Alwa's Awakening
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Critic Reviews for Alwa's Awakening
In case you haven't noticed there's a boat load of Metroidvanias coming out recently and Alwa's Awakening hangs with them. Its restrictive without going overboard, allowing the highs outweigh the lows. The ability to chisel away at some tough rooms with a Switch on the go helps make it even more digestible.
It's definitely worth a shot if you’re hankering for a bit of old school platforming action.
Alwa’s Awakening is classic gaming for the modern gamer and an incredibly enjoyable experience.
It’s a game made by a small, four-man Swedish studio called Elden Pixels, and one that doesn’t contain an ounce of cynicism or irony; it’s made by retro enthusiasts who genuinely want to relive the glories of yesteryear. On the game’s Steam page, it is billed as a “retro game in a modern coat.”
Alwa's Awakening is exactly what I had hoped I was in for when I booted up the title.
Alwa's Awakening is a game that perhaps manages to achieve its aims a little too well, with moments of great platforming action and a well-designed overworld being hamstrung by antiquated problems like an unforgiving checkpoint system and an unhelpful map. We'd give this one a light recommendation; there's plenty of quality to be found despite some flaws and it's evident that a lot of passion went into the development, although we would also add that there's nothing about Alwa's Awakening that screams “must play”. If you're a fan of retro action platformers or Metroidvanias, Alwa's Awakening is certainly worth a go, but if you aren't a fan, this isn't the game to change your mind.
Ultimately, Alwa’s Awakening feels like the foundation to what might have been a rather more substantial revisit of the glorious 8-bit like so many before it.
Alwa's Awakening is a true, but beautiful, trip in the past. Everything is close to the old masterpieces of videogames, with only a few buttons that were able to do all the things a gamer needed.
Review in Italian | Read full review
