A Mystical Metroidvania Blending Revenge with a Sense of Wonder
GIGASWORD. It’s a name that could conjure up many differing scenarios in the minds of players. Will it tell the story of a knight who finds the largest sword ever built? Or will it be a bit more out there, telling the story of a huge walking, talking sword? Perhaps this is a roguelite platformer, weaving elements of combat and puzzles through a plethora of bugs and glitches in a complex web of gaming?
As those who have done any ounce of research will tell you, the third and final option is the one that rings true.
An Altruistic Tale
This indie title sees you take the mantle of Ezra, a young orphan seeking revenge for the death of Nocturne (his owl guardian) using the aptly titled Gigasword; you’ll traverse through dungeons, bosses and puzzles all in the name of revenge, before a change of heart reroutes your journey. It’s a simple structure for a narrative to take, yet can be so effective when done well, as displayed here.
GIGASWORD is a title about many things. Honour, defying tyrants in power, and inevitably swords, but most of all, it’s a game about wonder. Wonder about the world, how it ended up in the terrifying state it currently is, and wonder about how it could change in the future. Wonder about everything undiscovered, and wonder about everything we have discovered. It mirrors our reality in many ways, telling a narrative with subtle yet strong themes that will pull on your heart strings. Nowhere is this sense of wonder more clear than the gameplay.
Where Storytelling and Gameplay Coalesce
GIGASWORD is a mixing pot of many genres, taking the indie sword combat present in many titles, and merging it with platforming puzzles, akin to that of The Legend of Zelda series. Specifically when analysing the puzzles, we see how this wonder is personified; us slowly uncovering the world, mechanics, and design of GIGASWORD as we progress, is then mirrored through puzzles in which we must put it into action. It’s a truly great example of storytelling and gameplay coalescing into one overall great experience.
Storytelling is one of GIGASWORD’s secret strengths, creating incentive enough to progress on your journey, or do just about anything in the title. A large thank you for this is owed to the overall mystical world you’re transported into, in which dark fantasy and sci-fi elements mix into an altruistic experience, focused on providing the player with hours of joy.
There’s plenty of lore to uncover, whether it be about how the kingdom came to be stuck in its current predicament, or many little intricacies of GIGASWORD’s world, it’s all there for you to either put a little or a lot into. The introduction to this game is the only obstacle in the way of storytelling greatness, leaving thirty minutes of exposition, handholding gameplay, and us, as the player, wanting it to be over.
Mastering the Blade
Moving onto the main bulk and we have the gameplay, and this is ultimately for me where GIGASWORD becomes conflicted. Initially, the blending of genres works wonders for the title’s identity, leaving what feels like an indie-Zelda hybrid. Unfortunately, many design choices leave the gameplay negatively affected by longevity.
Beginning with the positives, combat is largely fun. It maintains a simple presence throughout, often involving a singular hit to defeat enemies, however this is sometimes spiced up through certain weak points or quirks of monsters. Swinging the huge Gigasword around is definitely entertaining if nothing else, yet due to its size, it’s just so fun to master its movement.
Finally for combat, boss fights are above many other similar titles (through GIGASWORD’s implementation of niche weaknesses) yet still aren’t perfect. Overall, this leaves the combat aspects of GIGASWORD more than welcome, yet not a highlight.
Logic-Based Trials
Next up are the puzzles, and off the bat I have to say I think they’re the highlight. Don’t get me wrong, you’re not going to get any confusing Monkey Island, or The Talos Principle puzzles in an indie game like this, but for what they are and how they’re implemented, GIGASWORD’s puzzles do exactly what they need to.
The main overarching areas are split into dungeon like towers, leaving you to discover small keys and navigate through monster filled rooms (again think of Zelda). This level design calls for something extra challenging to keep you engaged and on your toes, perfectly allowing puzzles to be introduced. And these puzzles are no slouch either, they’re oddly entertaining, logic based tests of the mind which require you to truly know the environment around you, and how this world works, resulting in a great addition to gameplay.
The final – and most disappointing – aspect of gameplay, are the platforming segments. I can see the vision from the developers here, implementing platforming as an intriguing blend of genres, yet in execution it falls extremely far from grace. In GIGASWORD the platforming ultimately comes down to three things: run, jump and climb. This isn’t inherently bad, yet due to level design unable to accommodate for this, and of course the limited move set of the player, platforming lacks the smoothness or metaphorical glue to satisfyingly chain moves together.
Battling Bugs, Glitches, and Network Woes
A few minor things such as an effective sword skill tree and good enemy variety, do their best to raise each gameplay system to new heights. Yet one problem remains that drags GIGASWORD down… glitches and bugs. During my playthrough of this game, I had to restart my entire save three times. Let that sink in. Three times. This was due to a combination of bugs and updates to resolve these bugs.
It began when I consistently experienced an issue when booting up the game stating “There’s a temporary network problem.” and consequently, after not allowing me to connect after repeatedly selecting try again, I couldn’t access my save data; seems simple enough, I had a network issue right? Well that wasn’t the case, as every other game I booted up worked as usual, and eventually I restarted my game. This wasn’t the only issue I encountered though and I experienced a crash of my game after restarting from a fresh save, and before I could save my game again, leaving GIGASWORD’s vast potential, slightly dampened.
An Ambitious Concoction
Thankfully, GIGASWORD has one or two more strengths to attempt to make up for this. The pixel art presentation is just absolutely stunning, recreating those ambitious 90s RPGs you’d boot up on your SNES or Mega Drive. Adding to this, the dark fantasy aesthetic oozes personality, leaving the overall world, lore, and vibe of GIGASWORD a wonderful immersive experience.
GIGASWORD is an ambitious blending of genres. RPG elements aligning with puzzles and platforming is always going to be a curious concoction, and in this case, sometimes for worse, sometimes for better. The poor platforming and bugs may put a downer on your experience, yet the overall brilliance of narrative, combat, and level design will most likely override this, leaving GIGASWORD an indie title worth playing.
Important Links
GIGASWORD Is Here – Can You Handle the Mightiest Sword in Gaming? – https://www.thexboxhub.com/gigasword-is-here-can-you-handle-the-mightiest-sword-in-gaming/
Buy from the Xbox Store – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/gigasword/9mtgjfg42d20
