2023-11-10 16:00:00
A Christmas Carol receives a never-before-seen version.
Despite it being “the most wonderful time of the year,” it is surprising that there aren’t more games around Christmas. Just for this idea, Ebenezer and the Invisible World, desarrollado por Orbit Studio y Play on Worlds, is already an attractive title, especially for fans of these holidays. Added to this is its very successful setting of Charles Dickens’ classic novel, A Christmas Carol.
The usual Mr. Scrooge?
Ebenezer Scrooge, who has become a hero for Londoners, has the mission of thwarting the plans of the wealthy Caspar Malthus. This mission will take you through the streets of London, from the observatory to the asylum, passing through the cemetery and the sewers. The snowy city connects these regions to each other, while also featuring a health item vendor (mashed potatoes, turkey, and other Christmas dinner paraphernalia), as well as health/spirit meter upgrade rooms. The map is very useful for navigating around Londonas it shows exits that haven’t been taken yet, and there’s a quest log to help keep Scrooge on track, with numerous side quests to complete.
First impressions are positive. The cartoon-style animation is fluid, the character portraits are well-drawn, and the world is peppered with minute details, like the dust falling off Scrooge’s heels. The controls are also responsive. Scrooge can attack in different directions with his staff and retreat to avoid enemies. It’s not long before the ghosts join your cause, increasing the range of your attacks, as well as adding an air jump and wall slam to your repertoire. Over time, so many ghosts are added that, in a pinch, you have to move from one to another quickly to emerge victorious.
Only for experienced players
In the first thirty minutes you will discover that It is not a simple game. At first, Scrooge can only withstand a few hits, and you’re often asked to run a marathon across a dozen screens before reaching the next save room, with few health points, some of which are hidden. and require an advantage to discover them. Often, I would arrive at a new save room with just a sliver of health. However, jumping over the enemies in the last stretch with bated breath was certainly exhilarating. There is no adventure without restlessness.
This tough learning curve is mostly related to enemy attack patterns.. Each enemy moves and attacks differently, lunging from above, climbing walls, launching projectiles, etc. Not only does it take time to master the best way to engage each one, but there are often cases where 2-3 enemies join in at once, causing their attack patterns to clash and become almost inevitable. This can frustrate many players.
It is true that by fully exploring the first location and defeating the first two bosses, things are starting to stabilize. Air jumping makes it easier to dodge enemies, longer health bars help Scrooge withstand multiple hits, and deep exploration opens up shortcuts.
Another positive point is the number of mechanics it introduces. New types of enemies are often introduced that require different ways of attacking, Scrooge can drag stone blocks to access higher areas and from time to time different puzzles appear. Boss battles are an hour or two apart and there is usually a save room nearby.
Conclusions
Despite some obstacles to overcome before accumulating the necessary upgrades, Ebenezer and The Invisible World is more than just a Christmas metroidvania. It is a polished and challenging experience with a lot to offer, although some of its ideas are trite, as is usual in the genre. Let’s hope the developers implement an “easy mode” or accessibility features in the future: Steep learning curve makes it difficult to recommend to everyonewhich is a shame considering that truly decent Christmas-themed games are rare.
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Ebenezer and The Invisible World
19,99€
Pros
Beautiful artistic style and hand-drawn animation The setting of Victorian London is very successful A game of Christmas aesthetics, something that is not usually common
Cons
The learning curve is poorly balanced The difficulty will put more than one back It does not contribute much to the Metroidvania genre
#Analysis #Ebenezer #Invisible #World