Alway’s Legacy is a pixel art Metroidvania, newly available on Switch after an earlier release on PC last year.
Story
The story for Alwa’s Legacy is somewhat generic, as you are Zoe, a young magacian with a purple cloak in the world of Alwa. You need to save the land from evil once again. It’s a basic story, and it’s told nicely throughout the game, but it’s not something that seemed to be a huge focus.
Graphics
The graphics and overall look of the game is right out of the 16-bit era, with a nice amount of color and detail, about the amount you would have expected to see on Super Nintendo but not as much as say Sega Saturn. The worlds are colorful and have some nice scrolling effects. Alwa herself is a great sprite, super cute and colorful bursting with character and animation.
The backgrounds are gorgeous pixel art as well, bursting with color and life. There could have been more layered and paralax scrolling, but not a huge negative.
Gameplay
The game is a tight 2D platformer with easy to learn mechanics. The player can choose where to go, within limits, as parts of each area are gated off, requiring a skill to acquire. There are two major types of skills, magic (blue, green or orange) that can be upgraded, and abilities, which are one-off special powers. Magical powers can be upgraded, and eventually get pretty powerful.
The game is a mix of platforming and puzzles, with some light combat overall. Veterans of Metroidvanias won’t necessarily find too much challenge here, but the 10 hours or so of the game are enjoyable and there are at leasta few tricky puzzles closer to the end.
Overall
As a fun and colorful Metroidvania, Alwa’s Legacy delivers on its promise of fun and tight platforming. It doesn’t break a ton of new ground and won’t give veterans a huge challenge, but it was a satisfying 10-12 hour adventure.
Score: 8.0/10
Description
Alwa’s Legacy is a modern retro game full of dangerous dungeons, magical items and ancient secrets. By upgrading your magic, any way forward is right in this non-linear adventure game full of exploration.
Customize how you play – With our upgrade system you can choose how you want to play – Explorative, offensive or strategic. It’s your choice!
Exploration is rewarded – Don’t leave any stone unturned, the world of Alwa is filled with secrets and finding them requires you to explore and solve puzzles
A non-linear experience – Combining exploration and different item upgrades allows you to find your own way through this adventure
Looks and sounds amazing – Enjoy crisp pixel-art combined with modern effects as well as a soundtrack made by chiptune extraordinaire RushJet1
A challenge awaits – Quick reflexes are needed to navigate through the many challenging rooms and with easy-to-change settings anyone can enjoy Alwa’s Legacy
