I’m pretty certain that I’ve said it before, but while it can be quite easy to praise great games or nitpick those that aren’t very good, the real challenge when reviewing comes with the games that are somewhat lost in the middle. While they may not wow you with their play, or inspire you to feel like you absolutely must keep coming back for more, they also may not have anything horribly wrong with them either, possibly even doing some things right. Despite it playing reasonably well, and certainly offering up a bit of a challenge, that’s where I’ve landed with Undivine, a decent game that just couldn’t seem to grab me.

Playing out as a very retro-styled side-scrolling Metroidvania with some RPG-ish flair, there is a bit of an immediate familiarity about the style of play. Starting out you’ll be decidedly unimpressive, simply jumping around and slashing away at enemies, needing to be careful to stick and move since the majority of your enemies will take a number of hits to go down. The platforming itself can also get a bit tricky at times, and given that you don’t have a great deal of nuance to work with you’ll just have to get your timing right and be sure to be mindful of your edges to avoid accidentally jumping into pointy things or some trouble. Especially early on, there’s no doubt that curiosity and a willingness to explore every nook and cranny of the map is a good idea, as you’ll need all of the help you can get as you move on.

The problem, in my view, is that to me it feels like early on the developers have held back a little too much, requiring more time and investment on the part of the player before showing glimpses of more interesting play. When it comes to indie games, and especially ones that feel so decidedly old-school and simple, I’m a big proponent in giving the player a quick taste of something more exciting to keep their interest in the game in front of them and away from their backlog. 

I can appreciate having a plan and believing that if people stick with the game their effort will be rewarded, but when you hold back for too long you’re going to lose a portion of your audience in the process. I did appreciate that the style of play reminded me a bit of the old classic Montezuma’s Revenge back on my Atari 5200, and with some time new equipment and talents helped to spice the gameplay up a little, but for me the slow burn of it all allowed my mind to wander and my interest to wane. For a budget-friendly price there’s a reasonable amount of gameplay to enjoy here, but you’ll have to be patient with it.