Developer: Ezekiel Rage
Publisher: Plug In Digital
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC
The Skylia Prophecy – Review
Going back in time where 8-bit gaming was popular in the arcades and later in every household in the form of a Famicom emulation was also where the game industry made its first steps. The Skylia Prophecy is one of those 8-bit themed games, which takes us back in time, where diskettes were swapped for different games, and spending many hours melting 9 Volt adapters was a daily routine for reaching that much needed save point. Stick around because we are boarding the nostalgia train.
Story
The story is about a post-war world, where a young girl named Mirenia takes the life of the already defeated Dark Lord. This only enrages his underlings into seeking out a more powerful Dark Lord, thus fulfilling the prophecy spoken in the Book of Shadows. Filled with regret and guilt, Mirenia takes matters into her own hands again into finding a way to seal all evil in one spot. The story is presented at the beginning of the game in the form of the typical Star Wars intro in a pixelated manner. The player would then see the world through the eyes of Mirenia throughout her journey. After the main insight of the game, Mirenia and the NPCs of the story would use static dialogues, thus continuing the main questline. This also means that the player has no choice but to follow the story-line as it is.
There are no cinematics throughout the game, not even a short intro where bosses would be introduced in some way, which is sad. One can only hope for some of that old 8-bit cinematic feeling where the player is introduced to the different bosses before each epic battle.
Graphics
As mentioned before the game is made in the old 8-bit arcade-style. The graphic effects are pretty well made and resemble a few popular titles released during the 8-bit era. When further progressing through the game it does also offer pretty neat stages/levels, where the landscapes are mesmerizing throughout Mirenia’s journey. Playing the game in windowed mode will hurt one’s eyes less, than going for that full-screen experience. If one does want to change into full-screen mode, sitting a few meters back will make the experience ever so nostalgic.
Sound
Back in the day, 8-bit games would be strongly distinguishable by their arcade sound effects. One could guess the game in an instant by its unique intro and diverse sound effects without even glancing at the screen. The Skylia Prophecy does have that same charisma with its unique in-game tracks and sound effects. It brings back the nostalgia into that 80s or 90s kid’s heart, where games used to be simple yet enough for those looking to get their daily dose of gaming.
The game has several sound effects for each mob one must fight. Sometimes the sound effects are just copied onto different mobs. Most of the time bosses would have a combination of sound effects from previous normal mob encounters. Considering the style of the game, this is no surprise. Every dungeon, city and forest seems to be using the same playlist of background tracks except for those unique stages of the game, such as stages with utmost importance to the story.
Gameplay
The Skylia Prophecy is an 8-bit 2D action-packed RPG situated in medieval times. The main goal of the game is to find the spell that would trap all evil and seal it for good while fending off monsters on your journey as Mirenia. Taking side-quests from NPCs along the way would give the player the opportunity of acquiring skills that can be used in battle and gold for buying different consumables such as keys and potions.
The game has a strong resemblance with ‘Contra’, a game of the old NES-console. Dodging and blocking is the only way of avoiding damage from your foes. At times this will get harder as multiple projectiles will bounce off from walls building one’s blocking and dodging skills to the absolute maximum. Think of it as playing ‘Space Invaders’ but with bouncing projectiles instead of them disappearing off the screen. Even when not close to a wall, the projectile will still reach a stage’s wall and bounce off of it. Blocking costs no resources and it’s the only way of holding a low count of projectiles in your vicinity. Close combats are Mirenia’s style as a bruiser character.
The game’s saving method is based on checkpoints. The game’s difficulty is in turn based on the player’s experience. Sadly, the difficulty of the game cannot be changed, which makes the overall experience quite difficult when trying to reach a checkpoint. The game does strongly resemble ‘Dark Souls’ with its difficulty and checkpoint saving method.
Let’s talk controls. Starting the game on a keyboard, there is no menu of the key-bindings nor explanation of how to play. This is due to the pure simplicity of the game and mashing every button is one way of finding the controls. Attaching a controller is a different story. Connecting one will definitely smoothen the experience, as simple games from that era only need a few buttons for them to properly work.
Conclusion
The Skilia Prophecy is a great nostalgic 8-bit action-packed game with a good story, neat graphics, and unique but recognizable sound effects that bring back childhood memories. The gameplay resembles some popular titles such as the NES game ‘Contra’. Even saving games is something of the past, where checkpoints need to be reached for the player to save his progress. Further down memory lane, we have controls that are simple yet enough for the whole gameplay. While not well suited to be played on a keyboard. Overall the game was a nice nostalgic experience.
The Skylia Prophecy - Review,
No Comments