Test – Afterimage: A classic but effective metroidvania

2023-04-30 16:50:13

Available for a few days, Afterimage is an Action-RPG made by Aurogon Shanghai. The Chinese studio gives us a Metroidvania which, if it is particularly classic, is also very convincing.

The publisher Modus Games has recently released the new game from a Chinese development team called Aurogon Shanghai. After collaborating with other studios on a Gujian licensed game, the team is signing its first solo project this time. A title funded a few years ago by a small successful Kickstarter campaign. Named Afterimage, this new adventure is a Metroidvania, a 2D Action-RPG inspired particularly by titles such as “Castlevania: Symphony of the Night” or “Ori and the Blind Forest”. If it does not come up to these two behemoths of the genre, Afterimage is still far from being an unpleasant experience.

The game’s scenario takes place in the world of Engardin, a universe that has long been prosperous thanks to the various deities who watched over it. The creation of humans will throw this world into chaos. Because of their ambitions, Men are waging an endless war against their deities and life is gradually dying out. In this broken universe, we play a young amnesiac girl named Renee. The only survivor of an attack on her village, the heroine will set off on a journey to discover the circumstances behind the loss of her loved ones.

The title is a real artistic achievement.

If the universe is detailed, this nice scenario also chooses not to encroach too much on the gameplay. The staging unfortunately lacks impact on the adventure, the entire story being narrated with a typed “visual novel” presentation. It is therefore quite difficult to follow the plot and immerse yourself in this world which nevertheless seems interesting.

Afterimage is a title that very faithfully takes up the traditional formula of Metroidvania. The world is divided into several large labyrinthine areas to explore and many passages of which are simply inaccessible to us, requiring an ability that our heroine does not yet possess. This unlocks new skills by progressing in the adventure, often by getting rid of a boss. All the salt of the game is then in the exploration and in our progress. Going back through previous areas is sometimes necessary and beneficial in all cases since this process allows you to find new passages or very useful objects.

Many traps and enemies await us in the different areas.

Afterimage also embeds RPG elements. Our heroine has a level, statistics, a skill tree allowing us to unlock new offensive abilities and improve these same statistics… The environments occasionally offer us new pieces of equipment as well as new weapons which it is better to be used to face the many enemies found in the areas. The level of our character also allows us to know if the place explored is suitable for our progress since the zones generally indicate the recommended level. Many enemies populate the different places visited, so you have to slay them thanks to Renee’s combat skills. The title offers shallow fights, but which fulfill their role effectively. The choice of equipment has an impact on the gameplay since six types of weapons exist, allowing to use different blows with distinct specificities.

Enemies often tend to have too much life and therefore take time before dying, which is not always very pleasant. It should also be noted that the bosses represent sometimes too steep difficulty peaks, requiring precision that is only very rarely necessary during our exploration. Apart from these small false notes, Afterimage offers a very convincing Metroidvania experience thanks to a well thought out level design. We can perhaps blame him for lacking a bit of madness in his game mechanics as the title follows the formula to the letter. The production of Aurogon Shanghai lacks a bit of originality and may not stand out too much from competition already well established in the sphere of independent games. Fans of the genre will still be conquered, and will get their money’s worth since Afterimage is also a particularly long game for the genre to which it belongs. The very large areas, objects to find and the many bosses will require several dozen hours of your time.

The boss fights are sometimes full-bodied.

Afterimage is also very compelling in its ability to deliver impressive visuals. Its characters and their animations are quite successful, but what charms the most are the sets offered by the title. The different environments are decorated with hand-drawn backgrounds and foregrounds. The result is colourful, detailed and varied thanks to the different zones and their distinct moods. The soundtrack is just as successful, often offering enchanting melodies that accompany the exploration wonderfully. The project is a real artistic success and a game with a lot of qualities, despite a few minor problems.

Conclusion

Afterimage is the new title from a Chinese studio named Aurogon Shanghai, available on all consoles and PC. This is a 2D Action-RPG that uses Metroidvania codes such as “Castlevania: Symphony of the Night” or “Ori and the Blind Forest”. We embody a young amnesiac girl named Renee who evolves in a world broken by the ambitions of men. A nice scenario which however suffers from a very minimalist narration which prevents it from shining. The story often stays behind so as not to encroach on the gameplay. Metroidvania obliges, we evolve in labyrinthine zones. Our heroine develops new abilities throughout the adventure, allowing you to revisit the different areas by always finding more new passages and objects to collect. Added to this are RPG elements such as statistics and the management of our equipment, important points to calmly face the many enemies of the game. The different environments of the game are large and well thought out, despite some gameplay concerns and difficulty. It’s a shame to see that Afterimage doesn’t try to innovate and just follows the formula to the letter, even if the result is very satisfying. Finally, the game is also a real artistic success thanks to its magnificent settings and its enchanting soundtrack.

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Afterimage

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