Chasm

Game Title: Chasm
Released: July 31, 2018
Game Length: 9 Hours
Grade: C+

 Gameplay

Metroidvania: I remember when this game came out a long time ago when there was a surge of new adventure games in the style of Metroid and Castlevania. This game hits the playstyle of the latter game hard with even references to how you obtain mana from destroying the candelabrum and chandeliers in the background. The game has a habit of teasing you with special items out of reach that are required to unlock the village professions after you rescue them. Each level provides you a couple of bosses to fight that will open a new chamber with an artifact that enhances your abilities just enough to reach these areas. There is usually also some sort of puzzle that requires you to be observant after defeating the final boss in a zone. 

Combat: Most enemies you encounter will have some sort of attack pattern that gives you a small window to strike. How you strike depends entirely on your weapon. The attack speed, length, and direction depends entirely on what you have equipped. Eventually, you will learn a secondary magic ability that, like the mobs you are fighting, all have a unique arch or pattern. If you leave a room, all enemies will respawn. Your weapon determines your attack power and chance to critically strike, your armor dictates how much damage you receive upon being hit, and your accessories can increase the chance of finding items off enemies. While there are no shields to block attacks, you can evade by quickly hopping backwards. Health and mana do not regenerate, but you can pause the game and immediately eat food or use potions. Being defeated means a complete game over back to the last place you saved your game. There are no second chances for fighting a boss or remembering the items you accumulated on the way there.

Mechanics

Exploration: Unfortunately, the biggest hindrance to the game is how often you are running around the same space. The map might be useful by only showing you areas you have explored and where a chest is still available, but there isn't any details to distinguish special puzzle or boss rooms. Each region has a total of four caverns that you can take as a shortcut back to the top, but they aren't normally in the best places. Almost every one of them were situated in a way that required clearing a number of rooms to reach a hidden chest or boss. You can use a warp scroll to automatically return to the village, but it doesn't allow you to return back.

Village: Another problem is how the difficulty of the game is dependent on how much money you have to spend. I found myself rarely obtaining 5 to 25 coin bags after defeating a dozen enemies. Magic abilities cost between 100 to 300 each. Potions (and food) can cost around 250 coins to restore you to full health. A warp scroll costs 500 coins! This doesn't include the cost of obtaining bars to upgrade gear and gems to upgrade abilities. However, your survival and amount of time you spend backtracking depends on how you spend your currency. You can increase your damage and armor by double if you can find or upgrade the right kind of equipment. 

Extras: There are a few additions to the game that did help mix up the gameplay. There is a slot machine that you can use tokens in a chance of obtaining more gold if you time the bars right. There is a ghost character that offers you the Wheel of Fate that will add or subtract one from a random stat. Occasionally you can find a hidden wall with an item. There is an arena in the Keeps that will award you gladiator gear upon each completion. The regions are individually unique with their own obstacle to overcome.

Summary

Review: Even on normal difficulty, there was some stress backtracking through the same areas multiple times in order to make progress in the game. Unlocking what perks that are available takes a lot of effort. Save areas are limited, shortcuts are only mildly helpful, and fighting against foes can become frustrating when they respawn immediately upon leaving a room. The low-grade allusion to old Nintendo games isn't enough to hold the game up on its own. I don't recommend this game.