Developer: PARASIGHT
Publisher: PARASIGHT
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC
DAVY x JONES – Preview
Dead men tell no tales, but in today’s game, they do fight hordes of zombified enemies. PARASIGHT is not a new indie dev on the block, because they already had success adapting the tale of Baba Yaga into a video game with their earlier title Blacktail. That game has positive ratings on Steam, so it’s no surprise we were curious to check on their newest Early Access project: DAVY x JONES. In DAVY x JONES, you take on the role of the headless pirate himself, taking your own disembodied skull along for the ride as you travel through the underworld and seek revenge. It’s a chaotic action game where combat is the most important bit, and you need to give in to the silliness.
The game opens with an extended tutorial section that transitions into a cutscene. You play the game as Davy Jones, the famous pirate and ne’er-do-well, known for collecting treasure as he sails the seven seas. As is often the case for pirates, this has left Davy with quite a few enemies, one of whom is the infamous Blackbeard. During a battle, Davy’s crew betrays him and leaves him to be tortured by Blackbeard, who eventually beheads his nemesis and throws both the head and body into the sea. That’s where the story starts. Reanimated as a headless corpse in the pirate version of hell called The Locker, the headless body now dubbed Jones must team up with his own snarky skull called Davy, and get revenge on those who wronged them.
DAVY x JONES undeniably looks amazing. From the gorgeous cutscene that opens the game and transitions seamlessly into a 2D animated style, to the gameplay itself. The Locker is designed with so much detail and color, it’s hard not to want to explore every inch of it. We loved everything from the enemy designs to the weapons too, and the overall creativity behind the setting, which came through in the entire graphic design of the game.
And ay matey! If you’re looking for funny pirate accents, you’ve come to the right spot, because DAVY x JONES has some excellent voice work. While the decapitated body you play at is basically mute, your sarcastic floating skull is happy to banter and snark its way through combat. Whoever voiced Blackbeard during the opening of the game also did a stellar job. The music itself was very enjoyable, fitting for the pirate theme and fast-paced enough to complement the chaotic nature of the combat.
Which leaves us with the actual gameplay itself. DAVY x JONES is a fast-paced combat-forward game, where you technically can explore The Locker as if it’s an open world. Nine islands will await you, though not all of them are completed in their current Early Access state, each with its own loot and bosses to challenge. You start out with a pretty basic skillset and weaponry, including a sword, a grappling hook, and a pistol. As you continue the game, however, you can upgrade your character and gear through the currency you collect when defeating enemies. Higher risks make for higher rewards, since some of the better bounty is locked behind the bosses of the game.
There is a bit of a linear path you can take if you follow the goals the story puts before you directly, but you are not punished for going off to do your own thing, even if there currently are no proper side quests or anything like that. You do have a half-whale, half-ship you can take to transport yourself, which can also be improved by spending money, even allowing you to add your own undead crew later. A lot of these functionalities are rather barebones in the game’s current state, though.
Combat is both the shining star of the game and the part that needs the most tweaking, in our opinion. Even with three upgradable weapons at your disposal, the action can be very repetitive. The pacing is fine for a huge chunk of the time, though the controls could use some work since they’re rather unresponsive right now. It’s just that the combat feels like you’re just button-mashing all the time. The only thing that stands out is the ‘execution moves’, which gain you some health and special currency, but which also bring the flow of the combat to a grinding halt. Despite these small complaints, the overall setting of the game and the rest of the combat experience kept us playing, hoping the devs will just make it a little less clunky in the future.
Conclusion
DAVY x JONES ends up being a great game to get in Early Access, since there’s currently a nice balance between the cheap price and the content available. It’s funny, great to look at, creative, and we’re curious to see where the plot goes. As more is added, we’re sure our enjoyment of the game will increase too, and we’re particularly looking forward to some of the teased bosses on the future islands.
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