Written by Patrick Orquia
Title: Ultra Age
Developer: Visual Dart, Next Stage
Publisher: DANGEN Entertainment
Genre: Action, Adventure, Hack ‘n Slash, RPG
Number of Players: 1
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Release Date: September 9, 2021
Price: $29.99
One night, I was just browsing through some videos on YouTube when I chanced upon seeing the trailer video for Ultra Age, and I thought that it was good. This game, as far as I know, is not from an established video game franchise or a sequel. It is just like that, a new IP. In this day and age when releasing a new IP is quite a bit of a gamble, the developers took the risk of creating a game, hoping against hope that it will eventually be a good one.
I really found the trailer quite interesting. The gameplay is reminiscent of that from Devil May Cry with a bit of NieR: Automata. In this game, robots and monsters are roaming the devastated planet, and the protagonist, Age, is tasked with saving the last few humans from a colony that orbits the planet, called the Orbital Arc. He himself is a human with some enhanced abilities, from the human colony that escaped Earth, after a catastrophic encounter with a meteor that left the planet drained of its resources. Much of the humans that were left on Earth have long died out. Those who are still around live in the last human facility called the Shelter. Age himself only has hours left to live, and his incentive from this mission to reach the Shelter is eternal life. It is not the most interesting of premises, but again, I did like what I saw, and thankfully, I got the chance of playing and reviewing this game.
Ultra Age is an action adventure game with RPG elements. The year is 3174, set on post-apocalyptic Earth. You play as Age, and you are accompanied by a robot named Helvis. Together, you arrive on the planet, with the hope of completing the mission. Being as the Earth is devastated, with almost all human already gone, the world in this game is presented bleakly with ruined infrastructure and machinery peppering the land. You travel on foot, with a set path that you have to traverse, though there are some corridors that lead to rooms where you battle against hordes of enemies or some hidden areas that you can explore to obtain some collectibles, but for the most part, the game the game is very linear. Save points can be far in between, which can lead to some very frustrating moments especially when you repeatedly die, but as you progress further, you will unlock some paths that will lead back where you came from (giving the game some sort of metroidvania feel) so even if it can be frustrating to repeatedly go through the same path to reach the area where you fell in battle, eventually, you will open ways that will make backtracking easier.
At first, you are only equipped with a sword but as you progress further into the game, you get to acquire new types of blades that would be more effective against certain type of enemies. Organic monsters can be hurt more with the Katana, while the robotic types can be best battled with the Claymore. The blades are mapped to the face buttons, and you can switch between them by pressing R and the corresponding button. These blades can be further upgraded with the use of crystal shards that enemies drop when defeated. Each blade has its own skill tree, with each upgrade requiring certain number of shards. The more you fight and win battles, the more shards you collect to upgrade your skills. You can also install different modules onto himself that enhance some of his characteristics, like attack power, HP, and critical attack. You can also collect and salvage machine parts to upgrade the other abilities, such as double jump, dash, etc.
Despite having a reduced visual fidelity due to the hardware limitations on the Switch, the game still manages to look quite good, generally speaking. I was quite pleasantly surprised that it performed as well as it did. It manages to hit 30fps most of the time, with some slowdowns when there are lots of stuff happening on the screen. There are plenty of pop-ins and things look a bit blurry, especially the characters on screen, but again, I’m still ok with given the circumstances. Also, the music in the game is also really good, with lots of electronic, industrial, and metal tracks that highlight the visuals and the feeling of isolation, dread, and devastation.
Overall, Ultra Age is a good, solid game that provides plenty of fun. The game may not be much of a looker and doesn’t run as well as it does on other platforms, but it does look good and performs surprisingly well on Nintendo’s hybrid console. The excellent combat and gameplay will give you plenty of cool moments, making the game feel packed with content despite the relatively short playtime. The game is a bit tough to recommend at its current price, but maybe wait for a sale and give this game a go. You may not find Dante or 2B in this game, but Age and Helvis may yet still scratch your hack ‘n slash itch.
REPLAY VALUE: High
PROS
- Surprisingly amazing visuals; despite the expected hit on graphics due to the game being on the Nintendo Switch, it does holp up remarkably well, with lush environment despite the decrease in visual quality
- Amazing soundtrack that contains electronic, industrial, and metal music that complements the visuals and the setting well
- Excellent combat mechanics and overall gameplay
- Responsive controls
- Switching between blades on the fly is really good
- Combos can be performed easily
- Extensive tutorials
- Wide variety of enemy types
CONS
- Bland story
- Bland character and level design
- Lots of very noticeable pop-ins
- Very grind-heavy
- Repetitive gameplay
- Wooden voice acting, especially the English dub
- The time travel aspect of the game is very much underused
RATING: 4/5 blades and baddies
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