Saviorless – Review

GAME INFORMATION: Release: April 2, 2024 Players: 01 player Genre: Dark fantasy, puzzle and platform video game Developer: Empty Head Games Publisher: Dear Villagers Available languages: German, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, French, English, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian Available on platforms: PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, PC (STEAM, Epic). Age rating: Over 12 years old. Game version analyzed: Nintendo Switch.

Hello everyone, how are you?

Today we are going to talk a little and do an analysis of Saviorless, the Cuban indie game that arrived and made a splash in 2024. Let’s embark on this debut game from the Empty Head Games studio  and which was published by the French Dear Villagers , the same publisher of Gravity Circuit, Nocturnal and Terra Memória , which we have already analyzed here at Revolution Arena.

Saviorless is presented to us with a very interesting premise, its world creation is based on a dark fantasy universe and shows us something that initially seems abstract to us, as well as making us curious to know more about this universe and the plot of the story, but… what does this story say?

HISTORY

The game’s plot takes place in a dark fantasy environment, a universe where the world is driven by stories read and passed on by narrators. That’s right, the narrators are entities that control the course of this world, manipulating the stories and ensuring the balance and existence of this reality.

In this dark world, we follow Antar, a young man who is searching for his “place in the sun”, a sacred place known as the Smiling Isles, a place that, according to the narrated tradition, is a kind of “promised land”. To reach this place, it is necessary to find a sacred animal, known as the Radiant Heron, a mythological animal that knows the way to the islands and can take whoever accompanies it there.

A simple story at first, however, at a certain point, the narrators change a part of the story told and things get out of control and thus, Antar begins to have autonomy in his story, being able to save this “narrated” universe or lead the world of stories told and also the world of the narrators to perdition.

As the game progresses, the story and the world become more bizarre, with challenges to be overcome by Antar and some other playable characters that you will discover throughout the journey.

Mechanics and gameplay

Saviorless has simple platform mechanics and its puzzles are not complex, which allows us to flow in the gameplay and enjoy the art and experience that the Cuban game offers us. As the game progresses, we vary the gameplay and mechanics according to the character we are controlling at that moment in the story, and as the story progresses, we also see the evolution of the challenges and enemies, meeting bizarre creatures and macabre environments. The story is woven together in a way that can make us uncomfortable, but that encourages us to learn more and complete Antar’s journey.

Graphics and Sound

The game’s art is extremely detailed and lovingly handled by the debuting studio. We can see its hand-drawn art, with very detailed scenarios and fluid movement. The soundtrack leaves us immersed, with moments of apprehension, accompanied by piano tracks, which tends to captivate the player and bring the depth of this beautiful and at the same time agonizing and mechanical universe.

Fun

Savios is a short game that provides a lot of entertainment to its players. Its platforming system with simple challenges does not frustrate the player, while at the same time it is not a world that is entirely easy to overcome. At certain moments, we can see that the battle system offers us combats without much weight and even, to a certain extent, minimal consequences resulting from the damage received, but even so, the world building and its creative characters, macabre enemies and dark fantasy setting give us that touch of “fun” that we look for in a game with this theme.

Performance and Optimization

The version we tested was the Nintendo Switch version and Saviorless’ performance on this platform is perfect. The game is light, fluid and extremely beautiful. The perfect game to be played in portable mode, that indie game style that you can stop after a more intense challenge and then continue normally. Its optimization takes advantage of all the good things about the console and leaves nothing to be desired.

Conclusion

Saviorless shows us that even though it is a debut game, it presents the full potential of the Cuban studio and sets the bar high, showing all its art in its graphics, music and engaging and sinister story, bringing that new experience that is the mission of indie games, but the quality, fluidity and beauty of those who have a lot of potential to bring the best in entertainment and fun.

Positive points:

*Universe construction;

*Art;

*Engaging story;

*Simplicity of commands;

*Subtitles in PT-BR

Negative points:

*Non-impact combat system;

*Simplified puzzles.

Rating:
Graphics: 10.0
Fun: 8.5
Gameplay: 9.0
Sound: 9.0
Performance and Optimization: 10.0
FINAL GRADE: 9.3/10.0