- Initial release date: June 19, 2018
- Developers: Storybird Games, LookAtMyGame, Wonderboy Bobi
- Genres: Role-playing video game, Platform game, Indie game, Adventure
- Publishers: PQube, LookAtMyGame, Arc System Works, Look At My Game
- Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows
So the game's name "Aggelos" has the meaning of "angel, messenger, the messenger of God". Huh...never thought of that least till I reached the ending.
Aggelos is a RPG, Platformer, Adventure game. You play as a hero (who's name escapes me cause I don't think they even mention his name.) But like most adventure games you're the destined hero to save the kingdom. Your task is to gather the 4 elements and put a stop to Valion who intends on taking over the kingdom of Lumen. There's honestly not much story past this. So your job is pretty straight forward. Enter the dungeons, beat the bosses, get the mcguffin, repeat. Simple and like very old school Adventure games back in the day. It's trying to use the formula's of such games like Zelda and Wonder Boy.
Gameplay
The gameplay is easy to pick up and play and you'll either get hung up on the difficulty or some random thing you have to do. Most puzzles are essentially figuring out how to get from point A to point B then actually doing so. Some of this can be a matter of patience, to the point that you begin to question if what you're doing is really worth the effort. Like certain dungeons requiring me to do precise platforming to reach a switch if I fail to do so then I have to restart the process from the beginning. Other puzzles either require some exploration or had me doing some action(s) I wouldn't normally do anywhere else.
The difficulty is a bit of an annoying point for me. While most of the dungeons and it's enemies are relatively easy. There's either one or two enemies that are essentially damage sponges that I came across. Or its the boss fights. While most can be conquered through the simple task of leveling or coming back later with stronger equipment. I felt it really annoying that enemies just eat up a lot of damage before finally dying. The boss fights were essentially damage races as to who's gonna die first. At first the bosses are easy, then they shift to a phase that leaves you little room to attack and/or dodge. I found myself just saying forget dodging and attempt to tank the damage while wildly swinging my sword in hopes the boss dies before I do.
Another annoying bit I feel is that a lot of the sidequest aren't really sidequest. Whether it's an optional power up, extra life, or equipment. This all felt required to progress. Many of the sidequest aren't exactly obvious either. I either stumbled across them or used a guide. Maybe I could do without the extra life and I can make that up by playing better. But at the same time everything felt required. Like the Sword and Armor of Aggelos as well as the temple to power up the equipment. I shudder to think how much trouble the final bosses would be without it.
Graphics
The graphics are easy on the eyes. Enemies are well designed and either there size or shape gives the proper menacing feeling. I didn't have to strain my eyes to see something or attempt to figure out what an object is. Everything moves smoothly as well. There wasn't any lag or random issues with frame rate while playing. Which is a plus cause there's a lot of games out there that are dependent on frame rate to function properly.
Bugs and Glaring Problems
I looked up reviews after finishing. 1 comment that many people say I don't agree with. The other is completely true.
The issue people have with controller support. I didn't have that at all. With either control pad I used for this game. The first being an Xbox 360 Wired Controller. The 2nd controller I used later on for comfort being a HORI Fighting Commander for PS4. This game fully supported both of those without the need of a 3rd Party Program. And I started this game days before it's official release. (Only reason I finished it now was cause I had other games to play)
The 2nd issue I read commonly across reviews was the game taking quite a bit of time to load. Particulary when you open the menu. I actually was worried sometimes when I paused to open the menu as the window would say the game isn't responding. Uh oh. But then it would load. But the time between that was noticeable when compared to the rest of the game.
The only other bug I came across which I can't really reproduce is that I somehow despawned a boss. When I opened the menu to heal myself. Loading back to the fight the boss was gone. Music still played. So I got worried and was about to get angry. I opened the menu and closed it again and it was back. Weird.
Overall
Well if you want old Platformer Adventure game that isn't staggering your budget Aggelos is the place to go. I'm not big on the ending. But this game also encourages some replay value by having higher difficulty modes, a death counter, and a ranking. So this game rates you like it's a Resident Evil game. Basing it on how many times you died and how long you took.
I like this game but not enough to give a 2nd playthrough unless there was some sort of secret extra ending. This took me a little less than 10 hours to beat and I got 99% completion I guess the last percent is maxing out my level cause according to the guides I did everything.
You got 15 bucks then go ahead. It's worth the time.
