GSY Review
PS5
Xbox Series X
PC
PS4
Xbox One
Switch
We're not quite sure there are still people on this side of the website who truly need our opinion on games but we're giving it anyway. Today, we,re focusing on Greak: Memories of Azur, a game published by Team 17 and developed by Navegante Entertainment which will ship next week on all consoles and on PC. We took the Switch version for a spin as we were lucky enough to be sent a code early and here are our thoughts about it.
Verdict
In Greak: Memories of Azur, you play the role of 3 siblings who are trying to espace the Urlags. Each character has a set of unique moves as Greak can double-jump and crawl into tiny spaces, while using a sword and a crossbow. Adara can use magic to levitate, she can throw purple fireballs and can hold her breath under water much longer. Raydel is an accomplished warrior who's equiped with a long sword and a shield that he can either use in combat or to help his brother and sister overcome obstacles. Because of his heavy gear, he can count on a grapple hook when the terrain requires it. Greak: Memories of Azur is not a multiplayer game though, which means you'll have to switch between characters using the D-pad. That being said, you can also move them around together when holding the ZL button. It's a nice touch on paper but it's not always easy to handle when exploring the world or against bosses. Sometimes you can choose to face a boss with only one character, but there are also times when you must deal with several of them, which takes some getting used to. You may be able to see how much life the other characters you're not directly in control of have left, but as the AI cannot drink potions or eat food on their own, you must switch between characters, then hold L, select the appropriate item with the D-pad and press A. It's manageable, but it's not that easy. We don't really see how else they could have done it though. Another caveat is maybe the fact that texts can be pretty small in handheld mode, despite the presence of an option allowing to adapt the size of the HUD. The problem doesn't really affect the dialogues, but we found that some item descriptions weren't as easy to read as when docked. It's a rather minor thing and since you can try the demo on Switch, all you need to do to see if it can be bothersome to you is to download it. Last minor issue we noted is that absence of a local map (only a world map is available for fast travel) as it would make some of the necessary backtracking less cumbersome. Other than that, we've truly enjoyed our time on the game. Controls are very responsive, graphics look amazing, music is great and animations are superb. It really is the kind of title that makes you want to keep playing until you've completed it. Just be warned that there is no auto save system, which means you'd better use the saving stones you find on your way as often as possible.
- On the upside
- Superb graphics and amazing art style
- Beautiful hand-dawn animations
- Cartoon-like cutscenes
- 3 playable characters
- Solid level design & gameplay mechanics
- It's simply fun to play
- On the downside
- Loadings can take long on Switch
- No local map
- No auto save (so save often)
- Controlling multiple characters together can be tricky
Gamersyde images (Switch/Portable mode)
Patreon
All comments (2)
Commented on 2021-08-13 14:35:09Keep them coming, i really like your reviews, your taste in games generally align with mine and your reviews are great in order to make an idea of what a game pros and cons are.
Commented on 2021-08-13 14:35:47 In reply to charlieman999