When it comes to things that can tend to be divisive with regards to indie titles, opting for an older-school look is absolutely one of the most common. Granted, some people have a tendency to even poo poo pixel art graphics in general, but when the targeted aesthetic looks roughly like something from the PS1-ish era, there’s at least some room for disagreement. As you may have guessed by this opening, the mix of low-poly geometry and older-school rough textures are the vehicle for populating and driving Verho’s world. While perhaps that alone would be enough to make some gamers disinterested, for me it was the game’s lack of polish and general mechanical issues that made it tough to love.

Played as a first-person RPG, your initial decision will be a pretty crucial one, helping to generally dictate your preferred style of play, and that’s which class you’ll tackle. Since this could have you engaged in up-close melee combat, working more with ranged power, or moving between the two, you’ll want to choose carefully. Early on, depending on what you choose, you may feel a twinge of regret as you encounter equipment or spells you won’t be able to use, but in general you can count on something suiting you as you get started on your adventure. What follows is a journey that has its ups and downs, with a fair attempt to tell a story and introduce you to some interesting characters, as well as challenge you with combat that at least tries to be compelling.

The problem though is just what feels like a rough state of pretty well all aspects of play from every angle. Unfortunately, the controls and general interfaces for me sit at the core of the game’s worst issues though. Pretty well nothing is explained, from basic buttons to entire game systems, and while you can choose to work things out on your own, the eShop library is too strong for this to be necessary. Similarly, the combat is sloppy at best, with it feeling like you need to succeed despite the game’s poor mechanics rather than on the merits of your own execution. The odd thing is that this joins a handful of other titles in this same vein on the system, obviously being made with some care and skill, but failing to get critical elements of play working in a way that’s satisfactory. If the issue was only the game’s looks, it could still reach greatness, but there’s no reason to settle for a release in this general state, especially not at this price.