|| REVIEW || Wildfire (Nintendo Switch)
Developed By : Sneaky Bastards Published By : Humble Games
Category : Platformer, Puzzle, Adventure
Release Date : December 3, 2020
Growing up, I got to experience growth in gaming from almost the beginning. My first console was the NES, and after that it was the N64. Just from that jump alone I got to witness a whole world of improvements, going from 8-bit to 3D polygons was the greatest gaming chef's kiss of my life. You know...until things kept improving. Now, as we are all aware, there's a constant wave of pixel-art games being unleashed that are taking the simplicity of the presentation from the past and making it do amazing things it never could before.
Wildfire is one of those games that does a great job of bring you back in time with the visuals, while also pulling off some impressive things in-game that for sure would have made some NES or SNES consoles go up in smoke.
You live in a world where magic has all but been eliminated. However, you yourself possess a power that allows you to control the elements, and due to this you've been branded as a witch. The Arch Duchess now sends armies after you because they fear you, and they've destroyed your home and captured your fellow villagers. Your journey will take you all across different lands, through forests, caves and mountains, to learn to better control the elements while rescuing your people and putting a stop to the Arch Duchess.
Powers aside, you're capable of just the basics. You can run, jump, climb ledges and you are able to hide in tall grass too. Hiding is automatic so as long as you're not holding anything, and will be a very useful tactic getting around the Arch Duchess's troops. Sneaking and avoidance is going to be your main approach to the armies since you don't carry any physical weapons, so if you want to bring the attack to them you'll need to utilize your powers.
To start, you learn to harness the power of fire, but as you progress through the game you'll learn to control water and earth as well. Each element you control has it's own skill tree, and you have a skill tree for yourself too. The skill trees expand the powers of each element letting you do things like throw the fire farther, let it bounce, or being able to create a water bubble to reach new heights.
Leveling your skill trees is dependent on one of two things, depending on which one you'd like to level up. If you're focused on the elemental powers, you'll need to go hunting in each of the games levels. Oftentimes, you'll find at least one ritual statue with a bowl on it. Whichever element you want to level up you'll need to harness it and throw it into the bowl for a skill point to use in that specific tree.
If it's your personal tree, then you'll need to be more concerned with how you're completing each of the levels. You're given a handful of objectives for each one. Every level gives you the objective of completing it or surviving it. You'll typically get an optional one to complete a specific task, and then your other objectives typically revolve around beating a speedrun time, not being detected, or not killing any enemies. For each of these objectives you complete you'll get a point to put into your personal Soul skills.
Wildfire is a great game, and it's one that caught me a little by surprise. I had a bit of an idea shaped from watching the trailer on what I thought I could expect, but when I got into the game it was a little different. I had expected a large, sprawling RPG style game and not a game with quick bursting levels. However, it's a formula that works incredibly well and got me hooked on the game incredibly fast.
Everything about this game ran and played incredibly well. I experienced some framey issues in a few levels but these were at times when I had spread a lot of fire through the stage. And...believe me I mean a lot. Other than this though my experience with Wildfire was absolutely flawless. The combination of stealth tactics with the elemental abilities makes this a really well executed puzzle platformer where you can overcome your problems however you see fit.
There is also a local multiplayer feature to the game that allows you and a friend to harness abilities together, and it brings an even deeper experience to solving the games puzzles as you are able to throw the elements back and forth to each other in tandem with everything else. So whether its alone or with a friend, don't miss out on this great game!
Game Rating : 9.5 / 10
Also available on PC, Xbox One, and Playstation 4
A code for this game was graciously provided
to the site for the purpose of a review
