Sundered

Sundered takes the indie, Metroidvania genre to new heights while showing just how good these types of experiences can be. Great gameplay could have carried this game far enough, but Thunder Lotus once again went for hand drawn art and the result is truly remarkable.

The story of Eshe is confusing and mysterious. Throughout the game there are many questions to be asked about what her goal is or how she feels about her unfortunate predicament. However, these questions fade as the drive to fulfill Eshe's unspeakable goal consumed me. I didn't care why she was doing it, I just knew that it must be important enough to put up with all of this to obtain it and that was enough for me. Parts of me wish Sundered never ended, but I was satisfied with the conclusion which made me look back at the choices I made and wonder: if I did it again again, would I embrace or ...

Thunder Lotus Games' newest title has a lot to offer to Metroidvania fans.

Sundered is an interesting take on the Metroidvania genre. Eshe's journey to collect the elder shards is adrenaline fueled and challenging. While the game is not free from flaws, it more than worthy of a spot in most collections.

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Who wants to give up their humanity for cool powers?

Sundered takes the 2D Metroidvania platforming formula augments it with some successful ideas that all but reward you for dying. Its procedurally generated levels are hit and miss, as the dynamic parts come off as bland in comparison to Sundered's impressive hand-drawn areas and epic boss fights. In addition, its randomly appearing enemy hordes sometimes lead it to devolve into mere button mashing and random deaths, but the knowledge that I’ll come back a little stronger each time makes it hurt less.

On an eShop that seems to become more rife with Metroidvanias by the day, Sundered seems to fall somewhere in the middle to front of the pack. Though the repetitiveness means it doesn’t hit the same kind of highs that Dead Cells or Hollow Knight reach, Sundered still manages to offer a delightfully creepy, challenging, and content-rich experience that genre fans are sure to enjoy. If you’re not a fan of procedural generation, stay well away from this one; otherwise, we’d encourage you to give it a shot.

The result is a completely wonderful Metroidvania, but at the same time, another Metroidvania. Its distinctive animation is worthy of accolades and awards - it is simply astounding. And its novel approach to being mobbed for combat has merits, alongside some frustrations. Neither dramatically shifts the game away from the most familiar aspects of the genre, all of which it delivers extremely well. It is that lovely holiday destination, and a lovely stay you'll certainly have - the question is, fancy going there again this summer, or maybe somewhere new?

All that would have been lost had the gameplay not been up to scratch, but rest assured that Sundered is a gem of a Metroidvania title, with addictive and more-than-a-little challenging gameplay. Mix that in with a neat repetition and level up system and - best of all - the game's absolutely incredible graphical style, and it's fair to say that Sundered is the kind of game that will live long in the memory.

Another promising game is ruined by the lure of procedural-generation, which is a particular shame given Sundered’s gorgeous animation and interesting gameplay ideas.

Sundered is a collection of ideas and genres that on paper blend together well but, in this case, made for uncomfortable bedfellows. Passion and talent are on display however, and I’m hopeful for what we see from Thunder Lotus in the future.