This was a game that wasn’t on my radar at all. I received an email for the PR team asking if I wanted to review this Metroidvania and I checked out the trailer and it looked like something I’d enjoy checking out. So after installing I quickly found myself excited to do this Noreya: The Gold Project review. As I continued to play things would go up and down for the game. Safe to say that I have lots of thoughts about it.
Let’s get into it.
The Narrative:
In Noreya: The Gold Project, you play as the fierce warrior, Kali who is on a mission to uncover the truth behind the subjugation of her people. At the start of the journey, The God of Greed turned her to a dark shade and now she must fight her way to the hub of the city of Gold and choose which God is she going to support.
I like that there is a present story with this game and the world is rich with mystery and lore for you to discover during your journey. While you can argue that the story isn’t the most compelling, it is serviceable and it’s present. That is more than I can say for a lot of games in the Metroidvania genre.
The Gameplay:
Noreya: The Gold Project introduces a unique twist that caught my attention. While it shares similarities with many Metroidvanias, such as featuring a skill tree, what sets it apart is how these skills are tied to different Gods or Deities. Depending on which deity I focused my prayers on, I could unlock additional skills within their respective branches of the skill tree. However, I had a limited number of points to invest, which meant choosing one path often closed off others, thereby altering the sequence of exploration and combat encounters. The deity I favored determined not only my abilities but also influenced the overall gameplay experience, injecting a fresh layer of strategy and replayability into a genre that’s currently quite saturated.
Despite the depth of the skill system, the combat itself feels surprisingly straightforward. Notably absent are mechanics like dodge rolls, blocks, or parries, as well as ranged attacks. This simplicity is compounded by enemies that can strike through your attacks with minimal telegraphing, making it challenging to avoid damage. Even basic foes can withstand multiple hits, turning engagements into repetitive cycles of strike and retreat. This combat dynamic becomes particularly arduous against bosses; the first encounter alone proves daunting, requiring players to engage at close range with little defense, relying solely on timing and positioning to survive and succeed.
Another part of the gameplay that I enjoyed is the boss fights and the chase scenes where you have to run through the stage from giant enemies. The boss fights are varied and each one makes you think and strategize. The chase scenes work well with another aspect of the gameplay that I think is well done and that is the game’s platforming. The platforming is smooth, slick, and its well constructed.
Additional Pros:
The music and sounds in Noreya: The Gold Project are phenomenal. The Soundtrack has some synths and strings that work well to help create an atmosphere that feels mysterious, foreboding, and ominous. The game is composed by Sarys and MisterMV, two artist that I didn’t know about, but no they’ve made a fan out of me. The main theme is one that is so well done and crafted that I didn’t mind listening to it on repeat. The sounds, especially the ones made by the different enemy types are well crafted and to the atmosphere.
Boy oh boy this game is a looker. The 2D-pixel artstyle is so beautiful and stylish that it’s not a hot take to say that this is one of the best 2D-pixel game artsyle-wise so far in 2024. The cutscenes as well are superb. It didn’t matter what area I was in, I found myself stunned by how good the game and the different biomes looked.
Cons/Flaws:
I found that some of the systems weren’t explained fully and sometimes not at all. This adds to the sense of discovery, but as someone who likes to know what I’m doing at all time, I found this aspect a bit annoying. I like to play games away from my PC nowadays on my Steam Deck, so when I found out that this was playable on the Steam Deck I got excited. This types of games always feels like they were made to be played on a handheld. Sadly this turned out to be one of my biggest disappointments. I updated my Deck and updated the game yet I found that the game does launch, but you can’t pick an option in the main menu. In other words, no matter what I did, I was stuck on the main menu screen.
Another aspect that had me scratching my head is some of the upgrades in the skill tree. I hated that fast travel is unlockable in the skill tree. If you don’t take fast travel, you are committing to making the long trek through large Biomes.
I’m hesitant to put this as a con, but some are for sure going to complain about this aspect…The game is surprisingly short. You can probably beat it in about 6 hours or less. I would argue that this is the game not overstaying it’s welcome, yet I can see that this would be an issue for those looking for a beefy game.
Overall/Should you Play Noreya: The Gold Project Review:
You made it to the end of this review and you are probably guessing that I’m a bit mixed on the game. I’m surprised to say this, but despite my qualms, I think that the highs of the game far outweigh the game’s pain points. While it isn’t the best in class in it’s genre for 2024, If you are a Metroidvania fan then you can’t go wrong picking this game up. The artstyle, soundtrack, unique concept of the God’s themed skill tree, and fun gameplay add up to make Noreya: The Gold Project a dope Single Player experience.
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