Change the story? – Saviorless – Review

Are you sitting comfortably? Because it’s time for a story, the story of a boy called Antar and a journey he is about to take. This is Saviorless.

Our tale begins with three beings called narrators discussing a story. The elder narrator explains to the two younger apprentices that they must never change a story, only ever read it as it is. After this back and forth, you are thrust into the world and take control of Antar as he begins his journey to the smiling islands for reasons not quite known yet. The further you travel Saviorless’s world begins to unravel itself and you are in store for various twists, turns and quite beautiful if at times macabre and pessimistic tale.

Artistically the game is stunning. It’s presented in a hand-drawn aesthetic where instead of using shading, block colouring is used for the shading effect. The use of bright colours and at times dark imagery are truly a sight. The few cutscenes that are present, are also done in this hand-drawn style which is almost reminiscent of a Don Bluth animation. The music also lifts the game’s world with some truly sobering music tracks and at times gruesome sound designs of creatures dying.

The gameplay is very similar to that of Limbo’s where you will mainly be platforming, pulling switches or boxes and using the environment itself to complete traversal puzzles as well as defeating enemies in your way. Of course, taking that one hit will also naturally throw you back to an auto-save checkpoint.

While these controls sound simple, my personal issue came with how heavy they felt, although, in Saviorless’s defence so does Limbo where the inspiration feels like it’s from. As such, it was a nice surprise that you don’t always stick to this playstyle, as you will occasionally take on the role of Nento who is faster and spearheads your combat portions of the game. These sections do feel better, but they were few and far between. Thankfully, you do unlock a power-up later in the game for Antar where you can also move and attack with the same speed as Nento, yet these are tied to situational uses.

As indie games go, Saviorless isn’t a bad time. If you’re looking to enjoy a short game that will only take a few hours to complete, then it’s certainly worth your time – especially for fans of Limbo. There is a minor collectable quest that you can undertake seeking five torn pages per area and handing them in for a collectable item. Some of the platforming challenges will test your patience as will some of the boss encounters who are focused on world manipulation to achieve victory.

Short but sweet .