Developer: Inverge studios
Publisher: Inverge studios
Platform: PS4, PC
Tested on PS4
Effie – Review
Get ready to set out on an epic quest! A quest where you will be tasked with solving puzzles, defeat tons of enemies and platform your way trough the game. Effie is a third person action-adventure platformer developed by Inverge Studios and tries to capture the same charm and gameplay we all know and love in old platformers. Effie is out now on PS4 and will be released on PC in the third quarter of 2019. Will it be able to blend in old gameplay mechanics and charm with the new generation of games, or will it fall short in its attempt to stand among the platformers we all remember so fondly?
Story
Just like the beloved Legend of Zelda, Effie isn’t the name of our main protagonist, but rather the name of young girl to who our character, called Galand, tells the story that transpired during his lifetime. As they sit by the fireplace, he starts telling the tale of when he was a young man. Even though our hero was very strong, he was equally lazy. One day a girl knocks on his door asking for help because her cart broke while going through the forest, but he said he couldn’t do anything about it, that wasn’t true, but Galand just didn’t want to do it. This woman turned out to be a strong witch that cursed him, instantly making him gain immense age, essentially making him an old man. He then seeks help from the master to break the curse, but even he couldn’t break it. The master tells him that he needs to seek the help of the elder protectors in order to break the enchantment that was put upon him. He then sets out on what will be the biggest adventure of his lifetime, looking for salvation and be set free from the terrible curse.
This is where you take control of our unlikely hero, as he enters the temple, the ground gives out from beneath your feet and he falls down, miraculously he lands safely on his feet and you find yourself at the entrance of the first dungeon you will explore in the game. The first dungeon of many you will explore in your epic quest to save Galand and set him free from the shackles the evil witch put on his life. After every chapter you complete, you are presented with a little cutscene that deepens the story and the bond between Effie and Galand.
Graphics
This game looks stunning the moment you start it, from the dust particles flying through the air to the look and the level of detail of your surroundings. Colors are being used to their full extent as well, really making the world look vibrant and warm.
Despite the game looking beautiful, it really suffers when there is a lot happening on the screen, making the frames plummet. Especially in areas where it can get really crowded with enemies, like the arena. Luckily this really does not happen that often so it doesn’t take you out of the game.
Sound
The main menu theme makes you want to set out on an adventure immediately. It’s a very fun twist that Galand narrates his own story since its being told to the little girl called Effie. This can sometimes create funny moments where it’s obvious that Galand didn’t have any idea what he had to do, but in his narration, he tells the girl he had it all figured out.
Gameplay
Effie plays like most platforming games do, and it does it really well. You can choose whatever dungeon you want to do first simply by going to it in the overworld, every dungeon then being its own chapter which allows you to progress through the story. This way Galand tries to regain the youth that was taken from him by the evil witch. The controls respond quickly and smooth, which makes platforming and fighting very fun. Its not like the usual collect-a-thon platformer either since there are only eighteen collectables to find in this game, of which eleven are in the overworld, and seven in the chapters you will play trough. These collectables, or relics, all add to the lore of the game, expanding upon the world and giving you some information about your enemies and surroundings.
You also collect special runestones along your journey, these stones strengthen Galand, endowing him with power, vitality and even wisdom. It’s as if they grant a taste of what youth would feel like once again. Essentially these rune stones are your experience, and collecting enough of them grants you an additional level.
When you start the game, you’re granted a shield by the Elder Protectors. This is no ordinary shield as you will use it as your main weapon, use it to double-jump, to execute skills and even as way of transportation. In the overworld you can use the shield as an actual hoverboard, collecting speed boosts and going everywhere you want within the boundaries of the game. Surprisingly the shield works great as an offensive weapon, granting you a lot of mobility in the fights since everything you do is directly related to your shield. A nice detail is that when you stand in the same place for long enough, Galand will actually sit on the shield to wait.
You have 3 different types of attack, there is a light attack, a heavy attack and then skills, each with their own use. Some skills can be very useful outside of battles too, especially the dash. Dash makes you jump a considerable distance to one side, making it great to evade as well as cross vast distances and explore parts you couldn’t previously. Along with the dash you also have earthquake, a charged heavy attack that obliterates the enemies in front of you, when you charge earthquake you can actually see where it’s going to do damage since its displayed on the ground where the attack will hit. Finally, there’s boomerang, a charged light attack that throws your shield in a circle around Galand, making it great for quickly dispatching smaller minions.
You learn these skills in every chapter you play, each chapter then also giving you challenges you have to overcome with your cool newly acquired trick.
The game also has a great way to give you little hints to where you can find some relics, since these are hidden in the chapters as well. Sometimes the runestones you collect will be aligned to form an arrow that points you in the direction of the relic.
One thing to note is that sadly, when you finish a chapter, that area becomes unavailable to go back to, meaning that if you don’t get the relics inside of the chapter, you either have to go back to a previous save file and do the chapter again, or start the game over to redo the chapter. But this isn’t so bad seeing as the game roughly takes about four to five hours to complete.
Conclusion
Effie is a great game that really surprised us. It looks lovely, plays very well and doesn’t overstay its welcome. The voice acting is great and the interaction between Galand and Effie is very charming. Its sad that sometimes the game tosses too much enemies your way, making the framerate pretty horrible for a few seconds, granted this isn’t something that occurred regularly, but enough to notice.
Effie - Review,
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[…] to reviewing it. That changes now, however, as we’re finally taking a look at the Switch port of the PC game that originally debuted in 2019. Is Effie a title worth picking up if you haven’t yet already or should we not have bothered […]