Reviews by our members

• 4

  4 out of 6 members found this review helpful

  arsenispetros

  2023-05-18

  I have over 20 metroidvania games on the Switch, so I believe I have a good opinion on them to compare Afterimage with others in its category.

  I'll say them quickly and briefly.

  Positives:
  ~ Several hours of gameplay, each hour being unique. The areas you explore are not repetitive, and there are plenty of weapons and abilities for you to fight in different ways. The upgrade system is based on items and leveling up, which can be used to strengthen your statistics or learn additional battle techniques/skills.

  ~ Large and rich map, although sometimes it can be overwhelming. In this case, it was well done for the most part. There are plenty of areas to explore and unique and beautiful locations to see because of the graphics.

  ~ A fully hand-drawn 2D sidescroller, similar to Hollow Knight, resulting in beautiful graphics and running smoothly at almost 60 fps, even on my 43'' 4K TV. The graphics looked great without losing image quality due to the large screen, which is common in Switch games.

  ~ Wonderful music, a mix between Asian MMO and Hollow Knight.

  ~ Voice acting/dialogue in English, which is rare to find in metroidvania games, and when you do find it, it's usually bad. However, here it helps to give a more beautiful presentation of the whole story.

  ~ Decent story, although a bit convoluted, but it has 9 different endings, which seems logical.

  ~ On average, it takes about 25-30 hours to complete the game with one ending, if you ignore exploration. If you start exploring, easily 40 hours or more in one save file, not including the 3 additional endings that require opening GM+ in a different file.

  One of the few metroidvanias where the entire map can be traversed without dividing it into rooms and loading screens.

  ~ Good price compared to other metroidvania games that I consider inferior and possibly more expensive.

  Negatives:
  ~ A difficult metroidvania for beginners, it may frustrate them and they may easily get lost because the game doesn't provide any clues about where to go or what to do. I know this is the purpose of metroidvanias, but because the map is so large, it should provide some hints in dialogues or on the map.

  ~ In a sidescroller where you can only play with the sticks, I find it silly when there are platform challenges and movements that require direction inputs, like in fighting games. This makes it more challenging and, in my opinion, more tiring, especially with the Switch's joy-cons, which are designed for children's hands.

  ~ Occasionally, there are stutters/jitters when moving quickly through areas because it's still loading the areas you're going to. As I mentioned before, there are no rooms, and you play within one continuous level, so it loads in the background. Due to the Switch's weak graphics card, it sometimes results in very short loading screens. It's a minor issue.

  ~ You may encounter some bugs here and there. I got stuck inside a wall once, but luckily, the game has regular saves, so I didn't have any issues closing and returning to the game. Another issue that can harm the whole file is the side missions. In one side mission, the switch closed while I was talking to an NPC and suddenly it disappeared, so I can't complete it for 100% completion.

  Unfortunately, it doesn't allow you to cast spells on the move, and you don't have weapons like knives/bows to attack from a distance and aim accurately. As a result, some bosses that fly become really annoying to deal with. Bloodstained, which is a similar game, had spells/magic that allowed you to cast them while jumping or on the move. It's a shame because this could have made the game so much better.

  Unfortunately, the most important movements that help with exploration or fighting enemies are obtained after completing 60-70% of the game. Considering how large the map is, we're talking about several hours without additional movements like double jump/climbing/movements that allow you to avoid damage while passing through enemies. I would have liked to have them a little earlier, although it may not bother some players.

  Conclusion: For those who play metroidvania games and have experience, it's definitely worth trying. It has beautiful graphics, platform challenges, relatively good combat, and a lot of hours of exploration. On a scale of 1-10, I would give it an 8, lower than Hollow Knight, Ori and the Metroid Dread, but higher than Bloodstained, Messenger, Kunai, Shantae, and Steam World Dig.

  Translated from Greek · Show original

  • Graphics
  • Gameplay
  • Longevity
  • Single Player
  • Sound
  • Value for money

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• 5

  Dj_Vaios_Music_Channel_and_Mor

  2023-12-04

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• 5

  johnkatsa08

  2023-05-07

  • Graphics
  • Gameplay
  • Longevity
  • Single Player
  • Sound
  • Value for money