High Strangeness borrows its name from the real-life term used by those who study UFO sightings to describe an inability to explain one's experience with an extraterrestrial. Fittingly, this bizarre title offers gameplay and visuals in both 16-bit and 8-bit styles, which the developers attempt to explain as a "12-bit adventure" which, on the surface, is quite unlike any other offering. Here we'll explore whether the journey of High Strangeness succeeds at blending two very different visual styles, as well as whether the game's mechanics do justice to adventure games of old.
We begin our adventure following the exploits of our protagonist Boyd, who is a seemingly normal young man just trying to find his runaway cat. While we'll spare the spoilers here, the story quickly unfolds and Boyd finds himself part of a much larger set of circumstances which involve the fate of not only his world, but those beyond as well. The narrative strikes a nice balance between telling an engaging story (if somewhat brief and derivative) and not taking itself too seriously. The dialogue is lighthearted, there are a number of references to Nintendo games, and the game does a more than decent job of keeping the player invested in what will happen next. Things do end rather abruptly, however, and seemingly just as the pace begins to pick up.
High Strangeness's gameplay is standard top-down adventure fare. B swings a flashlight (which really functions more as a sword here) and A uses one of a variety of weapons which can be swapped out in a menu accessed with the X button. Boyd has both a health and a mana meter, with the second functioning much like the stamina attribute from Souls games (attacks deplete mana which refills over time). Enemies drop "eyes" when defeated, which come in two varieties: red, which restore some health, and green, which fully replenish mana instantly. The latter type is greatly appreciated, because mana depletes frustratingly quickly near the beginning of the adventure. This fact makes early boss battles a chore, but luckily our hero instantly respawns when his HP is gone (though so do enemies). The combat can be satisfying if players exercise caution with regards to the mana meter, though the lack of much variety in enemy attack patterns makes most fights a matter of dashing in to score some hits, then retreating until mana refills.
Some of the weapons mapped to A are given to the player near the start of the game, and others are powers unlocked once certain "crystal skulls" are found along the course of the narrative. All of these can be upgraded two times at certain outposts using the eyes collected from enemies. Some weapons are more useful than others, and we actually found ourselves almost exclusively using one option; yet most of these do have practical combat uses, and the puzzle solving requires use of a wide range of item types. One omission that stuck out was the inability to switch between A weapons on the fly using either the shoulder or trigger buttons. This would have made crafting strategies to win boss fights much simpler and more gratifying, and it would eliminate the hassle of entering menus to solve puzzles quickly.
The main attraction here, however, is the ability to switch between 8 and 16-bit views at will. Pressing a shoulder button switches the world to a new perspective, which is essential to solving some puzzles and defeating certain enemies. Certain weapons function differently in each view, and some enemies can only be attacked in one or the other. The concept is novel and is put to decent enough use, but unfortunately it never really "shines." Often the mechanic is relegated to uninspired puzzle solutions ("switch to 8-bit to pass through these rocks"), though there are moments that stand out (for example, switching between 8 and 16-bit quickly to navigate a changing spiky floor). Overall the implementation is so-so, but it seems like an afterthought considering how the world and bosses aren't designed around it.
High Strangeness's visuals are nice to look at and the sprites have a very pleasant attention to detail. The 8-bit visuals are a delightful and faithful throwback, as are the environments and sprites in the more detailed 16-bit view. The enemy design could stand to feature a bit more variety, but the overall art direction is impressive and works alongside the bit-switching mechanic. The soundtrack, meanwhile, is shockingly good for a title as seemingly low-budget as this; all of the tunes in High Strangeness are memorable and contribute perfectly to the game's weird (in a good way) atmosphere. The whole audio-visual package comes together quite nicely and makes for a great experience from beginning to end (though that time may be a short one).
Conclusion
High Strangeness is a well constructed game which does a lot of things right with regards to its core mechanics and presentation. Unfortunately the implementation of its main hook is somewhat lackluster, and the game is really a bit short given the asking price. However, a great deal of love has gone into crafting this retro homage. Players who love good old fashioned adventure games won't be disappointed if they give High Strangeness a chance.
Comments 13
This might be a little too retro for my taste. Don't Mind the occasional retro side scroller but not so much RPG.
I really like the 8 and 16 bit transformation in this game to solve puzzles and such. Very similar to the light and dark world transformation in A Link to the Past. This will definitely be a future eShop purchase for me.
Sounds like the kind of game I'd be interested in. I'll add it to my wishlist and get it after I get a few 3D Classics and VC games.
I was worried that bit swapping thing was little more than a gimmick and it sounds like I was right.
I'm in on this one. I was waiting for a review. I'm not sold completely but I'm almost done with Tropical Freeze (hard one)after that is done I'm in.
@River3636:
You aren't the only one finishing Tropical Freeze lol
I don't know why, but I feel like the creator took inspiration from Secret of Evermore in crafting this game. Weird. But either way, maybe I can catch this game on a sale in the future. In the meantime, it will fit nicely into my backlog.
Couldn't wait for the review. The music got me. Bought the game and downloaded the music from Bandcamp. Love it.
@MelomMan that tropical freeze has me trying to find everything.
It is but they say the game is not long and lacks a in depth story.
Sounds pretty good. Add to Wishlist...
The 8-bit to 16-bit aspect reminds me of Super Paper Mario's 2d to 3d shtick.
This game sounds unique, despite its throwback retro roots. I'll pick it up!
@River3636 Paper Mario N 64 is no good and this game is low quality.
@River3636 I've owned that game since launch, only beat it a couple weeks back, those K stages are no joke, I spent months getting frustrated and trying to beat the last one, its worth it though, more stages unlock, then its over. It was a relief, ready for more lol, just as long as its not retro developing the next one, want that metroid first...
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