January:February:March:April:May:June:39) Super Dodge Ball (NES) (9.5) (6/1) (~15 minutes)40) Bare Knuckle III (GEN) (7.5) (6/3) (~1 hour)41) Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES) (9.5) (6/5) (~30 minutes)42) Wizards & Warriors X: Fortress of Fear (GB) (4.0) (6/8) (~1 hour)43) Castlevania: The Adventure (GB) (3.5) (6/9) (~1 hour)44) Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King (PC) (8.0) (6/15) (~8.5 hours)45) Streets of Rage (GEN) (9.0) (6/17) (~45 minutes)46) Ghouls 'N Ghosts (GEN) (6.5) (6/17) (~4 hours)47) Contra: Hard Corps (GEN) (8.5) (6/18) (~50 minutes)48) Mighty Gunvolt Burst (NS) (7.5) (6/23) (~3 hours?)49) Exile's End (PC) (8.0) (6/24) (~5 hours)So,
Exile's End is done. I knew it looked a
ton like
Inescapable, and, well, it's the same guy. There are some big-name Japanese veterans in on the game as well, including Keiji Yamagishi (
Ninja Gaiden composer) and some folks that worked on
Secret of Mana.
Interestingly, the game doesn't bill itself as a Metroidvania, but by some measures, it is. It lacks the sort of level-up progression of the
Castlevania side, but it definitely includes its fair share of unlocked abilities to enable progression, a map system to get around (something
Inescapable lacked!), and a few hidden rooms for optional upgrades as well. But it does feel a bit closer to its stated inspiration, Commodore 64/Amiga games of a somewhat non-linear nature. There's probably a little
Flashback/
Out of This World as well, although the controls are much more responsive.
Early on, the game is pretty tough, but this gradually starts to smooth out, especially once you get the shock absorbers so you can fall from any height without taking damage. There are also some instant death spikes to worry about... but the game is quite lenient, giving a checkpoint each screen with the auto-save, and four save slots, which record progress at each screen transition.
Graphically, I love the look of the game. It really does look like a period piece in a lot of ways, with some spiffy-looking but somewhat repetitive tiling that would have indicated a lack of memory back in the day. The executable itself was a whopping 31 MB, of which you have to figure a fair amount was the soundtrack.
Gunplay is fun, once you get one. You've got a bit of a pause between shots that you have to account for, and the weapon is governed by an energy meter. Enemies will cough up crystals to restore that, though. You'll also find other guns, but they tend to consume a
lot of juice. There are also a few limited-ammunition items like a machine gun, grenades, and a grenade launcher. You'll also find first-aid kits scattered about, but these do
not replenish, so be careful you don't use 'em all up. You can only carry one of those at a time, too, so feel free to use one if you're almost dead and come across one in an area you'll never revisit. Enemies will also drop restoratives, although not quite as often as you'd like.
There are a few boss battles, with the best option there being the grenade launcher, if you have it, then finishing things off with your SMG. Or throwing grenades, that works too.
I wish that the game did a little better job building up suspense in spots, because it doesn't always feel like it maximizes parts of its story. I would have loved to have known a bit more about the protagonist outside of the intro sequence. I also wish the game would lead you just a little bit more. It can be quite cryptic about where to go next. One particular spot is quite egregious, and if I hadn't decided to check a Let's Play, I would likely have been stuck for a while... although I'd probably have uncovered some other secrets in the process.
Anyway, for the whopping $5 I dropped on the game, I definitely got my money's worth. I probably should have bought it a while back, despite the "Mixed" reviews on Steam. This, like
Inescapable, was a game that somehow was greater than the sum of its parts.