These abilities are useful both in combat and outside of it, and the game makes the most out of them. Sam uses her powers to stun enemies, allowing John to go to town on them. ![]() John is the main fighter of the duo, smacking enemies with his frying pan or blasting them with projectiles. Using John and Sam’s abilities in tandem adds a lot of depth to the gameplay, allowing for more complex challenges. Some of the bosses require some trial and error before their weakness becomes clear, but that’s usually the biggest hurdle you’ll have to overcome. Eastward is a pretty lengthy game, but you probably won’t be stumped on any individual puzzle for too long. They’re fun to explore and the mechanics within them never overstay their welcome. The aforementioned dungeons are stacked full of puzzles and enemies to defeat - and usually some kind of boss fight to conquer at the end. Some enemies can be brutal if you’re not careful. Eastward manages to stand on its own though, and never feels like it’s simply following in the footsteps of other games. The gameplay takes a lot from older Zelda titles, with hidden heart containers and bombs playing a role in the game’s dungeons. Comparisons have been made to Earthbound or The Legend of Zelda, and there’s even a dash of the Mario & Luigi games too. The characters are lovable and eccentric in equal measure, and in-between fighting creatures you’ll be tasked with collecting crabs to cook, herding flying pigs, or acting on a film set.īut this is also a game that clearly wears its influences on its sleeve. ![]() That said, much of the game is dotted with humour and quirky charm. Eastward nails its lighter moments, but it goes to some darker places too. This is a game that knows how to set a tone, and after the first couple of chapters you’ll know this isn’t your typical light-hearted romp. New Dam City is one of various settlements in Eastward. And despite the derelict nature of many of the game’s areas, Eastward feels full of life. Sometimes you just have to sit back and take it all in. The game uses gorgeous pixel art with a top-down 2D view, and the attention to detail is superb.Įvery environment is bursting with creativity, often overwhelmingly so when you first set foot in a new town. However, the first thing most will notice about the game isn’t its gameplay, but rather its stunning art style and retro aesthetic. ![]() Together, they embark on a journey east, and a sprawling quest unravels across a weird and wonderful land.Įastward is an adventure full of action, puzzles, and intrigue. Few but the unlikely duo of John and Sam – a hard-working miner and man of few words, and a sprightly young girl full of energy. These are essentially play-to-win, gacha style microtransactions, but if Eastward is trying to make a point about their use in games with real money it doesn’t come across clearly.In the apocalyptic world of Eastward, few dare to dream of a life above the surface. It’s not entirely retro though as you can retain newly recruited characters between runs and buy ‘Pixballs’ at random before starting. There’s even an entire game-within-a-game called Earth Born, which is a highly addictive roguelike dungeon crawler that looks and plays like an 80s era Final Fantasy. There’s a lot of blowing up obviously fragile walls with bombs and messing around with switches, but as with the combat there’s little substance or originality to any of the obstacles.Įastward also has lots of mini-games to punctuate different moments, and while none of them are very complicated the rafting, baseball, and cooking events offer a welcome change of pace. Or at least a Fisher-Price version of it. ![]() While John takes the lead in combat, Sam comes to the forefront when puzzle-solving, which, as you’ve probably guessed, is also inspired by Zelda. The combat is clearly inspired by Zelda, and like everything else looks gorgeous in action, but it’s ultimately very simple. Unlike EarthBound though you don’t fight them in turn-based combat but real-time, with John employing a range of melee and ranged weapons, starting with a frying pan, and Sam utilising her psychic powers to help him, with her ability to freeze them in place being especially useful. Just like EarthBound, enemies are all extremely silly, from flying, two-legged pigs to man-eating plants and frog people.
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