Volgarr The Viking II is an motion platformer for the Nintendo Change. It includes a Viking hero with a penchant for slaying beasts and amassing gold. I’m a sucker for an excellent platformer, and this one took me pleasantly without warning, regardless of just a few flaws.
Issues begin off with an epic recap of the story thus far. Though I haven’t performed the unique Volgarr the Viking, it’s clear that our hero is kind of the adventurer, successful favors with the gods and incomes himself a spot in Asgard. A warrior’s work is rarely completed, although, and Volgarr is distributed again to Earth to destroy the most recent monstrous assaults upon its individuals.
The sport is split into 5 worlds, every composed of two ranges and a boss struggle. Ranges are fairly prolonged, with checkpoints alongside the best way to additional divide them. The environments fluctuate properly, from snowy mountains to sea vessels. It appears to be like nice, sporting a deliberate 16-bit vibe that harks again to the great ol’ days (a.ok.a. the ‘90s).
The mechanics are fascinating. By way of motion, issues are saved easy. Volgarr walks and jumps. He additionally double jumps. I recognize the sluggish, deliberate means he leaps, making Volgarr “really feel” heavy. He’s a hulking Viking warrior, in any case. It makes precision tough, however a part of the enjoyable is navigating the degrees with this restricted moveset. His weapons are twofold; he hefts an enormous sword plus a spear. Limitless spears assist stability the problem, permitting you to give attention to the fight as you push by means of. Plus, these airborne gadgets can be utilized to create stepping stones on partitions which are too excessive to leap over.
There are just a few frustrations. The title display screen helpfully informs you that there’s an autosave function. Nonetheless, when Volgarr perishes, he’s whisked again to the beginning of the extent. I can see the related icon blinking all through the extent, however what’s the purpose? Until you occur upon a checkpoint—that are few and much between—there’s a good quantity of repetition as you redo every space.
Volgarr has a life system, indicated by a hoop within the prime left of the display screen. Although you lose a life while you fall off a cliff or an enemy hits you, you possibly can simply proceed out of your final “save level” (that’s the start of the extent or a checkpoint, bear in mind). This implies you basically have limitless lives. Then sooner or later, I randomly grew to become a zombie and stopped dying. Let me clarify.
Volgarr collects shields from treasure chests to beef up his resistance. I’d love slightly extra clarification as to how this works, however I take pleasure in the best way his armor and costumes change as you stage up. His flaming sword, for instance, simply appears to be like plain cool. The bizarre factor is that, to start with of the sport, one hit equals demise. One improve offers you an additional hit. Ultimately, after many deaths, Volgarr turns into a green-skinned model of himself who’s invincible. That is Zombie Volgarr.
At no level does the sport clarify this to you, although, if I’m being trustworthy, it was a pleasant change of tempo to solely be whisked again to the start by way of falling as an alternative of enemy assaults. These enemies, by the best way, come within the type of undead creatures, too. Some rise from the earth, others run at you. There’s an enormous exploding troll of some type. They fluctuate in assaults, sporting shields or leaping. They’re all creepy in the easiest way potential, becoming the sport’s retro aesthetic properly.
Fortunately, regardless of the dearth of clarification about some mechanics, hacking and slashing your means by means of hordes of monsters proves satisfying. I rapidly forgot about dying and simply loved romping by means of every stage, particularly as soon as I used to be a zombie. It’s a tricky outing regardless, and it might use extra frequent save factors, however is in any other case an pleasurable strategy to kill just a few hours.
General, Volgarr The Viking II is a enjoyable, however flawed, platformer. There appears to be a scarcity of communication by way of how all the pieces works. It’s additionally extra punishing than I’d like, although the zombie choice helps right here. I’m OK with a tricky sport, however issues may benefit from problem choices or a greater restart system.
