Nintendo Switch – Embers of Mirrim #82

Wish there was some solid story telling….

Embers of Mirrim – Nintendo Switch – Released: 12/7/17 – $19.99

Short Review (Review copy provided by Creative Bytes Studios)

This game isn’t very bad but it isn’t very good either. The game suffers from not enough story telling. These “wolves” are both shown off separately before they come to together to make a god type of wolf.  I really wish this was better explained since I want to like this game but don’t really care about the problems these characters have or what they are even doing in the game. The controls are really solid which makes me enjoy this game a lot when I fall to my death I know it was my fault. The game is a nice mix of platforming with some light puzzle solving. You use the two wolves to turn into glowing orbs that can move anywhere on the screen in a set time limit. This is where the puzzle aspect plays its part by forcing players to think about their movement before moving. I really enjoy these sections of the game since even though many of them are easy I found myself dying a few times. I would like to recommend this game but at the price point it is a bit high. The game’s story isn’t told well outside of two opposing forces joining together to deal with an unknown force.

Icon is a bit too small for my liking since you can’t tell what is going on:

Story

The opening scene shows two clans of wolves talking to each other when a “god” like being comes down and the two clans go their own ways. We see them again far away from each other. They see a threat in the distance and they seem to send their best warrior to go against it. One is shown with the ability to glide while the other is shown the ability to slam into the ground. They end up meeting at a building where they are given powers to turn into embers. Once they reach the top they are combined to form a single “god-like” wolf? They venture out of the building together to confront the enemy united as one. This is the most I got out of the story’s opening scenes like I said I just wish it had some some of voice over telling us what we were looking at during the opening.

Gameplay

The game is rather simple and since you play as the wolves separately in the beginning you don’t worry about it when they join up. The game starts off with the wolf that can slam into the ground and has a few easy examples of when to use it. The blocks are easy to identify as ones you can slam down into so you never question when it is time to use it. The other wolf is shown gliding and gives you a short running section to teach you about running and combining the two together. Each wolves once in the building learn about their ember power which turns them into orbs that can float. This allows them to move through objects of the same color or trigger switches. There will be times when the length of the orb can be extended or made indefinite until you leave an area.

Personal Experience

This game is really fun, story aside, it was a game that I kept coming back and had the feeling of “one more try” with each death. The game’s puzzles aren’t very hard but there are varied enough that I enjoyed all of them. The game has one job and it does it very well, the combination of slamming, flight, running, and turning into embers it done very well. Story is lacking but it can be forgiven since the game presents a very solid platformer and puzzles.

Final Thoughts

I would say if this game was price at $15, go for it! It is a game that does very well at what it is suppose to do but the lack of story telling and the pop ins can be a bit rough. The game does suffer from a lot of pop in which you can see in the gameplay footage. It seems to be mainly from anytime a new area is shown with a lot in the background but if you can dismiss that you have a great game. The game also has a demo which really shows what you can do in the game so try it out. Check out the footage and I think you will enjoy what this game has to offer.

UPDATE: 5/31/18

I would give this game an 8 out of 10!

My Gameplay Footage:

Trailer:

End Credits

This week has been pretty solid I actually have a full week of reviews ready for publishing. I like to post only once a week not to bombard people with reviews since there is a nice handful of people who get emails for each time I post and my twitter followers. Hopefully you enjoyed this full week of reviews! Next week should be the same since like I said I have a full week prepped and ready to go.

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