So I’ve mentioned in the Single Player Experience Podcast, that I haven’t connected to the Soulsborne games because of the way that they tell narratives. Other than Seikro you have to find lore pieces around the world that you use to cobble together the story. I have a hard time getting into games like that. With the Last Hero of Nostalgaia I don’t have that hurdle at all. It is a game that has the gameplay of classic Dark Souls games and the storytelling style of Fable. It’s a mixture that is a usual combo. So how is the game overall?
Let’s dive into it.
Narrative:
In The Last Hero of Nostalgaia you play as a stick man who has the ability to reverse the powerful curse that affects Nostalgaia. This curse causes everyone to forget who they are and become pixelated. This is a fresh story that fits so well with this game. It provides an explanation of why the game looks Retro and sets the tone for your adventure.
As opposed to the Soulsbourne method where you are given the story in lore pieces you find, this game takes the more traditional route. It tells you everything that’s going on through cut scenes or the entertaining narrator. For those that like the Soulsborne was of storytelling fear not because the game still has lore pieces that add some additional context to the world. I love the charm that this game has. It’s witty and spontaneously funny, and the story makes the Retro Ps3/Xbox 360 look that it has makes contextual sense.
Gameplay:
The game plays like Dark Souls. You kill an enemy you get souls points to level up your character. You die you have the chance to go recover your lost souls. The game does have some difficulty to it even though I’d argue that it’s not quite as hard as the Dark Souls games. You can choose the souls-like skills and abilities to level up your character. You get the gist. The combat emphasizes you being patient for the perfect moment to strike, unlike Seikro which rewards aggressive offense.
The game overall is a fun time, especially the boss fights. Those are exceptional offering a mixture of different opponents that have different abilities and skills that you have to overcome.
Additional Pros:
Right off the bat, I have to point out that I was blown away by the enemy variety in the game. There were so many different types of grunts that stands in your way in each area of the game. You face miners, Knights, scarecrows, paper villagers, skeletons, people who look like they are wearing other people’s faces, and many more. All of these baddies have their own movesets that you have to learn or they will kill you.
The best aspect of the game is by far the game’s environment design. Everything area ties into another. All the shortcuts tie into a nearby beacon and all the elevators are placed in points that make sense. You can tell that there was a lot of love and thought put into the design of the world.
Another aspect that impressed me is the references to other games that are in this game. Your weapons are often weapons that you’ve seen in other games, like Cloud’s sword, Link’s Shield, Master Chief’s armor, and more. This game feels like a love letter to video games and even some 90s cartoons. It’s so dope that the game’s narrative made all these references feel like they naturally belonged in this world.
Another aspect that deserves praise is the game’s sound design. For example, you can hear the clinking sounds of your weapon hitting metal, the splash noises as your navigating in water, and the clanking noise when you move in metal armor.
Flaws/Cons:
Even though this game feels extremely polished there are some glitches here and there. For example, I managed to dodge roll through a wall and out of the game’s world. Of course, I died as a result, but thankfully I was able to recover my souls. There were a couple of instances as well where my character would glitch a bit while riding the elevators. I didn’t go through the floor or anything so not the biggest deal. Outside of that thankfully I didn’t find any other technical issues.
Another flaw that I found about the game is that it’s a challenge to use the sprint mechanic. To do this you have to hold the L3 button down while also moving the analog stick around. This is a tiring process on the thumb. It feels like the running system could have been mapped better.
Overall/Should You Play The Last Hero of Nostalgaia:
If you are craving an experience that is similar to the linear gameplay of the Dark Souls games then you should check out this game. It combines the methodical be patient or die gameplay with a story that is engaging, humorous, and straightforward. While it does have cons like its running button input and some glitches this is one of the best Souls alternatives that you can play currently. One of the highest praises that I can give this game is that I was compelled to beat it making it the second souls-like game that I’ve rolled credits on. That is something that I can’t say about the mainline souls games.
Where should The Last Hero of Nostalgaia fit in your video game backlog list:
Here at the ProNerd Report and on the Single Player Experience Podcast, we practice the 10 games backlog rule. In this practice, you log down 10 games, those games are gonna be your video game backlog. To be as productive as you possibly can be, we recommend that you only play three games at one time. One single player narrative game, one game that’s gonna be your chill and relaxed game, and another game that’s going to be your palate cleanser game, which is a game that you play when you’re not in the mood for your other narrative. When you complete or get tired of one game, it leaves the backlog list. Then you decide which new game is added to the list, and which game on the list advances to your active three games.
The Lost Hero of Nostalgaia – This is a game that should be in your narrative slot or your pallet cleaner slot. If you like the wit that is found in the fable games then the narrative in this game should be engaging enough for your pallet cleanser spot. It could also be the game you go to when you want a break from another narrative heavy game.Â
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