From the team at WayForward is a new entry in the RWBY saga, going by the name of RWBY: Arrowfell. For those not in the know, RWBY (pronounced “Ruby” for the avoidance of doubt) is an American anime-influenced computer-animated web series, created by Monty Oum for Rooster Teeth. It’s something that has gained in popularity, spawning a couple of spin off video games – one of which was RWBY: Grimm Eclipse – alongside numerous manga and oyster forms of media.
Given the source material, it’s safe to say that this isn’t going to be some hyper realistic shooter, so let’s dive into the world of Remnant and see what Team RWBY have been up to, shall we?
First off and I’m going to start by taking a look at the presentation of RWBY: Arrowfell. With such strong source material to pull from, it should come as no surprise to hear that the cutscenes look like they were lifted straight from the anime series; the in-game characters all look exactly as they do in the series, and the voice overs are performed extremely well. With the usual complement of bad guys, ranging from the Grimm, nasty creatures that feed off negative emotions, through to human enemies armed with some fairly high tech weaponry, the look and feel of the game is bang on. I’d go as far to say that I have, occasionally, been left in awe at how well everything works together, and all in all nothing but a huge tick has to be thrust towards the WarForward team in regards the presentation.
How about a story, then? Well, Team RWBY are now licensed Huntresses, and what this means is that they are allowed to go out into the world to look for trouble, pretty much. The team name comes from the four members of the team – Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang – and their respective colours, weirdly, being red, white, black and yellow. As they are out exploring one day, Team RWBY come across an orb that seems to attract the Grimm, and while they are busy fighting for their lives, the orb is damaged and so a chain of events is set in motion. What this entails is going back and forth across the world, finding new clues about the way forward, investigating said clues and then seeing who we need to slap about. The story is pretty good, to be honest, and has been more than sufficient to keep my interest.
But what about the actual gameplay then, I hear you ask? Well, what we have here is pretty much a side-scrolling Metroidvania type game. This is very much in the mould of other classic Metroidvania games, as when you complete missions, you are granted new powers, which then open up new areas for you to explore. However, this will bear a little explanation…
Each character in the team has what is called an aspect, basically a special power. Ruby has a dash ability that can be used in the air, allowing her to cross wider gaps than the others. Weiss can make platforms to stand on, allowing her to get higher than the other characters, especially when it is upgraded as she can create platforms on top of platforms. Blake’s power sees her make copies of herself that not only can attack enemies, but which can also be used to solve puzzles involving pressure plates. Finally, Yang has a super powerful ground pound type punch that will break blocks, , powering up to take down even bigger ones. In this way, using the various abilities of the different team members will allow you to make progress through the levels.
These levels are accessed through a large world map, with new destinations unlocked by talking to bystanders who will tell you about new places to visit. Helpfully, as new areas become available in the places you have already explored, there is a red exclamation symbol placed on them to signify that something needs to be done. Exploring all the locations is a very good idea, as taking in every nook and cranny can lead you to chests containing Skill points, in addition to mission critical items.
As you’d suspect, Skill points unlock new levels in four categories for each of the four ladies, with attack, defence, energy gain and ranged attacks all able to be powered up. Honestly, attack and defence is pretty much all you need, but there is an achievement for powering up all the team members all the way, so you might as well go nuts.
The majority of RWBY: Arrowfell will see you wandering about, ready to give any enemies that you see a good kicking. Luckily there does seem to be a never ending supply of them, ready to be slapped about. What is good is that each of the characters attacks in a different way, from Ruby’s giant scythe that has very good range, to Yang’s bare fists, which have rubbish range but a lot of power. Finding the right character to battle each enemy, never mind each boss, is a good challenge. Obviously, as you do kill many enemies, you’d end up with a face off against the boss of the area, and again, these are a good mixed bunch, ranging from a giant mammoth Grimm via giant mech suits, right down to folk with mechanical arms, for instance.
The issue I have is that the bosses are pretty easy to kill, with some of the “Ambush!” screens earlier in the level seemingly harder to take on than the ultimate enemy. Buy a couple of healing items, which are used from the pause screen, making it a safe pursuit, and there’s a chance you will never be defeated.
It all means that RWBY: Arrowfell is a lot of fun, with a real urge to not only follow the story through but to explore every inch of the game world. The difficulty is set a tad on the easy side, without a doubt, but it is still fun to fight the foes and figure out new strategies to utilise the various powers of the girls.
If you like the anime, RWBY: Arrowfell is an easy sell, but even without that love, this is a likeable enough experience to draw you in and make it worth your time. Give it a whirl!
RWBY: Arrowfell is on the Xbox Store
