Written by Patrick Orquia
Title: Dandara: Trials of Fear Edition
Developer: Long Hat House
Publisher: Raw Fury
Genre: Action, Adventure, Platformer, Metroidvania
Number of Players: 1
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Release Date: 06 February 2018
Price: $14.99
In the world of metroidvanias on the Switch eShop, being able to stand out among the crowd is pretty tough. A few managed to really stand out among the crowd, like the amazingly awesome Hollow Knight and the stunningly beautiful Ori and the Blind Forest, while most of the other metroidvania games just embraced their Metroid or Castlevania roots almost to a fault. Can't blame them, really, since there is really nothing much else that can be added to the usual tropes and clichés of the genre.
But lo and behold, this game, Dandara, does something really unique. So unique that when I first saw it in action a couple of years back in its original form, I thought it would be quite tedious to play. Whereas in other games you move from one point to another by walking, running, or jumping, in Dandara, you move from one point to the next by leaping, and only by leaping. There are floors, ceilings, and walls, and the distinction between them doesn't seem to exist. See, in this game, gravity acts very differently. If you are on the ceiling or on the wall, you don't fall down to the floor, because all surfaces are floors, basically. The camera will sometimes flip around to show the room in a different perspective, and you will always follow the movement rules no matter what. You jump from one surface to another by pointing the left analog stick to it and pressing A. The surfaces that you can leap to are marked with white color, in effect limiting the areas where you can go. Once you are standing on a surface, you cannot walk to and fro to adjust, you just stand there and the only way to move is by leaping to the next one. This makes navigating a bit tricky and at first, a bit confusing, but eventually, you will be able to adjust.
In this game, you play the titular Dandara, who is hailed as the chosen one who can bring the world of Salt back in order. In your adventure, you will meet different NPCs who will give you bits and pieces of the story to keep you moving forward. You will, of course, have to battle against different enemies scattered across the land, ranging from the surface-bound, melee-attacking ones to flying, projectile-shooting ones. Aside from introducing you to the basic movement of leaping from one surface to the next very early in the game, you also learn to shoot a short burst of energy as a means to defeat the enemies. A bit later on, you get to shoot your own projectiles, missiles for start, which spends energy, making it a limited resource. As you progress into the game, you will get to use other types of more powerful and efficient projectiles, including a type that allows you to shoot yourself to a distant surface that cannot be readily reached by leaping, similar to how it was implemented in Axiom Verge, another awesome metroidvania. Your energy bar and health also gets increased by finding upgrades as you go through your adventure, allowing you to shoot your special attack more frequently and making you tougher.
Like any other metroidvania games, the world of Salt is divided into different interconnected areas, with some areas initially closed or out of reach until you get the ability to allow you to open them up. This game has a sprawling map with lots of areas to explore. There is no ordinary fast travel system, so backtracking can be quite a pain. Also, there is not much signposting to provide you information on where you have to go next, plus the map doesn't show your exact position, but it does highlight the area you are currently in. Due to the nature of the controls of this game and the way the camera would often twist and turn, following the map can be tricky at times, but you will surely open it very frequently.
In order for you to save your progress in the game, you will need to find campsites. Here, not only you get to save your game, you also get to level up and upgrade your attributes. To level up, you need to spend salt, this game's version of soul, dropped by defeated enemies and acquired by destroying crates or opening some treasure chests. Each level you reach requires a certain amount of salt, and each time you level up, you get to upgrade either your health/energy bar or the potency of health/energy potions. The campsite is also where you respawn when you die. These campsites are few and far in between, so dying can be quite punishing and frustrating as you will need to go back to where you die to recover your acquired salt, similar to Hollow Knight (you don't have to fight your shadow self, though). Die again before you do it and your accumulated salt up to that point goes kaput.
This game looks and sounds really good, with its 16-bit pixel art visuals, accompanied by an excellent musical score. It is very well-presented and the overall gameplay is really tight. However, this game is pretty challenging. The cool control mechanics can be quite detrimental at times as avoiding enemies can be tough and hard to do, since the movement is limited. Add to that the fact that your last visited campsite can be far from where you died. Good thing is the developers of the game added some cheat options to alleviate these needless annoyances. I only found them by accident as I was checking the options, since I got tired of dying over and over again during a stretch in the game. The game warns you that your save file will have a label of cheats being enabled if you decide to do so, but it doesn't really impact the game, aside from giving you bragging rights. But I did activate all the cheats, which gave me more checkpoint flags, unlimited energy, and I got to respawn in the same room where I died. And instantly, the game became 10 times more enjoyable. The difficulty doesn't really subside, but the needless annoyances disappear. I'm not sure if these cheat modes are unique to this Trials of Fear edition of the game, since I didn't play the original release build, but kudos to the game developers for incorporating these options and making their game more accessible and enjoyable to play.
Overall, Dandara: Trials of Fear Edition is one of the best metroidvania games on Switch. The unique controls and overall presentation gives a good bang for your buck. It can be completed within 10-15 hours of regular gameplay, so it is not overly wrong but still there is an abundance of content in this game that can entice you to give it multiple playthroughs. If you are a metroidvania fan, this game will be worth your time. So, give it a go, defy gravity, and let Dandara find her way through an epic adventure.
REPLAY VALUE: High
PROS
- Awesome 16-bit pixel art visuals
- Excellent musical score
- Refreshingly unique control mechanics
- Cool boss fights
- The cheat options make the game so much more enjoyable to play
- Good use of HD rumble
- Ideal for handheld gaming
CONS
RATING: 4.5/5 salts of the earth
- The map doesn't show your exact location
- Lack of signposting can make you feel lost
- Narrative style is quite vague
- Dying in the game is very punishing and annoyingly frustrating
RATING: 4.5/5 salts of the earth
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