Unepic (Nintendo Switch) Indie One Shot
Take a heavy does of an RPG, mix in some platforming, a little bit of Dungeons & Dragons, dash in some corny humor and video game easter eggs, and what do you get? A fantasy adventure that is a bit more epic than it's title would lead you believe initially.
Unepic starts with Daniel and his friends slumped over a table in the middle of a D&D quest, throwing back beers when Daniel excuses himself to go to the bathroom. Once there, without the assistance of any lights, he quickly gets the feeling that the bathroom he entered is no longer a bathroom. Flicking on his lighter, he notices his suspicions were right! He instead finds himself in a wet, dank dungeon that soon takes on the appearance of the quest he and his friends were just taking on in D&D. Believing it to be the onset of an hallucination due to the consumed alcohol, Daniel decides to press on and ride it out until he wakes up from...whatever this is.
As he moves on, he becomes possessed by a spirit that can only communicate with him, not control. The spirit, who becomes known as Zera, wants to free himself from Daniel's body, but can only do so if Daniel dies. So he takes on the role of being Daniel's guide on his quest to killing the master of the castle which will free all of the Pure Spirit's trapped within, while at the same time trying to make Daniel slip up for his own personal gain.
The castles map is expansive, containing over 200 rooms which can all be explored. Daniel can move in one direction or another, side-to-side on the screen, and also has the ability to jump, helping reach higher platforms, and crouch. Crouching is a big benefit if you're coming up on an area that requires a drop. Since Daniel can only see what's exposed by the flame of his lighter, so crouching near a ledge will give you a peek at what's below, giving you an advantage if you're about to drop onto an enemy.
Along your journey you'll pick up any number of the games items, armor, and weapons, which fit nice and snug into your massive inventory. Unepic also allows you essentially three forms of hot-keying items, for quick and easy usage. Since the majority of the games controls are confined to the joysticks and main button interface, this leaves the shoulder buttons open for this hot-key function. Bind items while holding either the L, R, or both in unison with either A, B, X, Y to give yourself 12 slots that can be snapped to at any time.
Combat is fairly simple, you and your enemies each assign damage, yours based on your strength and weapon you have, and your enemies dealing a static damage which is usually consistent with what they are and where you are progressively in the game. However the game seems to put more of a drive into exploring rather than fighting. It's possible to finish the game without seeing much "extra" of the castle, but the exploration is where you'll be rewarded with extra weapons, powers, and side quests for leveling yourself up.
Unepic's strongest area, in my opinion, is it's humor. The fact that, from the beginning, it's a very self-aware adventure for Daniel, combined with Zera's failed attempt at possession is the perfect mixture for some fourth-wall breaking humor. It doesn't stop there though, as every corner of this game is loaded with plenty of quips to keep things light and fluffy. I was especially a fan of the game's pause menu, teasing that if you're pausing to go to the bathroom you should bring a lighter with you.
While its not a perfect game, Unepic still wraps up to be a really great one. It's far from being a quick play, so if you're looking for a game to get into for the long haul, look no further, and the portability of the Switch only helps this out. The only real "negative" I felt about this game was the constant dark scenery. While the castle has hundreds of rooms, and many types of rooms on top of that, everything seems to be rendered in the same deep basement colors, sapping away any personality the different rooms might have had though. If you love to explore, this game should be very high on your list of Switch games to play.
Rating : 7/10
Developed and Published by : Unepic Fran
Also Available On : PS4, PS Vita, Xbox One, Wii U, PC/Mac
As he moves on, he becomes possessed by a spirit that can only communicate with him, not control. The spirit, who becomes known as Zera, wants to free himself from Daniel's body, but can only do so if Daniel dies. So he takes on the role of being Daniel's guide on his quest to killing the master of the castle which will free all of the Pure Spirit's trapped within, while at the same time trying to make Daniel slip up for his own personal gain.
Along your journey you'll pick up any number of the games items, armor, and weapons, which fit nice and snug into your massive inventory. Unepic also allows you essentially three forms of hot-keying items, for quick and easy usage. Since the majority of the games controls are confined to the joysticks and main button interface, this leaves the shoulder buttons open for this hot-key function. Bind items while holding either the L, R, or both in unison with either A, B, X, Y to give yourself 12 slots that can be snapped to at any time.
Combat is fairly simple, you and your enemies each assign damage, yours based on your strength and weapon you have, and your enemies dealing a static damage which is usually consistent with what they are and where you are progressively in the game. However the game seems to put more of a drive into exploring rather than fighting. It's possible to finish the game without seeing much "extra" of the castle, but the exploration is where you'll be rewarded with extra weapons, powers, and side quests for leveling yourself up.
While its not a perfect game, Unepic still wraps up to be a really great one. It's far from being a quick play, so if you're looking for a game to get into for the long haul, look no further, and the portability of the Switch only helps this out. The only real "negative" I felt about this game was the constant dark scenery. While the castle has hundreds of rooms, and many types of rooms on top of that, everything seems to be rendered in the same deep basement colors, sapping away any personality the different rooms might have had though. If you love to explore, this game should be very high on your list of Switch games to play.
Rating : 7/10
Developed and Published by : Unepic Fran
Also Available On : PS4, PS Vita, Xbox One, Wii U, PC/Mac
