One of the pleasant surprises for an OG gamer like myself in this generation, has been its obvious reverence for retro gaming. Whether in the form of straight up ports of classics, remixes that tap into their vibe but with some modern flair, or new titles made in the spirit of previous generations, the indie space has shown a lot of love for earlier eras. At its core that appears to be what Ataraxie was setting out to do, I’m just not sure that the result ended up showing as much love as was intended.

In terms of what it does right, the game does hit some notes successfully. There’s certainly an old school look and feel to it, with graphics that are somewhere in the 16-bit-ish era, and then some mild effects that also made it feel slightly more modern. Starting out the feel is very old-school, with you possessing a pretty limited standard moveset and an attack that is absolutely on the weak side. That said, this having an interconnected Metroidvania thing going, you’ll be able to wander around and try to get powered up in a variety of ways depending on where you go. Since it isn’t set up in a linear fashion, that could shake out in a variety of ways as well.

On the flipside of things, unfortunately the game also has some flaws that will likely test gamers’ patience in ways that weren’t intended. As I’d mentioned, your attack is pretty weak and pokey at best, and that can make facing certain enemy types an exercise in frustration depending on what you encounter. Granted, you could choose to try somewhere else, but there were challenges all around. This was felt most in the boss fights I encountered, where again your choice of which to tackle first could play a role, but that felt pretty stacked against you. 

Whether the issue was just your lack of range or mobility, mass attacks with too little time afforded to try to keep yourself from getting creamed, or just some rough edges in the game’s overall feel, this experience felt unpolished and not as carefully crafted as some of its peers. Again, considering the abundance of both fully retro and retro-inspired competition out there, the bar has come to be pretty high for this type of game. Unfortunately, Ataraxie just doesn’t have what it takes to quite get there.