Chronicles of 2 Heroes: Amaterasu's Wrath (First Impressions)

Developer: Infinity Experience

Publisher: Catness Game Studios

Released: May 26th, 2023

Price: $20 USD

When you pick up a Metroidvania, you expect it to follow the genre's basic rules. Platforming, non-linear gameplay, and blocked progression owing to a lack of needed upgrades to traverse certain areas, meaning there should be enough backtracking and other side things to do than going from point (a) to (b).

With only (2) hours invested in this game currently, it feels like it lacks the non-linear aspect while also being overly basic in it's functionalities and it's map.

Gameplay

Informative & Creative

When I first started playing, I was hit with an overpowering sense of simplicity, along with characteristics common in unfair games like Ninja Gaiden, such as foes swooping in from many directions while mid-jump, allowing for incredibly frustrating reward rooms since I was still in the process of getting used to playing (2) heroes both with their own ways of dealing with situations.

Ayame is a quick-thinking kunai-wielding Ninja capable of long-range combat and aerobatics such as jumping and double jumping while throwing kunai.

Kensei on the other hand is an armored Samurai who can't jump but can dash long distances with his unsheathe stance.

Together, you will use each hero's talents to learn how to traverse through each section and grasp how to use each other's powers, with the support of the game's method of guiding you through, as shown in the video above.

I enjoy these methods of understanding without pulling you out of the game. As in a platformer, you use your common sense to figure out what you need to do.

Issues

The Map is irritating

I sincerely hope that the map expands in terms of what you can see and what is highlighted. So far it has only been temples and powerups once you purchase the upgrades from the shop, and they aren't even well marked for navigation.

You have to basically piece together slowly which direction is the closest and then understand where each temple is located so that you can better travel to a previous location to find a Cat collectable or find a side area with rewards such as extra health or a chest full of money.

Money is nothing

Did you find a chest and hit it to reveal it had a large amount of gold? It will respawn if you return to the temple. The same is true for any currency in the section you are in. I spent a lot of time early on just farming coins to unlock all of the unlockable things to give my map a bit more vision but it didn't add much.

Aside from map upgrades, there doesn't appear to be much else besides a Tea drinking ceremony that offers you a temporary defensive bonus, that doesn't stack and is pretty useless since a lot of things have ridiculous hit boxes.

Getting Lost

Because of the map there aren't any markers to guide you to where you need to go. I find it quite frustrating because, even though it is travelling from point (a) to point (b), I have less desire to return to earlier locations because I have to spend a significant amount of time determining whether I can return to that area or not.

I went back to a few regions because I had forgotten where I had fought a boss  and when I got there, there were no elevators, so I had to return to a checkpoint and then backtrack all the way back to the temple, which took a minute.

Effects lingering into other stages

I found myself looking at effects from a previous stage, such as a flying bat or hammer traps rising from the ceiling and on the floor in the following chamber.

Which leads me to conclude that all of the levels are interconnected or too close to one another. This in no way breaks the game, but it was odd to observe and irritated me when I wasted a kunai trying to kill a bat that would de-spawn.

If Ayame runs out of kunai, you have to find new ones to use her ability or you will have to wait until a creature drops some, which is random.

Presentation

Visually

The game looks fantastic, and the sprite movements are pretty fluid and pleasing to the eye. While things can be a little clumsy at times, such as needing to wait 0.5 seconds after switching characters to use an ability. It works fine, if a little delayed when you perform things rapidly while switching constantly.

Music

I don't like the music that's being played. It's clearly retro and isn't terrible, but it's nothing exceptional, and even while it does complement the aesthetics, I just began to mentally tune it out while focusing on the game as a whole.

Conclusion

So far so good

The more I play, the more unique ideas start to show up rather than the same repetitive motions, with different ways to progress over each location.

Maybe some of the game's flaws will even out with time and become more tolerable. The map and directional help, however, are the most important features. The temple is a bit disorganized, and the gates that take you to each area could be a bit more clearly marked, something as simple as a sign "Forest."

These are small issues that do not detract from the gameplay, but rather test my patience as I attempt to progress while being stymied by a poor travel design.

My initial thoughts on this game come to a close with the caveat that, while others may disagree, that is what makes gamers unique. You don't have to share their interests or agree with them and are welcome to critic me on mine.

If you want to catch me on one of my streams or locate me on social media, you may do so at the following locations, I'm always playing something new.

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- Pawkt