Last Vanguard

The reason i play so many MV's is because you never know how good they'll be before actually trying them. They can be annoying slogs that you complete 100% out of stubborness or the best hidden gem of the year. I'm very happy to say that the last vanguard is the latter as this game exceeded all my expectations in the best ways possible delivering on nearly every front. The few gripes i could have with the game are nitpicks more than anything but for clarity's sake i'll still mention them. Not without mentioning all the good aspects either ofcourse and what better aspect to start off with than the most pleasant suprise, platforming & level design. Despite a relatively simple core moveset you start the game with the game; being a double jump, air dash, wall climb & grapple hook, the game pushed these mechanics to their limits. Some areas, especially the final level of the game, had some deviously fun and difficult platforming gauntlets require a series of moderately precise jumps. There's some margin for error here but you need to enter a flow state to clear them which felt immensly satisfying! Movement in general throughout the game is very enjoyable although the wall jump animation confused me sometimes as it looked like a double jump. Still though it controled very well which cannot be said about one other aspect. Slight spoiler warning i guess but you eventually unlock a remote controled drone that's used to unlock some doors by maneauvering it through narrow hazard filled corridors. I would have enjoyed these a lot to add some variety but the thing feels horrible to control because it's very hard for it to come to a standstill so more often than not you'll crash into the walls/hazards long after you've let go of the inputs. That was the only controls related issue though as all other platforming and level design aspects were exquisite and the game's definitive strongest point. However it doesn't fumble that other major gameplay mechanic either, combat & bosses. I generally prefer melee MV's over ranged ones but this one did it incredibly well, i'd even say it's my favorite ranged MV out of the ones i've played so far even better than ghost song (my beloved). The guns feel incredible fun to use, they control great with an optional button press to lock you in place and a great variety of different weapons to try. However the real strong point that makes the combat so enjoyable is the sheer variety of excellently designed enemies to beat. None of these felt obnoxious and each of them was fun to fight, having a perfect difficulty for what they were, a regular enemy. However the same balance didn't apply to the bosses. Each and every boss in this game was a bullet spunge and a half, having healthbars that often felt like they just didn't deplete. Oddly enough they still felt like the perfect difficulty though? Like if they had been squishier i would've probably first tried them but as is they took me about 10-20 minutes each which is honestly a good sweet spot for normal difficulty. However i didn't play on normal, i played on easy which was kind of suprising to still be met with such a challenge. I'd recommend easy for most players as it's got plenty of challenge without being impossible but it does feel odd to have 'easy' be this 'hard'. Still though the game gave me a perfect challenge on both platforming & combat. Failing at a boss or platforming sections quickly respawned you but without maximum energy (mana) which is another small QoL feature the game is lacking. A small change that could make a big difference but not enough to detract from the experience in any way. Neither did the lack of good SFX, don't get me wrong what's there works but generally sound design isn't this game's strong suit, luckily the music was pretty good. No standout tracks but they still felt very fitting for the setting, making me immersed in the game's world and wartime setting. The visuals also do a great job at this, especially the grain filter that gave everything a vintage look. The lighting especially popped in this game with some suprisingly pretty areas which was unexpected given the game's relatively simple artstyle. Characters are drawn with very simple shapes and colours but they felt suprisingly charming. Which in turn made it all the more easy to sympathise with the game's story which despite some localization issues still came to a satisfying conclusion. The narrative is standard fare, with no real revelations or deep worldbuilding but it worked to tie the whole package together. No bugs to detract from the experience either or lag, crashes and stutters of any kind, the game just worked on a technical level. The only weird thing was not being able to quit to the main menu, but otherwise no more complaints other than a lack of a fast travel spot in one of the 5 main biomes. It's alright though since the game has a handy drone that you can use to TP back to your last campfire, fast travel point or your main base (which is a good place to get money). However this drone mechanic sometimes didn't want to work which initially made me think it was a later upgrade. The game in general doesn't explain things very well like shotgun double jumping but it's still cool to discover that on your own though or with a youtube playthrough if you're feeling extra confused. There's sometimes a lack of clarity for what to do where to go. This is a side effect of starting out with all your movement abilities as you can go pretty much anywhere from the getgo. This does make it very open ended with satisfying exploration although that satisfaction of getting a new movement upgrade is lost. Despite this major MV element laacking a bit it's still an incredible little A-tier metroidvania that does platforming, level design and combat exceptionally well while doing a great hob with the visuals, music and story. While bosses feel a bit overly tanky, especially on easy difficulty and the drone controls poorly there's no real other downsides to this apart from a bit of missing QoL features, in short an easy recomendation!

TL;DR: Last Vanguard is one of the best metroidvanias released in the last decade, and it deserves a much bigger audience. I’m genuinely surprised this game isn’t more popular. Last Vanguard delivers pretty much everything you could want from the genre: striking art direction, a compelling story, excellent sound design, rewarding exploration, memorable boss fights, tight controls, and solid performance throughout. The game leans a bit more toward platforming and exploration than pure combat, which I personally enjoyed, but there are still plenty of challenging boss encounters to keep you on your toes. It strikes a great balance between difficulty and fairness, meaning it's demanding enough to feel rewarding without crossing into frustrating territory. If you’re a fan of metroidvanias, or you take satisfaction in supporting ambitious indie developers, this is an easy recommendation and an absolute must-play. PS: You can earn 100% of the achievements in a single playthrough if you start on the hardest difficulty.

Оговорюсь сразу игру взял из-за картинки и дальнего боя т.к.в метроидваниях обычно боевка вблизи происходит. Игра в принципе норм,но такие решения как в игре больше подходят для начала зарождения жанра.Нас только неудобные телепорты,настолько всратый хил и кривенькое управление,что еще сильно поискать надо,как будто это первая метроидвания в игровой индустрии. Телепорты.Либо у костра через автомат техобслуживания в одну из 3 точек можно улететь:лагерь,вокзал или последний костер,либо на поезде с вокзала в половину из всех локаций в игре.В лагере отстраиваешь дома чтобы получать золото как инвестиции,вокзал это что-то альтернативного быстрого перемещения на поезде,ну а костер он и в Африке костер.Проблема в том что поезд может доставить только в 4 локации из 9.А станция тех обслуживания в лагере находится за костром,который активируется при приближении(с другой стороны в лагерь не прилететь).Получается что из лагеря улететь можно только на вокзал,т.к.последний посещенный костер активируется при приближении к станции техобслуживания,а в лагерь лететь находясь в лагере бессмысленно.Зачем надо было разделять костер и станцию техобслуживания(только тут можно сменить абилки,оружие,навесить на оружие усиления)?Почему не сделать телепорт у каждого костра чтобы избежать нафиг не нужной беготни через полкарты? Хил. Это что-то с чем-то.Бои с боссами напоминают Cuphead,но чтобы восстановить 1 хп(в начале игры всего 4) нужно подходить к боссу в ближний бой,хлестать его кнутом,чтобы восстановить энергию,для того чтобы нажать на хил и похилиться на 1 хп с задержкой в пару секунд.Причем энергия тоже не мгновенно поступает а также медленно восстанавливается.Это восстановил 1 хп.Теперь повтори еще 2 раза такую последовательность,иначе отъедешь от пары тычек.А босс...ну попозже обстреляешь.В итоге бои с боссами это такое душнилово где ты чаще бьешь кнутом чтобы хп восстановить чем стреляешь чтобы быстрее победить. Почему не восстанавливать энергию выстрелами?Почему не дать банки с хилом чтобы хилили все хп сразу,но ограничить их запас?Столько примеров игр где хил вполне удобный,но нет сделаем вырвиглазную систему отхила. Управление в целом понравилось,но на паре кнопок неудобные функции залочены,на одном применение способности 1/возврат в меню назад,у другой рывок/переключение вкладки меню.Просто неудобно и путает.Вот если поменять местами способность 1 и рывок будет гораздо удобнее. К музыке,карте,оружию претензий нет свои функции они выполняют.Не хватает обучения в процессе игры,когда находишь новую механику и не знаешь как с ней взаимодействовать,например одного из боссов локаций я победил уже после финального,т.к.не знал как до него добраться.В одну локацию я попал после просмотра ролика про эту локацию. Игру можно пройти разок из-за рисовки и боссов.Нет такого ощущения поскорее пройти игру и забыть о ней.

Понравился визуальный стиль игры. Геймплейно метроидвания с элементами шутера. Довольно сложная. Основное неудобство - отсутствие русской локализации. ИМХО: смесь трех игр - Valiant Hearts: The Great War (тематика), Cuphead (сложность), Biogun (метроидвания с элементами шутера).

Fun little metroidvania.

juegazo, me atrapo su sencilles, una buena historia, mecanicas de cualquier metroidvania, musica simple, pero un apartado visual muy bonito y una jugabilidad muy fluida. recomendable jugarlo en dificil. para ser un juego desarrollado por muy pocas personas es realmente bueno.

Норм игруха.