly explained in the game. There are portions in the game where you have to jump from one platform to another but there are spikes on the ceiling that one-hit kills you. You have to do a low jump to avoid this. Took me quite a while to realize this (i.e., I had to search on YouTube how to do it)
RATING: 4/5 8-bit Magic and Nostalgia
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