The RPG with turn-based combat has become, in recent years, an excellent medium for telling stories of various kinds, taking up the classic stylistic features of the Japanese tradition such as the setting and graphic style, but rejecting them in various ways to stage them. disparate experiences, often also endowed with a certain humor. Among the most recent examples, Golf Story and Sports Story come to mind, which at first glance may seem strange JRPGs, but they hide alternative structures between adventure and role-playing game. There WrestleQuest Review analyzes a title that can fit into this trend, taking advantage of the team's experience Mega Cat Studios with 2D pixel art games and this kind of mixed genre between JRPG (although the definition is now considered incorrect) and adventure, now almost codified as an independent game.
The result alternates excellent moments of narration and gameplay with longer phases of absolute calm, but in general the experiment was successful, staging an epic and at the same time comic story like wrestling itself, which pays tribute to the legends and myths of this sport in particular. entertainment.
In this sense, even the aesthetic choice of 2D is precisely part of the desire to recover the taste and atmosphere of the 80s and 90s, the golden age of wrestling whose characters, along with others completely invented, resort to the interior of the history. WrestleQuest interprets wrestling in an original way, with the aim of valorizing the narrative aspects of "lore" until now little exploited in the gaming sector, despite representing elements of great importance for this discipline.
A story from two points of view.
La history from WrestleQuest is a characteristic element of the game and is structured in a surprisingly complex way, telling the adventures of the two protagonists Randy Santos and Brink Logan. Although the beginning entirely focused on the adventures of Randy Santos might make one think of the typical linear development of the "coming-of-age novel" of an aspiring professional wrestler, all high ideals and honesty, the appearance of Logan and the particular role of the. As a jobber, the entire group The Honest Bucks subverts expectations and builds a more complex and interesting narrative structure. On the one hand we have the story of the typical hero who, in honor of his myth Randy "Macho Man" Savage (among the big licensed names present in the game), decides to call himself "Boy Man" and begins his rise to success, instead there is a more ambiguous character, specialized in losing matches on purpose so that the wrestling show works properly.
This dualism builds a more complex vision of wrestling, staging together its most heroic and darkest elements, taking into consideration its most controversial, but also most romantic aspects.
Randy and Brink epitomize this showbiz ambiguity, but both are ultimately united by the grand epic ideals on which the show is based. wrestling myth is built, symbolized by the great passion of the two boys for Randy Savage, who acts as a spiritual guide within a story that will shuffle the cards on the table at the crossroads between both paths. This presents very interesting ideas thanks to these contrasting elements, although always staged with great irony, but the development tends to get lost a bit during the game, repeating the same mechanics of progressive confrontations with the different enemies on duty.
Gameplay between exploration and confrontations
Il game of WrestleQuest is developed according to the classic tracks of the 2D JRPG with a view from above, alternating moments of exploration and interaction with NPCs with the battle phases, which here take on special importance because they are also the fulcrum of the narrative itself. In calmer situations it is possible to discover new scenarios and dialogue with various characters, continue the story and, above all, carry out a main quest line, since the game remains strongly linked to the narrative progression. In short, the exploration phase is not exactly broad and deep, limiting itself to gradually presenting new situations to be resolved, going through dungeons built with little care in the design and preparing the player for the confrontation with a local boss that advances the story. . while adding new characters to your group.
The clashes They are probably the fulcrum of the gameplay and also of the important phases of the story, marked by combat. They are fun at first, but soon give way to a certain monotony: in some aspects they follow the typical turn-based JRPG structure, with the selection of the action to be performed based on the different skills of the characters.
Added to this, however, is the need to closely follow the movements, pressing buttons and executing combos in real time through a system similar to the typical Quick Time Events to achieve the best result. In fact, in accordance with the spirit of wrestling, during fights we must also take into account the impact of our actions on the public, trying to be as spectacular and attractive as possible. The idea is interesting, but the mechanics are too simple and repetitive in the long run.
A strange world of toys.
The strange story takes place in a world made up of toys and animated action figures, which explains the simultaneous presence of legends from the 80s with more contemporary elements and disconnects everything from real references. This also allows for the presence of crazy characters and absolutely improbable situations, which can easily occur in a world populated by toys. In this mixture of suggestions wrestling and Toy Story, a strange and humorous story is grafted, but with deep implications that emerge between absolutely exaggerated characters and moments of greater introspection.
Lo graphic style in 2D and highlighted pixels fits perfectly with the atmosphere and general spirit of WrestleQuest, with Mega Cat Studios having the opportunity to show all its experience in this field by sculpting a world rich in details and extremely colorful. The result is a feast of eye-catching shapes, color variations and animations that blends well with the theme of wrestling, or rather with the entire world of 80s and 90s entertainment, including toys, cartoons and colorful heroes. .
Conclusions
Tested version Android digital delivery Steam, playstation store, Xbox Store, Nintendo e-store, app store, Google Play Price 29,99 € Holygamerz.com 6.5 Readers (4) 7.8 your voteWrestleQuest is a heartfelt tribute to the wrestling legend of the 80s and 90s, created with impeccable stylistic choices and the desire to tell an interesting story. The narrative is probably the most successful part of the entire project, which otherwise demonstrates a certain lack of balance and rhythm between its parts: the dungeons are often boring and almost meaningless and the preparation of the confrontations, which are the elements fundamentals of the game. , seems almost superfluous. The big battles in the ring sometimes turn out to be epic and dramatic moments, but the combat system becomes boring in the long run, partially nullifying these situations. In short, WrestleQuest is an excellent attempt to stage wrestling through a narrative video game, but the great care put into aesthetics and narrative does not seem to find an adequate counterpart in the gameplay. However, with the introduction into the Netflix games catalog it becomes a highly recommended download in mobile version for all subscribers of the service.
PRO
- The story is beautiful, but also interesting and sometimes deep.
- Excellent characterization
- The combat system is fun at first.
AGAINST
- Boring and often meaningless dungeons.
- The battles are monotonous in the long run.
- Some problems keeping a nice pace.
