Batora Lost Haven: the tried of the new role-playing game of the Italians of Stormind Games
Batora Lost Haven
When you think of Italy, you don't think first of all of a nation with a great videogame culture. This is a reputation that we have been carrying around for some time but, with effort and sweat, the boot is gradually becoming a place full of talented developers. Stormind Games, creators of Remothered Tormented Fathers (2018) and winners of various awards such as Outstanding Italian Company at IVGA (2020), stands out in particular.We are talking about a young but certainly very active team , given that after a couple of years from the previous publication it is almost ready to publish a new game: Batora Lost Haven. Putting aside the horror of Remothered, the Italian team focuses on the isometric action role-playing game and takes us on a sci-fi and fantasy journey around the galaxy.
We had the opportunity to try a demo of Batora Lost Haven and then we tasted all the fundamental components of this adventure, waiting for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X | S and Nintendo Switch.
In two in the galaxy
Avril and her friend from Batora Lost Haven Batora Lost Haven opens some time after the arrival of a catastrophe that has devastated the Earth (or a fictional version of it, if you like). We are Avril, an energetic girl who is a little too quiet in the face of danger. Her exuberance, however, leads her to discover an ancient power, that of the Sun and the Moon, divinities that give her unique abilities and charge her with a great responsibility: to save her own planet and the whole universe.The two entities will take Avril (and a friend of hers without powers) around the galaxy on various planets that have been partially devastated by the same catastrophe that has brought our protagonist's home planet to its knees. The purpose of our chosen one is to reach the core of each world and purify it, so as to restore balance.
Clearly there is something more mysterious behind our journey and already in the demo we tested there were hints of antagonists and more worrying events than it might initially seem. We will have to wait for the full version for a true judgment, also given that the plot will lead us to multiple endings based on our choices, which can be reduced into two categories: Conqueror or Defender. For now, we can say that we are intrigued by the basic idea that is inspired by the Batora novel The Awakening.
Sun and Moon
Avril and her sword of the Sun, one of the two forms by Batora Lost Haven Speaking instead of the gameplay, as already indicated in the opening Batora Lost Haven is an action role-playing game with an isometric view. Avril has two different forms of combat: Sun and Moon, respectively designed for hand-to-hand and distance combat.However, each form is only effective against enemies of the same color: this pushes you not to focus only on one method of combat and makes every fight more dynamic, since we will always have groups of mixed opponents in front of us. Plus, as you progress and unlock new moves, you gain the ability to upgrade one form while using the other - this pushes you even more to play carefully, eliminating enemies by category and optimizing damage.
Avril's combat moves, subject to a brief cooldown after each use, include powerful strikes, whirlwinds that draw enemies, dodges, barriers and area attacks. There are also moves that can only be activated if you equip certain runes.
These are Avril's upgrade system. Simply by opening chests, completing missions or buying them from merchants, we will have the possibility of obtaining various runes to equip to change the heroine's statistics. Often each bonus brings with it a malus (more basic attack but less critical chance, for example) and we can therefore customize the warrior as we prefer, giving priority to certain statistics over others. We believe this system will give its best in the later stages of the game, when we have a lot of slots and runes to use.
A Batora Lost Haven fight Upgraded or not, Avril still has to fight her opponents. The structure is that of a fairly dynamic hack 'n' slash: you must always stay in motion by choosing your position well to avoid being blocked by enemies, who are able to reset our life points if you fight by attacking with your head down. . Again, the combat becomes more interesting as you unlock skills: at first we can basically only attack, but as you advance you get more and more moves and the variety gains.
Overall, Batora Lost Haven appears to be a fast-paced game that gets better as you advance. Dungeon exploration is fast, with small rewards and fights every few steps. The variety could then be helped by the fact that each planet doesn't seem to take too long to explore and complete.
A puzzle challenge from Batora Lost Haven In addition, we will also have to face challenges between fights puzzles, which change the pace of the game by asking us to act with ingenuity rather than arm: the phases tested in the demo were quite simple, so even those who are not comfortable with the genre should have no difficulty. These are not sections that have particularly impressed us, but perhaps in the full version we will have a bit more interesting puzzles. At the very least, these too are created around using the two forms of Avril, which activate different types of switches and platforms.
Batora Lost Haven is an interesting project, with a solid foundation: the combat system is fast and dynamic, while the plot could be intriguing, although we will have to understand how varied the multiple endings will be and if the different choices will increase the replay value. The puzzle sections seemed to be the weakest part for the moment, but the full version will be able to remove all doubts.
