The mixes of different genres always give life to interesting experiments and already in the past, when we had tried this Foregone for the first time, the feedback was certainly positive, although it could not shine with that light of its own necessary to make it unforgettable. In fact, it is perfectly fine to lean on the pillars of the reference genres but when the final result is a mixture of Dead Cells, Metroid and Dark Souls it is expected at least that the characteristic elements of those titles are reported, if not in a superior way, at least to a equal level. Instead, the work of Big Blue Bubble, finds itself dancing in an uncomfortable limbo where comparisons in terms of level design and playability cannot be avoided, leaving the production with bones broken by the clash. Yet, during our long ride into the realms of Calagan, we can't say we didn't enjoy ourselves. So let's find out what are the reasons for these chiaroscuro in ours Foregone review.
An inevitable confrontation
In Foregone we play the role of a judge, a race of modified soldiers, bred to bring justice to the futuristic and technological lands of Calagan. L'setting ready to welcome our heroine deliberately winks at the architecture of Dead Cells and tries to replicate that 2.5 of pure pixel art using the same colors, using tricks to create the levels already tasted but declining everything in a pre-established construction by metroidvania , wisely abandoning that procedural generation so dear to those who love Roguelike.
Foregone wants to tell a precise story through a world created ad HOC, accurately positioning platform after platform and generating shortcuts and secret passages capable of joining together the game areas as in the Souls, or at least tries desperately. The final result is actually a good attempt to replicate what has already been seen but with an extremely more linear and predictable sum between the parts, surpassed with much more ease even by that little gem that bears the name of Carrion. There history, however, it is almost never highlighted by the few dialogues present, but rather told in a spannometric way by ancient tomes scattered throughout the playing area, with a system that has not fully convinced us here, leaving us rather cold at the entire narrative. We therefore went forward more for the sake of playing and overcoming the various challenges proposed, rather than getting passionate about the story and discovering what the future had in store for us.
Not a huge effort anyway, given that the gameplay lets itself be pleasantly embraced with a discrete fluidity, albeit not at the levels we would have expected. It seems that we are repeating ourselves but in reality the whole analysis of Foregone can only proceed in this way: telling you how every smallest element introduced is really one step away from excelling and then getting lost right on the most beautiful. The animations of the Arbiter, for example, are fluid but often struggle to chain attacks together and even the most basic movement actions such as double jumps or slides to pass under the traps, give the impression of being always untied. THE enemies in the same way they repeat the attack patterns with mechanical movements, celebrated in the correct way only through the clashes with the bosses, those really sublime to see, and to fight.
A continuous cycle until the end
Il gameplay Foregone touches the basics of 2D metroidvania, providing the player with additional movement skills as the adventure progresses, thus making the levels more varied and giving the possibility to perform melee and ranged shots, with a rather original mechanics. The ammunition of the guns, in fact, being decidedly more dangerous than the slashes of the sidearms, are presented in a limited number and, to reload, the players will not have to collect them around as one would expect but directly hit the enemies in close combat. In this way the combat it becomes a continuous dance between melee and remote phases, alternating the dedicated styles of the various weapons. Foregone also offers a rather generous loot system, with a huge amount of items, weapons and armor dropped by enemies all the time. These equipment, divided by power level and rarity, they can be upgraded by spending money or even reforged to get new suffixes through hidden special missions, a system that works broadly but which we found quite limiting in terms of the freedom it leaves the player to use. the weapons he prefers.
In our runs we have always had to rely on the best types of weapons dropped by the enemies, often having to settle for movements and attack speeds that did not match our playstyle, given that the difference in damage was clear between the various options. To give greater depth to the combat system are then added a whole series of skills, the balance of which, however, leaves something to be desired: the care you will get in the very early stages of the game is essential and will be substantially impossible to abandon, combining it with just one other spell from choose from the dozen of those available. Here too, as for the equipment, it will be possible to vary its effectiveness by enhancing the skills at the base camp, so as to build a unique character together with the sparse branches of skill. All the resources necessary to level up items and obtain new skill points are obtained by destroying chests or defeating enemies, with the possibility of losing all the loot in case of death, unless you return to your corpse using the various checkpoints placed. available from the game and recover the stolen goods exactly as it happens in the most famous From Software series.
To complete the title to his difficulties finally, it will not take you more than eight hours, a period of time sufficient to make you appreciate all the mechanics described so far but which will leave you on the finish line rather saturated, unlikely to encourage further runs on the highest difficulties.
Comment
Tested version PC Windows Digital Delivery Steam, PlayStation Store, Xbox Store, Nintendo eShop Resources4Gaming.com7.0
Readers (8)7.6
Your voteForgone is certainly a good game, but the idea we got is that it could have been of a much higher quality if all the elements that make it up had received more care. The title of Big Blue Bubble always stops one step away from the high end of the category, with an artistic sector that excels with the bosses but that leaves much to be desired on the classic enemies, various skills but not very useful and badly balanced for the purposes of the game, up to arrive at a rich drop system but which then limits the player to having to always and only make the choice to equip the strongest weapon, nullifying the many possibilities offered by the different fighting styles. In short, we are talking about a game that tries to offer a little bit of everything, sometimes doing it well but then losing a clear identity, that same identity that would have transformed it into an unforgettable title. So we stop at a title that makes its own and then gives up, lacking that personality capable of transforming games of the genre into milestones.
PRO
- Bosses looked after
- Lots of game mechanics
- Overall, it has enough fun
- Unattractive enemies
- extremely derivative
- Poorly reasoned loot structure
