Developer: ORANGE POPCORN
Publisher: ORANGE POPCORN
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC
HunterX – Review
In HunterX you play as Tsuki, a young Demon hunter, and together with your friend Marka, you both try to save your city from an impending demonic invasion. In this Metroidvania title, you will hunt and be hunted by the many hostile monsters that have invaded your city. This experience all comes together in a game that mixes inspiration from Castlevania and Dark Souls while putting it in a Japanese theme. We were quite curious to see what the game had to offer.
Story
The story remains rather vague, but it all begins with Marka telling you that this night feels different and she is surprised by the chaos in the city. Once in the city, you notice that a hostile demon force has invaded the city and it is up to you to stop them. Slowly it is revealed that Tsuki (your character) is a demon hunter and she needs to hunt all the demons to restore the balance between the different dimensions. At first, you clear the demons in your city, but rather quickly you set foot into a mysterious gate, sending you over to a different dimension. There you meet different people, and each one of them gives a little bit of information about the story, yet this won’t be enough to satisfy those who crave a big storyline.
Graphics
Graphically, the game looks and feels like an older 3D game, somewhat comparable to a PSP or early PS3 title. The simpler 3D graphics look nice and give a slightly aged but charming look to the overall game, while never looking cheap or making it taxing on lower-end systems. The animations look fine and the game runs pretty smoothly. There are different locations and they seamlessly connect to each other. As earlier mentioned, the game draws inspiration from different games and this is seen in the user interface and menus. Characters and monsters seem to be a blend between those of Castlevania and Dark Souls, albeit with a Japanese theme.
Sound
One thing that action games lack these days is a kickass soundtrack, but luckily for us fans, this isn’t the case with HunterX. During your travels, you have kickass rock music blasting through your eardrums like you are watching some kind of fighting anime. It would have been even better if there was some voice acting for the characters, but the absence of this might remind you of older JRPG titles. The sound effects used are really decent and make the overall experience pleasant.
Gameplay
HunterX is a Metroidvania game that took inspiration from Castlevania and Dark Souls and sprinkled some Japanese culture over it. The game starts with a really short introduction and a simple tutorial on how to play the game. Immediately it becomes clear that HunterX is a game that will be easy to learn and also easy to master. You can move around the map freely but will notice that many places are unreachable for now. Slowly but steadily you will unlock more skills that allow for more free travel, and coming back to explore more places is certainly rewarded.
Once you start fighting enemies, you gain something called Karma, and it is used to upgrade your character at upgrade statues and it can also be lost upon death. You have the ability to come back and collect your fallen Karma, but don’t miss the opportunity, as meeting your demise again makes it so that it will disappear forever. When using Karma to level up your character, there are only four main attributes to choose from. As the attributes are quite limited, you’ll notice that upgrading them will immediately impact the gameplay. Upgrading your health and attack feel like they pay off immediately. Another upgradeable part of your character is your skills. When you level up, you get stones that can be used to purchase soft skills that are another boost to your character.
Next to these upgrade statues are save statues. You’ll have to save your game often if you don’t want to lose your progress. These locations are marked on your map and are scattered around the game so these are quite easy to find. As a whole, the game proves to be quite addictive and progress can easily be made.
With the variety of different enemies and bosses, your overall experience will be great. The game offers nice pacing and you can easily estimate when another boss is coming up. What slows down this whole experience are the random puzzles that are never really explained to you. These aren’t that hard, but finding the right solution might take some time and effort to come up with. This could be a small issue for some, but those who think outside the box won’t have much trouble with this.
Conclusion
HunterX is a game that was not that attractive at first sight but managed to capture us in the longer run. The welcoming difficulty is something that everyone could get into, yet you best not let your guard down as you could be dead rather fast if you do. The graphics might seem a bit dated, but it has this overall retro charm to it that just makes it enjoyable. The soundtrack is absolutely badass and it fits perfectly with the theme. If you enjoy a good Metroidvania-styled adventure that isn’t too hard, then this title could be one to keep an eye on.
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