Exile’s End is a true old-school Metroidvania, and the best one I have played in a while. Exile’s End has a great Sci-Fi setting where you play as Jameson who finds himself alone on a desolate hostile planet. His crew has gone missing, scattered around the planet in their escape pods. He was on a mission to find the president of a corporation called Ravenwood – this is how he ended up on this bizarre planet. Want to learn more? Then come read our Exile’s End review!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a4vMz6g_vA
At the start, your health meter is very low, and you have no weapons or ammo. This puts you in a precarious situation and ramps up the difficulty from the beginning. And like a true Metroidvania there are a ton of secrets to discover and areas you need to unlock to progress, so a lot of backtracking is to be expected.
Your first weapon will be stones. Yes, stones. You can kill the worm-like creatures with them, but you need to time your shot perfectly. Once you take the creatures out you can pick the up each stone again and re-use them. That is as long as a stone does not fall off an edge. There are other weapons for you to find along the way, but you’ll always be in constant danger.
The 16-Bit style cutscenes are great and will give you a glimpse at the story of this cinematic Metroidvania. The game’s graphics are also very charming in their muted and bleak style. You do feel like you’re all alone with nowhere to hide as you play!
The map in the top right corner of the screen will reveal itself as you explore each area. Blue squares are the sections you have already explored and the sections in black are unexplored locations. Be sure to explore every corner of every room or else you might miss out on some much-needed weapons and upgrades!
These include handguns, machine guns, laser guns, grenade launchers and more! And since each weapon has its strengths and weaknesses against each of the enemy types you find, you need to find the right weapon for your current situation.
For a bite-sized Metroidvania release, the maps are quite huge, and it is quite easy to get lost if you’re not careful! You can complete the game in around 5-6 hours during your first run. There’s also a need to speedrun the game if you want to unlock all of its trophies, so you’ll definitely need to learn everything it has to offer! For added replayability, the game has multiple endings but, unfortunately, there is no Platinum trophy.
Still, the game is fantastic, and after playing it for my Exile’s End review, I can recommend it to both older gamers and those just getting started since it is a very polished experience.
Disclaimer
This Exile’s End review is based on a PS4 copy provided by XSEED Games.
