More and more titles are moving from traditional consoles to mobile, a long and incessant emigration of video games that has profoundly marked the videogame landscape in recent years. Among these we can find both works of the highest order but belonging to the past, such as Castlevania Symphony of the Night, and decidedly more recent titles such as XCOM 2. If the avenue that leads to smartphones and tablets is therefore decidedly flourishing, unfortunately the same cannot be said of the reverse path, with the works that have made the great leap from mobile to console that can almost be counted on the fingers of one hand. To try to reverse this trend and to try to establish itself on the completely different market of traditional gaming platforms is this time Grimvalor, metroidvania that has settled without too many problems in 2018 as one of the most interesting titles for mobile. However, the title of direlight to keep intact the magic that has allowed it to be one of the best experiences on mobile even on Nintendo Switch or the transition to the small house hybrid Nintendo will it have turned out to be bankrupt?
Nihil sub sole novum
Grimvalor is an extremely classic dark fantasy metroidvania: in the role of the usual powerful and anonymous hero we will in fact be called over five different acts to save a world held hostage by a dark and highly inflated evil presence. To complete the synopsis at the base of the title are then a whole series of other clichés, see for example the dragons on the verge of extinction or the powerful spell that can only be broken with a certain object. Expecting a sensational storyline from a title coming from mobile, where the game sessions are often hit and run, however, would have been decidedly wrong and, in the end, Grimvalor manages to not particularly disappoint in its seeming narrative anonymity. The fact that the information is then often sipped, albeit in comparison to works such as i Dark Souls Grimvalor is too verbose, then increases the aura of mystery, managing to intrigue the player in his mission to save the world.
A parallel, the one with the works of From Software, definitely a must, given the numerous references that the title of direlight launches to the famous action-RPG trilogy. Grimvalor it is in fact based on a game system that really takes a lot from the most illustrious titles of the Japanese studio. It is no coincidence that instead of bonfires we have altars, which have the same function, while the flasks for the care are re-proposed exactly in step with those of the Dark Souls. The character upgrade system is also very similar, with players having to spend a currency issued by dying enemies at the aforementioned altars to level up their digital alter-ego. The only variant compared to the Dark Souls is a decidedly less punitive death system, with the souls - here known as soul shards - which are not lost in case of defeat. A small divergence, which, however, does not change excessively a nature from this profoundly derivative point of view.
Grimvalor: da mobile a Nintendo Switch
Also with regard to the game structure Grimvalor it is a very classic metroidvania, although the re-exploration component is not excessively linked to the acquisition of new powers. Removed the ability to make attacks from above, with the consequent possibility of opening new gaps in the map, the player has practically all the credentials to make his way through the various tunnels designed by direlight and thus get your hands on the treasures grabbed in the darkness of the various dungeons. However, there is a lot to explore in Grimvalor and lovers of the genre will therefore not be disappointed: the only difference compared to the classic canons lies in fact simply in the possibility, in most cases, to go practically anywhere from the very first steps, thus limiting the subsequent need for back-tracking. to reach the desired 100%.
The mobile nature of Grimvalor emerges in a good way in the gameplay behind the work. The players entered in the action-RPG of direlight they will have two different attacks, light and heavy, with the first that can be used without limitations, while the second requires the use of an energy bar. No particular combos or various virtuosities therefore: in Grimvalor the golden rule to get the better of your opponents is to badly spam them against repetitive light attacks, sometimes interspersed with some heavy blows to stun them. Which might seem too simplistic, but to enrich the panorama and make everything more dynamic and intriguing is the dash, present here in a practically unlimited form. Thanks to this particular synergy between sudden escapes and bursts of shots, Grimvalor is therefore equipped with a decidedly fast and adrenaline-pumping gameplay which, despite an obvious underlying simplicity, works damn well and manages without too many problems to get used to Nintendo Switch. This dynamism can also be found in the exploratory phase, with our anonymous character who, between dash, runs on the walls and double jump, will move like a crazy splinter between the various levels of play, managing to give also from this point of view a very pleasant experience.
Also noteworthy are the various boss fights, which are divided into Grimvalor into two main categories. The first, consisting of the more traditional opponents of the end of the dungeon, and the second composed of a whole series of hunters who will appear during the exploration, as well as the invaders of Dark Souls. Fortunately, traditional bosses do not disappoint in terms of variety and dynamism of the clashes, sometimes managing to represent even arduous challenges that never fall into frustration. The only drawback of these battles can be found in the excessively tank nature of our opponents, with some bosses that will require to be incessantly hammered for several minutes before being defeated. The hunters, on the other hand, are nothing more than larger and more enhanced versions of the base enemies, which exponentially increase the unpredictability of our wandering in the lands of the title.
A few too many problems
However, Grimvalor is not absolutely without problems and, indeed, some of them come from the initial mobile nature of the title. The work of direlight in fact, it often does not have fluid animations and, on the contrary, it happens that you see your character standing still like a log in some particular sequence. In some sporadic situations our hero was not able to hit the enemies, all probably due to the 2.5D nature of the title. The models of the various characters are not the best and unfortunately even the design of the various settings is not surprising in a positive way. With a few small exceptions it is in fact really difficult for the player to distinguish the various areas and will therefore seem to be practically always in the usual two-three scenarios from the beginning to the end of the game. The level design, although it is not the best ever seen before, fortunately manages to settle on a more than discrete level and not to bore during the scarce ten hours necessary to complete the title.
In case you then want to find all the various treasures and collectibles hidden within the game, the longevity of Grimvalor will then increase by several hours. Finally, what makes the offer even more attractive in terms of content the presence on the Nintendo Switch version of the work of a New Game + mode, which allows you to re-face the title with the character of the previous game and with a whole series of new and fierce opponents.
