World to the West Review

Review World to the West | 2D  puzzler Teslagrad is a helluva game, so I was pretty excited when developer Rain Games and SOEDESCO announced World to the West for Xbox One. Not only because of the developer but also for the 3D jump.  Read on and see what I think about this adventure!

THE GOOD

  • Charming cast of characters that all play differently, my favorite is the Zangief (Street Fighter) lookalike Clonington.  It’s a pretty wonderful thing to see all the little details and different gameplay features from the four playable characters. Your only connection in the beginning is a totem with all the faces from the confused party and a weird witch-like old lady that talks about a bigger meaning on why the four come together. All of them have different goals and reasons why they come to the mysterious place, seeing it all come together is truly marvelous.
  • The working together gameplay and the dynamic and frequently clever solutions for solving puzzles is what makes the game special and unique. It starts pretty easy and you don’t immediately think that the game will provide some brain twisters, don’t worry though, the puzzles aren’t an impossible thing to solve and it stays fun to play the game.
  • Visually the game left me with a painting impression, it has a very specific style that is highly recognisable and colorful. I loved how the clothing from characters moved while walking around, giving it a very life-like feeling. While the animations can be a like woody, I still loved how each character has his own style. Same can be said about the enemies, more variation would have been welcome but you have some very adorable fluffy enemies, so cute that you’ll regret hurting them!
  • Another reason why World to the West could charm me was the magical soundtrack. You’ll come across some catchy fairytale music, that don’t feel out-of-place or repetitive. It gave the right atmosphere and feelings.

Mixed Feelings

  • You always have a clear objective and a marker on your map so you don’t get lost. World to the West doesn’t hold your hand though, sometimes things can become confusing. Meaning that you have a couple of minutes that you are clueless about how to reach your destination.
  • Reaching the final area requires you to find and collect some hidden scrolls. (they all give you an Achievement too!) It’s a shame most of them are only reachable near the ending, meaning you will need an elephant memory to keep track on some of them.

THE BAD

  • My one and only complain is that you can control only one character at a time. It makes absolute zero sense that you need to travel the same path twice because other characters don’t follow you. I understand that some characters can’t use some pathways because they don’t have the right skills but still… Some kind of teleportation ability that could summon other playable characters would have been a great and fun solution.

Score: 82% | World to the West is a journey you won’t forget, full with adorable characters and a mysterious story. I was totally charmed by the cute visuals and sound, making it a game that I can recommend for everyone!