Revita from developer BenStar and publishers Dear Villagers and Doyoyo Games is self-described as an action packed fun-filled roguelike twin-stick platformer. Sounds like a blast on paper right?
Players will take on the role of an unnamed protagonist in Revita. You’re thrust into a Clocktower and once you’ve raced your way through the tutorial levels all the way to the top, you face off against a boss enemy. Just when things seem to be going your way though, you’re swiftly defeated and thrown back down to Memoria Station. This is where the game truly kicks off with players taking the metro out into the great unknown. Your quest to defeat the evil forces contained within the Clocktower begins anew here.
Once you take the metro and leave Memoria Station, you’ll have to fight your way through levels to reach the end of an area and face off against a boss enemy. If you’ve played games such as Dead Cells, Hades and Neon Abyss, you’ll find Revita extremely familiar. It’s an action packed roguelike at its core and follows the tried and trusted formula established by previous giants in the genre. That doesn’t mean that the game is bad but it does mean that if you’re not a fan of roguelikes, you may want to look elsewhere for your gaming needs.
Diving right into the gameplay itself, Revita features a fairly straightforward control scheme. Players will be able to run, jump and dash as well as fire off energy bullets towards enemies. The default control settings map the jump and dash to the Left trigger and Left bumper on your controller and this might not be your liking. Thankfully though Revita features an extensive accessibility menu. You can remap your controls as well as change numerous in-game options to make things easier for you to enjoy the game. Not a fan of the pixel font? You can change it. Want an outline for your character to show up more prominently against the background? You got it. It’s great and more games should do this.
As you platform your way through levels in Revita, the difficulty gradually ramps up. Enemies that were easily defeated in the earlier levels are replaced with much tougher foes later on and you’ll have to use your quick reflexes to dodge their attacks. Revita introduces a lot of “Bullet Hell” aspects to the gameplay loop too. Boss enemies and normal enemies will fire off tonnes of energy balls at you which you’ll have to dodge through or avoid entirely.
Players will be able to purchase upgrades for their character at offering shrines at the cost of hearts. Hearts however, are your life force, so players will have to weigh up the options of sacrificing their health for an upgrade. Additionally, there are items in the game which impart a “Curse” status onto you too. Players can also accumulate soul energy and use this to heal themselves. This really comes in handy when the odds are stacked against you. Back at Memoria Station, you’ll also be able to purchase upgrades but only when the prerequisite characters are unlocked and you’ve accumulated enough in-game resources for the upgrades.
The roguelike elements of Revita ensure that every run through the game is never the same. I.e: You’ll run through a bunch of levels, accumulate the best possible items and if you end up dying, your next run will be entirely different while still delivering tonnes of fun. This is because of the fact that the items you pick up will be different and so too will the levels themselves in a particular area. The level of variety on offer here is quite extensive so you won’t encounter much repetition with regards to items until you’ve sunk in numerous hours into the game.
Revita’s slight downfall lies with the fact that despite the game giving you a warning at the start of the tale about it dealing with mental health issues and dark themes, the story moves along at too glacial a pace. There just isn’t enough speed to it and by the time you actually start to get anywhere with it, you’d most likely have forgotten the earlier aspects. This is especially true if you play the game in bite sized chunks and not for hours and hours on end.
You encounter new characters as you progress through levels and when you save souls, new NPCs show up back at Memoria Station. This does mean that to get more of the story, you will have to die during your run through the game and encounter the new characters back at Memoria Station to view their dialogue. The game features some voice acting but it’s in foreign languages and repeats itself when conversing with characters. If the characters were fully voiced, the story might have had a bit more oomph to it too.
Graphics
Graphically, Revita looks fantastic with the pixel art style being incredibly eye-catching and visually pleasing. Enemies look great and so too do the flashy effects of their attacks and your own. Most notably, Revita has an extremely catchy soundtrack. The music used in the game is ridiculously good and keeps you going throughout the levels. You’ll be humming the main area themes in no time and the rest of the orchestral music really delivers at key points in the game’s story.
Overall, Revita is a great action packed 2D platformer roguelike game. The fast pace, accessibility options and stellar soundtrack make this an easily recommendable game. If you’ve played roguelikes such as Dead Cells and Neon Abyss, you’ll find Revita just as appealing as either of those titles. This game unfortunately lacks the narrative force that Hades had but that doesn’t mean it should be overlooked. Revita is still a fantastic game and one that you really should pick up if you’re a fan of roguelikes.
Developer: BenStar
Publishers: BenStar, Dear Villagers, Doyoyo Games, Plug In Digital
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows
Reviewed on PC
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