Necrosphere is one of those games that is incredibly difficult, but it's a type of difficult that almost dares you to keep trying. It's like that kid on the playground that steals your lunch money and keeps taunting you with it until they've spent it on the donuts they probably didn't need. Much like the lunchless child, this game taunted me with its lack of consequences and instant respawns after you die. Instead of long, drawn out death scenes that see you flailing down a mountain or being impaled by a tree or set on fire (I'm talking to you Tomb Raider devs), they simply load up another 8-bit man in a suit and let you try it again . . . and again . . . and again. Before I go on, I'll be honest, I didn't play this game all the way through. That doesn't mean that I didn't want to. What it means is that I played it to a point where I couldn't play it anymore, because I wasn't skilled enough. If I had any pride as a gamer, that would have been difficult to admit. Okay, moving on . . .
Necrosphere is a metroidvania style game that sees you winding your way through different levels that each pose their own unique challenges, and in true indie game fashion, those challenges get more difficult as you go. Unlike your standard side-scroller however, there is no jump button. In fact, there are only two buttons in the entire game. One moves your character to the right, and the other moves your character to the left. This can be done using the bumpers or the directional buttons. So how do you jump in a game that clearly requires upward movement? That's a great question. Jumping is done through gravity bubbles (I think that's what they're called). To jump you just walk up to one of those dark and unassuming bubbles, and they fire you into the air. This is actually one of the coolest mechanics I've seen in an indie game in a really long time, because once you're in the air, you can control which way you ascend or descend. The further you get into the Necrosphere, the more difficult the obstacles become. For example, the earlier levels involve dodging one or two fireballs (at least I think they're fireballs), while later levels involve dodging a whole barrage of fireballs, each moving to their own rhythm and timing. This is where patience and observation comes in. Every move you make in this game has to be carefully calculated, and your timing has to be perfect or you will die. And as somebody who died plenty of times, my progression through the game was mostly due to luck. If I went back and tried it again, I probably wouldn't be able to get as far as I got the first time.
As for the story, Necrosphere's story is hilariously complicated, yet, not actually that complicated. It feels complicated because you're only getting small bits of it at a time. During the opening, you find out that you're an agent of some kind, who was shot in the face and sent to a place called the Necrosphere, where agents go when they die. This is also a place where they can hopefully be brought back to life, because . . . well . . . science bro. As for what exactly the Necrosphere is and how one can escape, these clues are revealed through documents scattered around the Necrosphere that occasionally can only be accessed by wandering off the beaten path. So whether or not the exploration/completion is worth the frustration of a little extra dodging and dying, is completely up to you. As for myself, I always tried at least once before giving up and moving on with the rest of the game.
As for positive and negative things about the game, let's start with the negative. There is absolutely no give in this game. It is difficult just for the sake of being difficult. However, as I will mention in the positive section, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. My only other complaint is the lack of motivation one has to complete the game. While I'll admit that it's a very fun game, it feels like it's missing something. Unlike the retro styled games that came before it, there is no point system. So you're not building a score, and you're not gathering coins or power rings, you're just playing the game for the sake of playing the game. Again, though, this isn't necessarily a bad thing.
This is going to be a very weird "positive" section, because it's going to sound negative. There is something about the game that is very endearing. You really have to work for it when it comes to accomplishing anything. You're going to die so many times . . . possibly over a hundred times (at least in my case), but because the respawn time is instant, and it doesn't put you at a check point way back in the beginning of the level, it's incredibly easy to just keep on trying (or punishing yourself). As I mentioned above, It's almost as if in the game's simplicity, it's taunting you, daring you to try again. By putting you right back at the place where you died, they're inviting you into an experience that has the potential to be satisfying, but might take a long time before you get there. Also, I did enjoy the infinite number of lives. As a gamer who tends to not be very good at games (though I do love to play them), I've always had a better experience with games that don't pressure you not to die more than three times. I know this removes some of the challenge, but if this game limited the number of respawns you have, I would probably be signing to a different tune in terms of this review. So I will simply close this section off by saying, even the bad things about this game aren't really bad, they're all just different shades of good.
If you're looking something to pass the time in between big AAA titles on your Nintendo Switch, or maybe you're looking for another gem to add to your collection on Steam, Necrosphere is worth every penny. For $7.99 it's an experience that's both challenging and an all around fun game. The good folks over at Cat Nigiri have created an enticingly frustrating romp through the afterlife that will make you want to keep experiencing punishment over and over and over . . . and not only will you not be mad about it, but you'll want to play it again afterwards. Is this the sign of a good game or emotional terrorism? I'm not sure, but I enjoyed the hell (no pun intended) out of this game.
Reviewed by Josh Pederson
Played On: Nintendo Switch
Score: 8/10
#Nintendo #NintendoSwitch #Indie #IndieGame #Necrosphere #Metroidvania #Sidescroller #2D #CatNigiri #gaming #GameReview #NecrosphereReview #RetroGaming #RetroStyle #RetroGames
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