Vesta Review

The arrival of Vesta, or new games made in Spain, fills me with satisfaction. More in these moments in which there is not much to scratch, or saddest, great studies in that country, and with larger budgets and staffs, they give blind, with many advantages, but poorly executed in practice, how is the case of Raiders Of The Broken Planet. I refer to him, for having reached the desktop and PC platforms, as is the case with the game I am going to review today. For that reason, when a small, indie studio arises, like FinalBoss Games, with a game so funny, so correct and well finished, also with it's problems but only a few of them, make me very happy, but in general lines, Vesta has my approval

Duration

I was very pleasantly surprised by the duration of the game, to be an indie. These games, in general, are not too long lived, and in this case, I am talking about that it has a considerable extension. The title consists of 4 chapters, divided into 9 acts, the latter always being a confrontation with a final boss. These enemies don't pose any challenge, since it's base pattern, is adding another one, successively, that is neither difficult nor exciting, being these confrontations almost a "rest" after squeezing neurons in previous levels.

If I talk about time, the game lasted me about 15 hours. It must be said that if you go through the levels again, knowing more or less the routine of mechanics and activation of switches, patterns of the enemies and don't collect their "secrets" (unsubstantial pieces that, except the achievement, don't contribute in anything else) will descend to a not insignificant 10 hours approximately.

Gameplay

Cooperation. The word that should accompany you throughout the game. And it's that, Vesta and "DROID" must collaborate to achieve progress. She uses her brilliant intellect to activate switches and read files as a lore. The robot, uses it's servomotors for the heaviest tasks, such as moving boxes or "disabling" enemies with it's rocket launcher. Rarely, the scarcity of energy resources has moved a ship as much as you will here in Vesta. The game mixes very imaginatively platforms with puzzles, being mainly these that carry the engine of it's playable block. The mechanics are simple: in each phase you must activate and deactivate switches and enemies, subtracting and adding energetic fluid from one to another, with the handicap that you can only carry three units of energy in your backpack.

You can move with the backpack full to your back, activate switches that open doors or connect platforms, deactivate enemy drones for then, with your energy, activate another switch ... do it as you tell the wit, but at the end of each level, the elevator of exit must be arrived under an immovable condition: to arrive both protagonists and Vesta, must go always with three units in the backpack.

How you manage it, is your business, and the key to the development of the game and it's puzzles. There are levels simpler than others. As well as others more extensive(not much more), verticality comes into play, gives the games gameplay an interesting boost. In these maps there may be one, two or even three checkpoints, in case luck doesn't accompany you. I recommend a light exploration at the beginning of each level, as far as this allows, to start moving accordingly.

Graphics & Design

The game knows how to enter through the eyes with a palette of colors not very varied, but if successful that makes it pleasing to the eye. The presence of the greenish energetic fluid of the Unicorn, will accompany you during the whole adventure. The scenarios give the feeling of being equal, with slight changes in their design, location of traps, switches and enemies. The mapping of textures used in them takes a long time to undergo some variation that breaks this sense of monotony. It's already advanced in the third and fourth chapter, when you will notice some changes in the texture of the soil or something more different and noticeable how in the final chapter, where to find you closer to the surface, the ship is populated with vegetation.

Highlight the smoothness and stability in the frame rate per second. If there was something to reproach in the section that I am evaluating, I would highlight two problems mainly: the opacity of the stage and the "timing" in some actions. At certain times part of the structure of the installations of the Unicorn "cover" part of the stage, enemies or characters, which complicates things a bit, very punctually, and is that although you can move the camera above, I think that if part of the environment was transparent, how in games like Diablo and Path Of Exile, it would be appreciated. As for the "timing", i detected that sometimes, when Vesta is riding on the shoulders of "DROID" and he throws it, it happens that spend more three seconds to execute the action. Affecting, this if, in a more negative way to the gameplay.

The sound part has a rhythmic and soft melody, something recycled during the game, which also changes in the final phases. It has no voices of any kind, except the usual exclamations when you are hit by an enemy or fail the jump. Emphasize in a very positive way their sympathetic dialogues, with cultural and even political winks, in the mouth of some robots that you will find dispersed and almost dismantled by the ship and that help to develop the plot.

Conclusion

I would like to congratulate, sincerely, FinalBoss Games for its first solo title. After collaborating on other projects like Zenith by Infinigon Games, Vesta supposes her debut, a game with a strong personality, as well as that of the small and untamed protagonist. A recommended game for all types of players, and especially those who love puzzles and platforms, as it will tell us hours of bright and witty playable mechanics, where cooperation is the key to progress.

*Game was provided by the developer/publisher for this review