I love a good side scroll mascot platformer. I also love the well-designed, interesting, reversed metropolis metropolis. Occasionally, these two worlds clash, giving away gems from video games like Hollow Knight, Ori, The Blind Forest, and the eternally underrated Yoku’s Island Express.
Hoping to reveal another indie Metroidvania darling, Rusty Rabbit was the title that immediately stood out to me. The cool-looking mech-based combat combined with flashy power-ups and hopes of fun, destructible maps to explore seemed like a formula that could bring you a memorable experience.
Still, the game published by Netease, a studio with a spotty track record dotted with some questionable mobile games and actual standout console titles, was not a guaranteed slam dunk. Developer Nitroplus was even more wildcard for the equation, focusing on a collection of visual novels that previously provided no indication of the chops the team had to create a solid Metroidvania.
I still have so many questions to answer Optimistic Dive into this rabbit adventure and see what the bunny business is. However, more than 20 hours later Rusty rabbits aren’t my choice of trash.
The Rabbit of the Conspiracy of the Story
On the surface, Rusty Rabbit presents itself as a game that is likely to have no tons to offer in terms of story and worldbuilding. Initially I presented it to introduce narrated texts on static backgrounds, but it doesn’t seem to happen much in the world of carrot-smoking, walnut whiskey-drinking bunny.
Rusty Stamp is a junk dig. That means he digs into the guts of Smoke Stack Mountain every day, taking as much trash as possible and digging into time to take it home. Interestingly, this junk speaks to Rusty. He also speaks to the Junkstar named My Beloved Mecha Suit, whom he takes with him with every expedition.
As the story unfolds, Rusty meets, competes and coordinates a new gang of new junk collectors in the town called BBS. Dengeki Bullet, Amazing companions, Bear digging a holeblack berry. Leading by mystical sponsor Nether, this new team wants to delve into the heart of the mountain. Junk Rusty doesn’t see what kind of treasure he can find beneath the surface.
Along the way, our furry heroes begin to uncover mysterious notes hidden in the mystical terminals left by humanity, now completely gone. Some of these messages appear to have been written by Rusty’s estranged daughter. This, of course, spurs him to see if he can track where he is now.
What unfolds here is the story given to you in a recovered message and a short conversation with the people of the beautiful town. Unexpected apocalyptic, science fiction, religious tone, It also features a considerable amount of rabbit lore.
…This title hit my emotions in a way that I had never expected from my early experience.
For some reason, these rabbits have developed into hyper-intelligent and deep beings, so it’s really cool to motivate them to explain the world around them, how they come to describe their own personal struggles and doubts, and to motivate them to get out of the bunny’s bed every morning.
By the end of the playthrough I was pretty shocked This title hit my feelings in a way that I never expected from my early experience.. There are many hearts here, and it is all wrapped in a satisfying way by the conclusion of the game.
24 Carrot Presentation
When he’s not plundering Smoke Stack Mountain, Rusty spends his time in a snowy village that serves as the world of your hub. Here you will find some bustling businesses that patronize, including diners full of persona-like social links with fellow residents, bars to pick up new sides of purpose, general stores to restock gear, and churches to learn more about their (disputedly cult) followers’ religious views.
Everything around town feels comfortableand every rabbit companion you encounter is stylized with adorable fuzzy. Rusty himself has several alternative fur patterns to unlock, as well as new paint jobs to grow his mecha. Despite the moody attitude of your own characters, the game is filled with many cute things, if you’re interested.
The dungeon itself is sometimes a gentle, general view. This destroys both the appeal of the game’s art design, thanks to the choice of a blocky Steamworld dig-type design that often limits paths and routing to tight, 90 degrees of harsh angled corridors.
Still, the level theme is solid and each The 15 new biomes you reach are interesting to see when they are first discovered. From forgings filled with lava to underground forests filled with plants to stops through amazing stories along the way, it’s always a good time to see the area that comes next.
The soundtrack here is a bit outstanding, ranging from bluesy rock to bright, persona-like bop. I raised the music level in my settings so that I could really listen to all the tracks and then owned again. Rusty’s incredibly grated and repeated dialogue will soon drive you crazy hours of the game.
On the technical side of things, I had a completely smooth experience with zero crashes and a prominent dip of performance. There were a few instances where enemies suddenly switched animations without transition frames, and sometimes felt jarring, but nothing worse than taking certain notes. Overall, Rusty Rabbit appears to be running well on selected hardware and optimized.
Hopping, Skipping, Jumping, Digging
Rusty Rabbit is a side-scrolling Metroidvania mashed up in exploration with Dungeon-Crawling Loot and Steamworld Dig. unfortunately, It is rare to reach the height of gameplay in any of these categories.
Take on the typical video game tropes of starting you with all abilities and remove them to recover quickly as you progress, the majority of rusty rabbits are not so much fun to experience in the process. The movement is Really It’s slow and clunky until you get a rocket booster for a few hours. Platform and wall climbing are frustrated and frustrated before unleashing the jetpack abilities in the final quarter of the game.
The battle is initially limited to melee digging groups until later unlocking twin stick guns, swords and hammers. Increased weapon blueprints allow you to unlock new versions of each archetype and use additional damage and pass unlocking features.
I find none of these particularly attractive besides the sword.it’s certainly the way you fight all the time by generally roughing most of the game and often repeating the Robo Animals.
Each weapon comes with special abilities that actually feel the same, and a skill tree option that increases the duration of the attack or combo, but these skills are not usually game changers.
If the investigation is top notch, general combat and enemies could be partially exempt in Metroidvania, but that’s unfortunately not the case in Rusty Rabbit either.
Yes, there are recovered weapons and abilities Technically You can backtrack and reach new sections of each map, but usually don’t get rewarded with something too exciting outside of the new blueprint piece or something too exciting with a random scrap of cars that Rusty can recover in his garage in his free time.
Unlocking new Metroidvania passes that you previously had no access is at the heart of this genre, and here it is not truly satisfying or essential, but rather minimally any sense of exciting progress from new items.
There is one dungeon towards the end and you will need to upgrade to a specific point of digging progression, but it feels like any brick wall Forces to crush for several hours in boring and random dungeons of “options” in the game You can finally unlock it.
I had cleared the block just because I felt obligated.
I really liked Steamworld Dig and its sequels and felt compulsory to clear all the blocks on the map as much as possible before proceeding to a new area. It was a fun and rhythmic process and I was always supposed to complete a cool booty and money promise to spend on new gear.
here, I cleared the block just because I felt obligated.because the typical reward is some scraps I think I’ll never use for anything except sell it multiple times for more healing items.
Soft and cute
I think it’s important that certain games serve as a nice and accessible entry point to otherwise well-known, demanding genres. Think of a game like another crab treasure. By definition it’s like souls when you need many challenges, but also consider a much more familiar design with difficulty settings to switch over if you need to make yourself easier for the game’s actions.
It’s a rusty rabbit Very easy. This can be considered positive for those who want to dip their toes into Metroidvania waters, but the simple experience isn’t backed up with other high quality genre staples enough to make the game very interesting as you will shot most non-boss enemies.
Here we won’t stop you and make you think.
The entire first 10 hours here is point b point b dungeon clearing. There is a detour to detour along the way, but in many cases you can head towards the exit by looking at the map preliminarily and making educated guesses about where it is needed to complete it.
The gate will periodically block progress and will need to clean your ID card to access the next map section. These ID cards are everytime It’s located very close and findings to track them, almost pointless and boring.
The second half of the title introduces more twist and turn dungeon designs along with some new puzzles, but it’s just as exciting as flipping grade level block push activities and switches to open and spin the door. I’m not going to stop you and make you think.
When I say that in the 20+ hours of playthroughs that I died playing this game, there was only one instance, I’m not really exaggerating. The perpetrator was a mini-boss designed with a rather painful presence, featuring a move set featuring several heavy, but disastrous telegraph attacks. I was looking for a challenge at this point in the game, but I feel you are dealing damage from uneditable and random attack patterns.
The worst part is actually conquering this single tricky opponent. I simply refilled healing items and tanked all the hits from the boss When I spit off the attack from the sword, and many times. In the end, it was a total DPS, a rock fight that hits damage and I was able to win just because I had enough spare HP to pass through the muscles.
…When you put on a podcast and autopilot it essentially via another map, you’ll be in rhythm and gameplay flow state.
Really, I have never passed away another in my entire experience. Not from dungeons filled with fall damage, environmental dangers, bosses or enemies. I’m good at side scroll platformers, but I’m not a certified Metroidvania expert. The fact that this game and its boss encounter never struggled to survive and never scrapped me is certainly a questionable choice in game design.
This is the final summary of a Basic Dungeon Crawling Metroidvania will be rather heartless when you work through it. The truth is said, I don’t necessarily hate the idea of a game that puts you in a rhythm and gameplay flow state when you’re put on a podcast and autopilot your path through essentially another map. It’s good to occasionally pull out your brain and turn it off in games like this.
Still, Rusty Rabbit didn’t bring too much to the other table in terms of gameplay and design. We can all feel like this title, so this is ultimately up to you, whether you want to participate or not.
Rusty Rabbit is not a bad game at all, but it’s very easy for the genre that goes into the slots. Fail to have any kind of real challenge, memorable bosses, funny puzzles, or rewarding routing. The story is amazingly lore, intriguing, emotional, emotional by conclusion, and the cast of cute rabbit characters gives the game a great level of appeal as sometimes reaching a flow state of map clearing, dungeon crewling, and Mindless fun. Still, the game is welcomed by the end of the runtime of over 20 hours. If you’re looking for a more accessible take on the SteamWorldDig-Meets-Metroidvania formula, there are better options. However, because entry costs are low, if you are looking for a refreshing side scraller to sink your free time, you won’t be amortized completely.
