Developer: Dan & Gary Games
Publisher: Dan & Gary Games
Platform: PC, PS4, Switch
Tested on: PC
Super Daryl Deluxe – Review
High school sucks, doesn’t it? Or is it the best time of your life? No matter the case, once you’ve been at the school from Super Daryl Deluxe, you can’t look at classes the same way ever again. Kill Goblins while talking to Napoleon. Allow yourself to be submerged into an alternate reality. It’s weird, it’s super, it’s Daryl, but mostly it’s Deluxe.
Story
Untraditional anti-hero Daryl just moved to Water Falls High. Water Falls High is a weird school where nobody has seen the principal, textbooks are scarce yet highly valued, and everybody is basically living in a surreal universe. Every classroom is a portal to another dimension where the subject is ”alive”. As an example, when going to the music classroom, you might find Beethoven surrounded by floating hostile instruments and weird platforms to jump on. To make the entire issue weirder, besides having a lot of 80’s and 90’s feelings hanging around the game and its style, everybody seems to be occupied with Dwarves & Druids, a roleplaying ”parody” on Dungeons and Dragons, influencing a lot of the game. It’s more than a past-time activity in Super Daryl’s world, it’s merged into the world like a physical thing. When you find a silly hat or a marker, you can equip it like many other items, making you stronger.
A lot of kids and not-kids around the school and in other dimensions communicate with you when you talk to them. They are there to give you hints, quests, or just some witty conversations. It’s a classic RPG set-up with a huge twist, leaving you amazed in a semi-linear surrealistic questing school. Every day at school is something new and you never know what to expect.
Graphics
Dan & Gary Games made sure that Super Daryl Deluxe catches your eye between all the other games that overflow the market! It’s a very detailed hand-drawn world which reminds of simpler times in the 90’s. It’s close to stuff like Beavis and Butthead or King of the Hill, trying to make a couple of characters look gangly, clumsy, socially awkward. It’s a quirky style that might not appeal to everybody, but you will automatically respect the amount of work that has been put into the creations. Not only does everything look detailed and high definition, it also has smooth animations. These are variating depending on each NPC you come across, but also thanks to the Metroidvania-style equipment that allows you to put different attacks on every action button you use.
The very best about the graphics is that, much like the story, you have no idea what you can expect. Especially at the start, you will be amazed by the weird fantasy that is Super Daryl Deluxe. Like a feverish dream, people or worlds can change, environments that are a fresh breath of air compared to the clearly communicating regular objects and platforms that are there in most games. It’s a treat and you should savor it while playing.
Sound
Most of the sound design has to do with Daryl’s name. That’s to say, almost every song has somebody singing Daryl’s name in it. It’s part of the fantasy egotistical vision that Daryl has (at the start of the game he’s daydreaming about himself as a hero), and it works out quite well. It’s an original score. Parts that have different music going on are made to fit perfectly as well, sometimes even serving as part of what’s going on around you in weird alternate dimensions. Other sounds such as battle effects are cartoony and fitting as well. To be honest, in a crazy game like Super Daryl Deluxe you can get away with almost everything, but whatever has been used is proper sound. Professional and high quality.
Gameplay
Super Daryl Deluxe is an RPG Metroidvania style of game, meaning you will chat with NPCs, get quests, beat enemies and find items. All this in predetermined dungeon-style levels. It has a simple automated leveling system. Old-school, you get experience for slaying creatures and completing quests. Enough experience means leveling up which grants you extra attack and defense. Instead of getting skill points, you get skill experience which you use to upgrade your favorite skills. You can equip up to four skills at the same time and combine different types of attacks, which each have their own advantages. Melee, ranged, stun, burning damage, combine and conquer.
Not that however it’s a Metroidvania style of game, it’s not that much of a challenge in general which might be a bummer for some people. The allure of the game is mostly there because of the entire style and the goofiness that’s there. It’s about finding out what shenanigans are hidden behind the next door, what strange world and creatures are awaiting you. The conversations and combinations that are made throughout the world, the child-like fantasy and graphics are the biggest plus of the entire game.
This doesn’t mean that the gameplay itself is boring. You can still find enjoyment in killing enemies and grinding better gear and items. Gear will give you a proper boost to prepare yourself for the moderate challenges ahead, items can give you quest rewards such as experience points or gear. Whatever you don’t need you can sell to buy other stuff you would like. The main progress takes place by following a long day-to-day storyline where you are asked to jump between classrooms, running around like the school like you own the place. Side-quests are occasionally fun and there to prolong your stay at each ”world”, but like said before, not the biggest allure of the game.
Conclusion
There might be something for everybody in Super Daryl Deluxe. If you don’t like the type of humor, you might like the visuals. If you don’t like the visuals, you are a barbarian. But also you might find enjoyment in the simple yet combinable variations in the gameplay of the Metroidvania style. Whatever way you look at it, it’s a project that has originality, has been properly worked out and that beams love and compassion in terms of creativity. It’s a game that deserves your attention.
Super Daryl Deluxe - Review,
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