Took an Arrow to the Knee
I knew about the RWBY anime series but had never seen it before receiving the latest game RWBY: Arrowfell for review. Honestly my only draw to the game was the fact it was being developed by Wayforward who are known for some awesome 2D games. Which led to me going into Arrowfell with pretty good expectations but what I got what not what I had envisioned in the least.
In RWBY: Arrowfell the players will take control of the 4 ladies who make up the acronym; Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang. Throughout the adventure in Arrowfell players will be able to freely switch between the 4, each having a special ability. I use the term ‘special’ here loosely because each of these abilities have their place to help players progress through the Metroidvania like system. Other than that, the only one that has any real use outside of those instances is Ruby’s which is a dash. Not a dodge mind you, as you will just dash into an enemy and take damage, but it will help traversal.
MSRP: $29.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, Switch, PC
Price I’d Pay: $9.99
The ladies’ adventure in Arrowfell takes them to the floating city of Atlas and its lower city Mantle. For those that follow the anime or manga this story takes place during the animated series run, mysterious orbs have started to pop up around the towns. These orbs summon GRIMM, which are evil creatures in this world, so it all comes down to Team RWBY to get to the bottom of this mystery. WayFoward smartly incorporated many animated cutscenes throughout the adventure but most of the story is presented via text boxes old school style. However, there is spoken dialogue which I assume is being done by the same actors of the animated series, which is going to be a much welcome addition for fans.
From the start Arrowfell has issues, first there is no tutorial in which to speak of. There is a description of the differences between each member of team RWBY but as to the how to attack, and things the game is suspiciously quiet. If that weren’t enough each of the available characters all feel entirely too similar in play style and control for some reason. As I said they each have a “special” ability which the game will explain and in which instances to use it but that’s really all the guiding it gives you. The combat is overly simple in nature, which is surprising coming from WayFoward. Characters all share one pool of energy and hearts. When players use a ranged attack they will drain energy, once that energy is depleted, they will lose a heart, when all hearts are gone it’s a game over. I don’t know if this has something to do with how these women use their abilities in the source material, but it makes for some frustrating gameplay. This would be forgivable if the act of engaging in combat itself was fun and exciting, alas, it is not to be. Combat just devolves into pressing the same button and defeating similarly looking foes which isn’t fun.
Graphically speaking RWBY: Arrowfell is right on par with the other games from WayFoward. Utilizing the bold, bright colors from the source material makes each of the levels and characters pop. Problems arise when players realize just how many of these gorgeous environments are reused over the course of the game. And due to the Metroidvania style gameplay employed here that means that players will see a lot of the same levels repeatedly. Luckily the musical soundtrack is decent and there were some tunes that had my head bopping which took away from some of the monotony of the combat and reused levels.
RWBY: Arrowfell isn’t a terrible game, it just doesn’t feel like this game lived up to the pedigree set forth by the teams involved. As I said I am not a fan of the source material, so I am curious to see what fans think but as a fan of side-scrolling adventure games sadly I find this one is lacking in the essence that arguably really makes this genre fun and its combat. There just really is no joy to be found in the combat here and that’s really a shame.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
