No Light, we tried a 2D action game with interesting ideas

Zelart, with the support of publisher HypeTrain Digital, is working on a new fantasy action game set in a violent and dark world. we had a chance try No Light thanks to a PC demo and we’ll tell you our first impressions in our article.

no light

No Light takes place in a world where human civilization has been hit by a single person. global catastrophe. The survivors took shelter in a series of underground tunnels, creating a new religion-based society. Sunshine has been forgotten and they are now pursuing a new god, the Great Hand.

This is clearly not a particularly benevolent god, especially from the point of view of our hero. The armed elite in charge of Central Station kidnaps his wife and steals the child he is carrying. Every few years, a few newborns They were chosen to be carried out through the doors of the Sanctuary, where they would become guards, according to Creed, and help the Great Hand fight monsters lurking on the surface.

to ours hero, however, this is by no means important. The demo begins with the Hero trying to reach the Central Station and stop the ritual. Of course, he is almost killed. A shadowy figure, not human, will save us and spend the next year training to make us warriors. With the resurrection forces on our side, we try to get beyond the gates again, but we find that we need various keys hidden in the four corners of the tunnels. Thus begins our journey.

Cloak and Dagger

Ahead of our hero will be a long journey (30 hours, according to the developers), but in our test we have to explore the early stages of the game. Let’s start with the game, or rather battle system.

No Light allows us to use a variety of weapons with different moves and abilities. However, the essence of the combat system is the same. The character can do something very simple combo a charged blow, which is a move in a sprint with two blows or the basic sword. It can also dodge and use a short-duration, low-resistance shield that seemed useless in our experiment.

this battle system He clearly doesn’t want us to be too defensive, but he also prevents us from playing randomly attacking. The cooldown after combo and charged attack is quite long by the standard of an action game. The idea of ​​No Light is that each attack is made at the right time, just before the enemy strikes. Common enemies have a red icon over their heads to indicate an incoming attack – hitting them interrupts their movement.

To all this is added the fact that the attacker is to blame. anger stick. When full, a special attack can be used. The bar will empty very quickly if we don’t hit it, so you need to maintain good attack speed if you want to take advantage of this offensive move. When this attack kills an enemy, you fill one of the five icons. When all five are charged, the next enemy killed with the special power drops an item that heals one life point if hit in time.

We will also have access to disposable treatments, but this is a rare commodity. In the course of the game, we believe it will be good to learn how to use it.special attack to stay healthy. The problem is that in some cases you get the cure even if you don’t need it and you have to reinstall the icons. Since the special attack seems to be attacking at a decent speed, it gives the impression that those who are a little less skilled might find it difficult to use all these game systems together, thus increasing the difficulty of their game. However, this is a potential issue that should be analyzed in the final version.

a living world

But in There is No Light, you don’t spend all your time fighting. We’ve already researched some of what we’ve tried. City, where there are many citizens ready to chat with us. Some will offer “just” a bit of narrative insight, with comments or actual conversations about the game world. But others will also ask for our opinion on some issues that bother us, such as a man who has to decide whether to steal medicine from a neighbor for his children. Our response causes a change in the hash system.

this mixed Although it is not clear how this will happen, it will have an impact on the game world. But the most interesting aspect of this system has to do with the fact that we can get negative karma through a number of game options.

If we are faced with a difficult battle and there is no remedy, a plant will emerge that will allow us to gain healing after death and rebirth. But by taking it we get negative karma. Likewise, exploring dungeons will unlock gods. teleportation. After death, it will be possible to use this magical shortcut to jump directly to the area where we fell in battle. But we will still get negative karma.

It’s an interesting idea, but it will depend entirely on how problematic it is to get negative karma. This will also be included in the final version.

Likewise, we’ll have to see how the story unfolds and how in-depth the lore will be. There was a lot to read and discover in the demo (no italiansorry), but for now it was just the beginning. Even the shadowy figure that helped us would probably have something to hide.