Saviorless caught my eye for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the hand-drawn animation wowed me when I first saw the trailer, and secondly, this is the first independent Cuban game to have been released internationally.
Empty Head Games initially crowdfunded this game back in 2016, and although successful, the team has had to face a few challenges along the way, including trademark issues with the title, losing a key member of the team, political tensions, and budget constraints. The Saviorless press kit elaborated on these issues, with the studio stating that “developing a video game in Cuba presented challenges beyond those traditionally faced by developers worldwide, such as daily power outages, lack of technical equipment, the impossibility of remote work, very limited internet access (at the time, one had to go to a public park to connect to a Wi-Fi network), and the inability to access any form of international financing or promotion, in addition to the fact that the IndieGoGo campaign fund had long been exhausted. As a final blow, a studio of industry veterans in Portland, United States, upon seeing that we didn’t have the name “Savior” trademarked—an impossibility for us from Cuba—and completely ignoring the overwhelming online presence of the game, decided to register the name “Savior” for their game, forcing our team not only to change the name to “Saviorless” but also to accept that much of the promotion we had already done was in vain.” It’s a miracle they managed to create anything, let alone a half-decent game, and it’s thanks to Dear Villagers, a French publisher based in the south of France, for coming to the rescue and not only helping the team finish the game financially but also helping to get the game released internationally.
Saviorless sets you up on a journey to the Smiling Islands, where you have to guide Antar along perilous and dangerous terrains and avoid other worldly monsters in a fantasy world to help Antar gain his biggest wish: to become a saviour in this 2D dark platformer.
While you are on Antar’s journey, the hand-drawn animation will really stand out. I admired the gorgeous 19th-century cartoonish style that they went with, with the world they created consisting of such detail in everything you see. The landscapes were heavily influenced by their home country of Cuba, with the team stating that the usual sights of poorly maintained and crumbling buildings were an inspiration for the game. The creatures you come up against have also been well designed and realised, and they really pop in the game’s visuals.
But you will not only be controlling Antar on the way to the Smiling Islands but also his avatar, The Saviour and even the antagonist of the game, Nento, with each bringing their own benefits and styles to the gameplay. For example. Antar can only walk, jump, and interact with switches, but as The Savior or Nento, he can fight and dash. It was a welcome addition, as the gameplay did start to get slightly monotonous, especially with Antar’s slow pace, so it was nice to mix it up, especially with how they play with the switching mechanic.
It’s in the gameplay that Saviorless suffers the most though, as there’s nothing that original. As you’ve read, there is plenty of platforming, pulling levers to open doors, and coming up against puzzle-solving obstacles, but it’s all been seen and experienced before. It’s the same when you are The Savior, with standard battles against those impressively designed foes or puzzles that you’ll of seen in other similar games. They do try to freshen it up a little with you controlling different types of vehicles and, at one point, a creature, which was enjoyable, but it wasn’t enough to make me go wow. There’s so much originality in the artistic side of the game that it’s a shame that it wasn’t matched in the gameplay. Even in the boss fights, I’d felt I’d seen it all before, and it didn’t take me long to figure out how to defeat it and move on. I will shout out the end of game boss though; that was a well-thought-out battle that got my heart pumping, and it received a big punch in the air once I had finally managed to defeat it.
As you journey through the land, you’ll come across torn pieces of paper. There is a set amount hidden in each of the game’s areas for you to collect. These are handed to a writer at the end of each area, and if you have found them all, you gain access to a chest that contains a coloured stone. If you manage to find all the pages and unlock all five chests, this will give you access to the game’s true ending. The trouble was that if you had progressed onto the next area and had missed a piece, you couldn’t go back later, and you’d have to start from scratch if you wanted to gain that true ending. All it would take to solve the issue would be for a chapter select screen to be made available at some point to give the player the opportunity to revisit those areas and find the missing pieces of paper.
I haven’t really touched on the narrative of the game for a reason: I’m still not sure what was happening a lot of the time. It’s a slow burner, feeding you titbits as you progress through the game. I managed to pick up a few bits here and there, and what I did learn was interesting, but there wasn’t enough backstory for me. I’m not asking for Metal Gear Solid-style hour-long cut scenes, but I would of appreciated a bit more than what we got. It’s only after finishing the game and reading the fact sheet in the press pack that things became clearer, which would of been more beneficial in the actual game.
Even with the negatives, there’s still a strong, enjoyable game here with some challenging platforming and boss fights. I did enjoy my time with the game, and it held my interest enough for me to want to progress through to the end. Considering the challenges the team faced, they have done a tremendous job; a lot of hard work has been put into the game, and the team should be proud of what they have achieved. It is an impressively good-looking game; it just needed that little bit of innovation to really take it to higher heights. If you are looking for a good, challenging 2D platformer, then Saviourless might be right up your street, but if you are wanting something a bit more innovative, then it might be best to look elsewhere.
Release Date: April 2nd, 2024
Platforms: PC, PS5 & Nintendo Switch
Price: £11.50
Many thanks to the publisher for the review copy
Version Tested: Nintendo Switch
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