Developer: Triplevision Games
Publisher: Graffiti Games
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC
Mable and the Wood – Review
There are a lot of great concepts for platformers out there, so it gets harder every day to be original. It seems like the developers from Mable in the Wood had no issue coming up with an original concept for their Metroidvania platformer. In this game, you’ll take on the role of Mable who can actually change into different forms, which will help her navigate the Wood. Mable in the Wood was developed by Triplevision Games and published by Graffiti Games and we got a chance to review the game. So with our way too big sword, we were ready to jump into the Wood and play!
Story
Mable and the Wood does have a story, but it is a little bit unclear sometimes what exactly is going on. You can only assume Mable is the little girl you take control of, since she never really gets introduced. As you first start the game you will see priests doing a summoning ritual, which ends up summoning Mable. Obviously, by their reaction, you can tell they expected a fiercer looking someone and not a little girl. However, when the main priest tells Mable to show her power, they are a little more satisfied.
Mable is the one who is mentioned in the prophecy that she will slay the Great Beasts and save everyone. Whenever you run into people, they never believe that you are the hero from the prophesy. There isn’t a lot of cohesive story after the first part, only bits and pieces here and there, mostly when you beat a beast. However, there are fun interactions with random characters that mostly is about you being a little girl and then leaving them impressed.
Graphics
Mable and the Wood has a pixelated style which enhances the feeling of the game. In another style the game probably wouldn’t have that same mystery and fantasy to it, so the developers made a good choice. Mable has this rough look to her, she also doesn’t show her face since it is mostly covered by her hair.
The small enemies often reappear everywhere in the levels, only one or two monsters per region are exclusive to that area. Often the regular monsters have been a little bit restyled with, for example, hats that fit the area. A big boss is present at the end of each region, these Great Beasts are completely in theme with the zone that they are in. All the Sections are still in the “Wood” but can also be underground or up a mountain. They are all designed pretty well although there is a lot of returning textures and designs. Certainly, in some underground parts, this can get you a bit lost.
Sound
The music in Mable and the Wood is pretty nice, with each region getting their own track. After a while, if you are stuck in the same place, it can get a bit repetitive but nothing too bad. There aren’t a whole lot of sound effects present in the game. The few that are there are pretty good, but it might have been nice to have some more, certainly for enemies and moving obstacles. When those have sounds it is often easier to orientate and time your jumps or attacks.
Gameplay
Mable and the Wood is an Action, Adventure Indie platformer where you take on the role of Mable who is supposed to be the savior. After Mable is summoned by the priests, one of them explains to her how to use her power to change forms. The priest planted signs which explains how to navigate through the environment. Mable starts off with her regular form which allows her to transform into a fairy. When in fairy form you can let her fly in any direction. However, there is a limit to how long Mable can stay in fairy form. This is told by a little meter at the top of the screen as well as a circle meter next to her form. Once the meter runs out Mable will transform back into her little child form and fall if she was flying. When Mable transforms into a fairy, she will drop her sword, when she transforms back you can call her sword back to her. This also hits any enemies that are in the sword’s way and is Mable’s way of attacking. Each form will use the sword or Mable herself in a different way to be able to attack.
As you continue playing the game you will encounter Great Beasts, the dangerous beings Mable was told to defeat. Once you defeat one of these beasts you will gain their power, unlocking another form. To change forms can be a little bit wonky since the selection doesn’t always register you using the joystick in a certain direction. This can be a bit annoying if you want to quickly change forms. When you change form, for some reason throughout the entire game you still get a pop up how to use the form, which can be helpful if you didn’t play for a bit and forgot how to use a certain aspect. It could also seem annoying to some veteran players since there is no way to turn it off. There is also no way to change controller pre-sets, so the game only gives instructions for an Xbox controller and keyboard and mouse.
Each form has a bit of wobbliness to it, mostly for controlling the direction and harder puzzles. The fairy doesn’t always fly nicely to where you are aiming, it almost seems to resist a bit when you try to not fly in a straight line. Spider form can make you feel like Spiderman or Spider girl in this case, however, there is no real swinging motion that you can do yourself. If you vertically shoot your web upward, you can’t start swinging and get stuck. This is quite annoying when you shoot your web, or technically sword, unto a rock above another rock. Since you will get stuck under the lower rock, with no way to swing to get unstuck from underneath the rock. You’ll have to reshoot webs and hope to not get stuck again. Other forms are also mostly wonky movement-wise or the environment blocking some moves that you would think possible.
Mable in the Wood is also a Metroidvania, which means there can be short cuts and when you unlock new abilities you unlock new passages. Mostly it is Mable’s forms that allow you to enter new areas, however, it seems some passages can cause you to get stuck in a soft lock. Such as a one-way entry with no way to return, keys being taken for what is just entry to a shop while you still need the key to go back to the actual main path. There are a few hidden ways to get through, but they are very well hidden and not always obvious. These secret paths are also there because you can actually passively play the game without killing anything. However, this is not recommended for casual players. Even with the secret paths, it is still quite possible to lock yourself by trying the wrong solution before finding the right one and losing a key to a wrong locked pillar.
Conclusion
Mable and the Wood is a fun game with a great concept however there are still some issues present. It seems at the present time, games get released a bit too early with still many issues present. However, unlike other games where the issues never get fixed, Mable in the Wood’s Developer is active in the Steam community and keeping track of bugs and trying to fix them. Which in this time and age already means a ton. Hopefully, even more, patches come out making the game even better. Until then Mable and the Wood is still very fun, but you’ll have to make sure not to lock yourself out of continuing the game.
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