Vernal Edge

Where the ♥♥♥♥ am I? Where the ♥♥♥♥ am I going? Where are the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ maps?

Full cleared the game on normal, with all the collectible rescources and secret bosses yadda yadda- I really wanted to recomend this game but: hear me out- Summary: The collectibles are fun. The maps are fun. The variety of spells and attacks are fun. The abilities for mobility felt creative especially how they tied back into the combat. Cast is silly and lovable. Music is enjoyable. Poise being too high and not visible at enemy spawn sucks, telegraphing isn't long enough for most attacks. Try the game for yourself on steep sales only(-70% or higher). Summary END. Details on the 2 bad things: First issue: Some enemies just flat out have too much poise, spawned enemies should not have their total poise hidden when their poise is much higher than normal. It ruins enemy stun prioritization for the player and makes the combat more confusing. Additionally you quickly begin to realize crowd control is more effective than flashy combos and much safer too which causes a player to isolate an enemy and just sit there down charge attacking an enemy and boringly moving on the the next and the next as it's way more efficient than regular attacks and spells combined. The player winds up fighting the poise system more than the actual enemy which is a shame as so many things Vernal can do are FUN but barely effective. Second Issue: Enemies that can deal a lot of damage have really short telegraphing windows for some reason. Not so bad when mobs are in isolation or low volume (3 or less) but much more difficult with later enemies that can halve your hp in a single blow. If an attack can basically knock Vernal out, it should be a bit slower since you can't instant block with Vernal's 1-2 frame wind up time for her block but her block lingers a little bit. With how snappy and mobile you feel in combat, the block delay slows the zippiness of Vernal's fighting. Vernal is coded as a hyper mobile short fighter with a lot of mobility options, it's natural for her to dash around and switch targets a lot while fighting, naturally you become more inclined to dash and position instead of using blocking and even more so when it slows you down and you are forced out of melee by barrages of projectiles meanwhile your projectiles and magic are a gentle breeze in retaliation(there are no upgrades or ANYTHING that boosts spell damage which is sad because I really liked using spells). It's really disheartening because you have so much access to cool things in sheer numbers however most of it is just not useful at all in combat. Boiling down combat to Time Bomb, Cutter(sometimes), Heavy Down, Heavy up and maintaining distance is the natural inclination once you get a feel for the game as in a sense it's like fighting perceived unfairness with unfairness just to get through the game. With poise being so prominent there should have been far more spells that can reliably damage poise like pulse and heavy attacks can(if I missed some spells that can damage poise they should have probably been labeled in the flavor text like how down charge was labeled). The first half of the game felt wonderful in both combat and exploration. Figuring out how to chain the natural mobility of moves to collect goodies before unlocking the proper power felt wonderful. Each island felt nice and unique in the context of the world and I really did enjoy the lore. Focusing down time trials using all of those unlocked mobility tools was exhilarating to perform. But as the game goes on the combat slowly ruins all of the really cool stuff Vernal Edge has to offer. Recomending "No" but only because steam lacks a middle ground. Get Vernal's Edge on -70% sale or more. Definitely praying for a sequel.

Queria gostar, infelizmente não gostei. O jogo é bonito, a arte é legal, a música é legal. A progressão é estranha, o controle podia ser mais preciso, os inimigos são esponjas de dano e parece que as batalhas são meio deslocadas do jogo. Mas muita gente gosta, então valeu a tentativa.

Vernal Edge caught me off guard--I wasn't initially impressed with it. The art didn't immediately stand out to me, and the combat felt a little clunky. I was mistaken. As I got through the game and the environments grew in complexity, so did the complexity of my combos--more abilities and skills made for more unique fighting decisions, and ultimately, I felt quite competent by the end of it--and it's fun! Let's talk about the highlights. The music--I really enjoy the atmospheric ambience of the game. Tracks like Jungle and Abandoned Lab are particularly relaxing, I find myself listening to the soundtrack a good bit. Locations having action variants for music make the world feel lived in, and immersive. The art is charming and cute--the character designs are unique (most of the enemies, not so much--but we'll get to that). The environment is well cared for and there are details galore for those who look, including a few references to other hit indie games (I swear I keep seeing the Lantern from Slay the Spire). The game features a very nicely designed overworld, too--you fly to individual islets and clear them as your Metroidvania areas. It's very sleek and well done. The characters are enjoyable--and while the story is rather 2 dimensional (standard MC getting revenge on the big bad), it lets the characters have fun. Vernal is an idiot (a hotheaded one, at that), but not in an obnoxious way--and other key characters like Chevril are comfortable supports. The characters have cute expressions and unique relationships that really, once again, make the world feel lived in. The combat is complex and unique--I define Metroidvanias by combat a good deal of the time, and Vernal Edge definitely delivers. Stance breaking as a concept was concerning to me at first, but the charge attack being so quick to boot up makes it integrate naturally with other combos. The other systems--Pulse and Spells--add to great combat control. It falls into the trap 9 Years of Shadows did where you heal through combat, but it's much less cheesable, so I appreciate that. The progressive abilities take the cake--they're mostly unique twists on classic Metroidvania movement options, and by the end of the game, you can zip around the map seamlessly and WAVEDASH, which is always exceptionally fun in ANY game that gives you a wavedash. I don't really want to spoil the progressive abilities--just know they're pretty fun when you get used to them. The platforming is smooth, and once you feel good about the movement, it makes for some really fun challenges. Now, for the lower quality parts of the game. There aren't exactly a ton of mob variants, so combat can get a little repetitive and sluggish at times. If you know a few strong combos and have good spells (Time Bomb, Fire Spin), then you should have no trouble clearing them up--so I wish it was a little more difficult on the "general encounter" side of things. The big ticket for me was a good handful of the collectibles--they drove me nuts. A lot of these secrets are hidden really well--and you don't get the ability to track them until clearing a late game quest. This means you're most certainly missing something, and a lot of the time it is a small, hidden wall item. I spent about 2 hours looking for one collectible in the airship and found it quite literally by accidentally dashing into a wall. It could be a skill issue, but not all of the collectibles have a good tell. Like, there are a good handful of treasures that are in a hidden wall BEHIND another treasure (at least 3, iirc). Finally, the bosses are... a little easy when you figure out the combat system. I beat the final boss, sleep deprived, on my third attempt. It's not a bad thing, and I'm hoping vicious mode makes it a little more difficult, but overall it made the focus on platforming more important. Overall, that's not enough to take away from Vernal Edge being a great game. I enjoyed it quite a lot! As I write this it's on sale for a little over $2--but I'd recommend it at full price, too. A fun romp through a cool setting with charming characters and fun combat and ability systems. 8.5/10

Way too many copy paste enemies even the ones from the very beginning, they just get super armor to make them tougher. There's like a dozen types of enemies in the whole game. It also goes out of its way to be annoying, often sending you back to your ship before you can collect things, like the map to the area, making you have to go back the full length of a zone to find it. What really cements this as a negative review is most of the final bosses have a horrible mix of unblockable and undodgable moves, some that will end up being both, turning battles into a crude DPS and luck check to make sure they don't spam those attacks specifically and kill you before you can kill them, made worse by the moves that you CAN dodge or block were often bugged, removing the tell and hitting me unexpectedly, or leaving the attack indicator lines on the screen while the attack never came. A few of the jumping puzzles also really show that the system was badly tested and barely functions, especially towards the end, where the double jump refused to work or wall running failed because a gate was in the way.

Horrendous map. This is what kills the game for me. The combat is also just not that great. Normal attacks deal no damage, only spending meter does. So most of the fighting just has you tickle the enemy until you can press the "mildly awesome" button. Relatively quickly enemies start having stagger bars; how do you deal damage to it? Do your charge attack over and over or you're not allowed to deal damage. You don't even fight that much in the game. For some reason areas are huge and wide and also just really empty because enemies don't really roam around, they just spawn on occasion and you get locked into an arena. Well at least the art and music are awesome, but the exploration feels like banging your head against a wall. Seems like no one even bothered to make a guide for this.

前期战斗刮痧，跑图又区又累，阅读能力还得跑图解锁（当第一次与告示牌互动时看到主角一句我不识字差点给我气笑了），但是一旦拿到蹬墙跑后跑图的难度直线下降，整个游戏开始变得好玩起来

I am just writing this review because I think game deserves to "very positive" rating not "mostly positive".

-Unique and fun combat system. There could be more spells, though. -The lack of maps does NOT do the game any favors. Plus the game is pretty vague about where to go and what to do. -Movement is very innovative, if not always intuitive. -Story is solid; nothing groundbreaking, but solid. -The art has some rough spots, but the game is far from ugly. -The music adds a really good atmosphere. Overall, Vernal Edge is a great game to sink your teeth into. Would be happy to revisit someday.