For those of you who aren’t aware, I’m been waiting for MIGHTREYA for quite sometime. Mainly due to the fact I was really in love with Assault Spy and was thrilled to hear that the developer was working on another game. A few years ago I attempted to get an interview with them, but they said the game wasn’t close to being ready yet and they’d do it once it was getting closer to release. Fast forward to now, and it seems they’re having a playtest on Steam and I managed to get in!
Also, I’m going to focus on a few things; The opening setup (Getting Started), Title Menu/Main Menu, Levels & Enemies, and Aesthetics & Combat. Also, the camera is a massive problem I feel; but I didn’t want to dedicate an entire section to it. I briefly talk about it in the “Aesthetics” section because it is part of the overall look of the game.
NOTICEThis is covering the MIGHTREYA playtest which has “Discord demo Ver. 1.02” at the bottom; pending additional releases, I will create new articles for those.
First off, the game greets you with a menu that has the options “Language, Game, Controller, Camera, Sound, UI, and PC Settings: “Language”, “Game”, “Controller”, “Camera”, “Sound”, “UI”, and “PC Setting”. All of which present different options; though not all of them are apparently reflected in game per some of the complaints already in Steam’s “Discussion” section of the game.
- LANGUAGE — Gives you the option between Japanese and English text and voice overs, despite there being no voice acting within the current demo.
- GAME — Gives the option between turning Vibration On/Off and the Difficulty to either Normal/Story.
- CONTROLLER — Shows the default controller options for the game and also allows you to remap them; doesn’t have an option to go back to default.
- CAMERA — Has options for “Invert Vertical Axis”, “Invert Horizontal Axis”, “Vertical Camera Speed”, “Horizontal Camera Speed”, “Camera Distance”, “Field of View”, and “Auto Rotate”.
- SOUND — Gives options for “Master Volume”, “BGM (Background Music)”, “Sound Effect”, and “Voice”.
- UI — Has options for the controller type of “X” or “PS” for either Xbox or Playstation.
- PC SETTING — Has options for “Keyboard & Mouse” (Remappable controls) and “Video Settings” (Display Mode, Window Size, Resolution, Texture, Anti-Aliasing, Shadow, and Post Processing).
All of these options seem pretty basic and standard; nothing out of the ordinary and nothing too flashy. It’s a demo, so only this is actually needed and it’s enough options in my opinion for the type of game that MIGHTREYA is.
The main menu gives you several options; Level 1, Level 2, Test Level, Options, and Quit.
- LEVEL 1 — Simply how a standard stage for MIGHTREYA might look; complete with some dialogue between characters, enemy waves, some platforming, and the basic gameplay loop of combat.
- LEVEL 2 — A look at how boss battles might play out in MIGHTREYA; features an oversized opponent.
- TEST LEVEL — A calm, “Training Mode” type atmosphere in which to explore the combat and possibilities within MIGHTREYA.
- OPTIONS — The same things covered in the “Getting Started” section above.
- QUIT — Simply return back to the Title Screen/Main Menu.
To be fair, I think a lot of the negative reviews come from the fact that, while the game is unpolished, the “Test Level” is third on this list. Most people have already sloppily made their way through the first and second levels, clumsily discovering how to fight and play mechanics before they learn how to ACTUALLY do things purposefully. Some might have actually gotten frustrated and quit or simply had a terrible representation on the game based on ignorance. Lack of knowledge can warp perspective versus playing with certain things in mind; the way you lead can certainly make a massive difference in how things can play out.
Here, I’m going to be discussing my impressions of the current overall aesthetic, the levels we have to explore, and my overall opinion on the enemies that we fight.
ENEMIESTo be fair, part of “Enemies’ goes with the combat section, but I’m putting it here since it contributes to the overall look and thus feel of the game.
Our main protagonist calls them “Kaiju”, while the official game description calls them “monstrous beings that emerge daily from a dimension beyond”. While they are supposed to be monsters, they resemble more robots to me. Anyone who played “Assault Spy” can see the resemblance between the type of robotic design we picture here; I DON’T LIKE IT.
I feel like if we’re going to be fighting monsters that there should be either more variety, humanoid, or weird. They feel like simple drones that we slap around through most of the levels and the boss which appears in Level 2 seems more-or-less like a mecha we need to smash up. Improving upon enemy types and designs will be paramount to make it seem as though we’re fighting beings from another dimension.
LEVELSThe first thing that happens when you load Level 1 is Reya commenting on the state of the city, “Did the city just collapse?! Are we in an apocalypse?!”. My guess is that this dialogue is suppose to explain exactly why the place looks the way it does. Still, I think a regular, urban environment would’ve been better than some fantastical city floating. Nio also adds that, “Seems like the timeline did a little…hop!”, so it’s possible that things are displaced between of some time-spatial distortion. In my opinion, doesn’t really help things.
The environments themselves are suppose to provide an opportunity to make use of her Jump, Sash, and Point Jump abilities, but does not really add much to the mix. Reminds me of some of the levels you’d fine in Dusk Diver, which makes sense within that game but not within this one (so far). The description seems as though these Kaiju are appearing from a dimension within ours, so why is Reya instead being pulled into a time-distortion where they are?! Maybe this is simply a later level, but one cannot be sure as of yet.
Overall, I’m not enthused by what I saw. I am hoping that the later levels add some more variety and we more of an everyday environment to compliment our seemingly ordinary student-turned-super hero.
First off, the aesthetics for the game are actually pretty good considering you know this isn’t a AAA game. It has an anime-style aesthetic that you’d find similar to a bunch of other generic ones; it isn’t the prettiest but it has charm. The design of the protagonist (Reya) and her manager (Nio) are very good, and I even like the transformation sequence from school girl into super hero.
The way you dash while being blurred and kicking up “speed lines” on the screen, the giant energy hand appearing out of thin air to smash opponents into the scenery with loads of dust kicking up, there’s so much here to appreciate. Hell, even the hand grabbing enemies reminiscent of Nero’s “Devil Bringer” in Devil May Cry 4 and slamming them into other enemies is beautifully done. The artistic direction of “generic anime game” is saved due to the emphasis on small things like those speed lines and the chaos of the combat kicking up effects everywhere.
However, we can’t just talk about the positives, we also need to discuss some of the negative things I found visually with the game. To begin with, a lot of the issues that spawn is exactly the way the game is presented in terms of how the camera interacts with the beautiful chaos that is being unleashed. Zooming in too close at times doesn’t allow you to see exactly what is happening to the enemy, obscured
Another issue I have with the aesthetics happens to be elements within the “UI”. While I genuinely like the super meters that they have, the electricity symbol with the percentage of your gauge filled isn’t a very appealing font (though it is very readable). Also, the giant “ENEMY INVASION” and “VICTORY” symbols that appear feel inspired by the ultra-large text either found in GUILTY GEAR -STRIVE- or within “Shoot em’ up” style boss battles. I’m not feeling it and would hope they went for a different approach; maybe smaller with Japanese symbols and other imagery to give it a more sleek and “cool” feel.
COMBAT- CONTROLS — Attack 1: Regular attack which builds gauge; Attack 2: Allows you to use your EX Gauge; Sub-attack: Secondary attack, currently shoots a projectile; Dash: Allows to dash on the ground, in mid-air, run-up walls, and dodge incoming attacks; Jump: Allows for you to jump, also double-jump in mid-air; Dive: High-speed movement from the air to the ground; Grab/Throw: Grab an enemy or object to attack or throw; Point Jump: Allows for the protagonist to jump to predetermined points during levels.
The Combat within MIGHTREYA is its shining point; it allows you to go absolutely CRAZY if you’re able to chain certain things together; such as Attack 1 into an EX Attack, which you would then grab the enemy and throw them into another one. The gameplay in itself is extremely simple and easy to understand after a bit, but is definitely fun once you begin to get into the swing of things.
The issue in and of itself so far is the variety of attacks that you’re able to do; simply grabbing an enemy to either punch or throw them into another one isn’t very stimulating after the 4th or 5th time you’ve did it in a row. The “Sub” attack button (LB) shoots a projectile which afterwards makes the heroine hover in the air for a slight moment, which feels and looks particularly weird; also this attack does no real impact or seems fast enough to chain into any other combos.
Something else that isn’t shown is that you can “Hold” attack moves to get certain other properties; Attack 1 is a triple hit combo which knocks the opponent away, and doing it from a distance allows you to “Warp” to an enemy and smash them versus flying at high-speed in a straight line and hitting them. You get a different projectile with your Sub Attack, which is her performing the actions with both hands. If you do so with your Attack 2, you’re able to use multiple levels of your gauge to do greater damage with your summoned fist; though no idea why you would do it since single attacks into throw seems quite-strong.
Something else I want to talk about is dodging. I had no idea how to dodge initially until fighting the boss and experimenting; the “Dash” button also allows you to also DODGE! It’s a pretty cool time-slow effect where the protagonist dodges with multiple after-images where she can then launch an attack.
LOCK ON is something that NEEDS to be within this game! While fighting the boss in Level 2, I kept losing track of him as he dashed at high speeds and needed to manually adjust my camera to follow him. This also occurred when fighting lesser enemies which arrows pointed to, but was easier to find because of them mostly being immobile. Horrid camera movement and no manual lock-on feature is a recipe for frustration and disaster; I very much advise them to fix this issue.
Currently, I think that MIGHTREYA is a game I would still be picking up if it released within the state it did; but probably not one I’d buy at full price. It’s a game with a lot of personality already, and I can see the vision and ambition which is poured into it. However, it still needs A LOT of polish, adjustments, and fine tuning to make it a game which will build hype to make it more successful than Assault Spy and break through the realm of indie obscurity.
The characters themselves are designed well and the game has a lot of charm due to its chaotic combat and special effects. It’s held back by bland level and enemy design, horrid camera work (with no lock-on), and a current lack of combat variety which dulls the already exciting combat loop.
I’ll be keeping an eye out for additional playtests which should promote tweaks, adjustments, and possibly get a more completed product into the hands of would-be players.
(No Ratings Yet)
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