A Genie’s Journey Hindered by Control Issues
Stop! KEMCO Time! Do do do do… Sorry, I’m really starting to run out of ideas to introduce yet another KEMCO retro styled JRPG. After all, I’ve reviewed dozens of these things over the years.
But yes, there is another KEMCO game on the block, and this one comes in the form of Covenant of Solitude. Despite releasing on the mobile market back in 2023, it has only just appeared on the big black box, and so the question I hope to answer in this review is whether we should choose this particular KEMCO JRPG over any of the others. Are you ready to head off to a world of Genies?
Genies and Despots
In Covenant of Solitude, Genies are not people who live in lamps distributing wishes. No, Genies in the world of Covenant of Solitude are those who are able to summon and control monsters to do their bidding, fighting alongside them.
We play as Fort, a young boy living in the village of Listy who just happens to be a Genie, and he has only two friends in the world: Legna, an older boy who is good at fighting, and Elicia, a kind hearted young girl. As is often the way in these games, a despotic emperor, head of the imaginatively named “The Empire” decides that the time is ripe to expand his lands, and so the village of Listy is destroyed. Fort’s power manifests itself when he is threatened by Imperial soldiers, and the consequences are not what one would hope: his monsters run amok and kill Elicia. Is there any coming back from that? Well, in this (somewhat long winded) redemption tale, you’ll be able to find out.
8-Bit Aesthetics
With the story all sorted, it’s now time to look at the way the game presents itself, and here the news is reasonable. The term retro almost doesn’t do Covenant of Solitude justice, as this is a proper 8-bit looking affair that would make any NES proud. It looks okay though, and while the characters and enemies are obviously not going to be wildly detailed or particularly recognisable, if you meet the game on its terms, it works quite well. The world map looks like you’d expect, and the dungeons are a mixed bunch, so all in all, the game behaves exactly the same as any of the other KEMCO games that you may have played.
Sound also takes a similar paint by numbers approach, with only the music in the (numerous) fights that we engage in sticking in the mind. The rest of the sounds really only occur in the fighting screen, with the attacks, be they by melee weapons or spells, all having their own soundtrack. The story is presented via static cutscenes, as usual, so no voice acting to worry about. All things considered, it’s another KEMCO RPG!
Invisible Walls and Frequent Fights
Now, gameplay is where Covenant of Solitude has a chance to open up some space between itself and the rest, and it certainly does that. Perhaps not, sadly, in a good way.
Every KEMCO game I have ever reviewed has issues with walking around, whether it be your character’s inability to walk through narrow gaps, or the ability to get hung up on corners, controls are also a niggle. Well, Covenant of Solitude takes things to a whole new level, as it is almost impossible to get your guy to go anywhere without him walking into seemingly invisible walls. It appears that on a phone, diagonal movement doesn’t exist, and so it doesn’t exist here. It is unbelievably frustrating to try to get through a narrow area, like a cave dungeon, say, and this saps a lot of the enjoyment from the game.
Another thing that seems to happen is that the monster encounters are random. When you have to take extra steps to just get around, this then leads to even more fights than any sane person would ever want to have.
Monster Management
Of course, the flip side of having a million fights per metre (this may be an exaggeration) is that you level up quite quickly, even given how tight the game is when it awards EXP to your team. And you’ll get to do that by visiting the shops in towns, buying new gear, not only for our hero but for his team of monsters.
And speaking of his monster team, the news here isn’t quite what you may think, either. I went into Covenant of Solitude expecting it to be a bit like Pokemon, with Fort being able to add monsters to his team as he goes around. However, all the monsters that we can recruit inhabit Fort’s subconscious, for some reason.
There are four different species of monster to choose from, Dragon, Pixie, Beast and Vampire, and the characters we recruit can be either male or female. On top of the choice of species, each monster can be given a role, from fighter to healer, and obviously some are better suited to certain roles. Getting the optimal team is actually quite interesting. With items becoming available as you go through the game that allows you to change the roles of the monsters, tweaking can be good fun.
A Frustratingly Flawed KEMCO RPG
In conclusion, Covenant of Solitude is a decent game, with interesting team mechanics, that is ultimately hamstrung by the control system. There is literally no way around it – the controls affect every part of the game negatively, and that means it is extremely difficult to recommend Covenant of Solitude, despite the potential.
Your Links
Covenant of Solitude – Master Jobs, Recruit Monsters, Play Anywhere! – https://www.thexboxhub.com/covenant-of-solitude-master-jobs-recruit-monsters-play-anywhere/
Buy Covenant of Solitude on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/covenant-of-solitude/9nwkp08mp1rd
