|| REVIEW || The Ambassador : Fractured Timelines (Nintendo Switch)
Developed By : tinyDino Games
Published By : The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild
Category : Action, RPG, Twin-Stick
Release Date : August 13, 2020
Over the last year or so, I began to strongly associate twin-stick games with roguelikes, since it seemed that every time i picked up game with one of those traits, it had the other. So much so that when I pick a game up that only has one of these traits, I'm slightly shocked (in a good way!) when the other isn't present. If you've been here for just about any length of time, you know that I don't tend to dive into the games I'm excited for, as I want to be able to purely experience them with my hands on them when they release. So I got one of those good surprises when I fired up The Ambassador : Fractured Timelines and it wasn't a roguelike.
You play as Gregor, a resident of the city Tamaris and a new recruit for the Eternal Fellowship, as well as an Ambassador of Time. As your powers are being explained to you, and the greatness of city is being spouted about in front of your face, the great city is destroyed before your very eyes. As one of the very few people left surviving, you need to put your new powers to the test and find out who's responsible for the city's destruction and returning it to the glory it once was.
As Gregor, you can command time to bend to your will...for a short time at least. Using his power projects a small radius out around you and anything caught inside is stopped completely. Anything. There will be bridges you need to cross that are weak, and using your power prevents you from falling with the planks. Enemies can be stopped, but also specifically their attacks will be frozen as well, giving you ample time to escape death if needed.
The game's story is spread out over three different areas (at first), all home to one of the people believed to be responsible for the attack on Tamaris. Each area puts you on a map with a series of levels to complete, all leading to a final whopper of a boss fight in that area. In each level, you'll need to progress through a series of areas, eliminating every enemy around before a portal opens to transport you to the next one.
You'll need to worry about three things specifically tied to Gregor as you play. His physical attack, his magic attack, and his armor and defense. You'll start off with base items for all of these. A spear you can hurl at enemies, a basic staff, and generic robes that don't offer any benefits. As you work through the levels, you'll find replacements for all of these, providing different benefits to you, but some might also take something away. For instance you can find a suit of armor that gives you more health, but slows your movement speed down, while you can also find an outfit of rags that lets you move a lot quicker but gives you less health.
The Ambassador is one of the few games that pulled me in before I even had my hands on it. For one thing, the delivery of the game's trailer was stellar and hysterical and made me keep eyes on the game in the first place. I loved the idea of it, and I was hoping it played as great as it looked, and I can now say with absolute certainty that it does.
I may have been pulled in from the trailer, but I was fully hooked before I even finished the tutorial. I really enjoyed that the time-warping ability only effected a small radius around Gregor instead of the whole screen or level. Even with the short time it works for, the ability would have been incredibly over powered if that were the case. Having it instead be a small area around you almost introduces a kind of puzzle aspect to things. Which it literally does at points when you need to get around indestructible traps.
I can't recommend this game enough. It is so much fun and if you're a fan of twin-stick games, you just might find this as addicting as I have. If you find yourself interested in the lore of the game, there are a number of scattered tomes around that will provide you with background on Tamaris and the world around. Found the base game too easy to play through? Unlock Horde Mode and count how many times you'll bash your head against the wall...er how many enemies you can kill? At the end of the day, this is a great game and one that I am still having a lot of fun playing.
Game Rating : 9 / 10
This game is also available on Steam and Xbox One
A code for this game was graciously provided to
the site for the purpose of a review
