Xenia (PC) Review

Xenia's problems begin with its soundtrack. The music seems as though it's meant to be menacing, but it comes off as haphazardly written. In fact, it almost seems like it wasn't written, and instead ad-libbed while someone watched the game. On a few occasions, it abruptly stops and then picks back up just as abruptly, and even on occasion feels like it's off time all together.

Xenia's next issue comes in the form of its look. Now, not everyone is an artist. Even if you can't draw, that doesn't mean you shouldn't be allowed to make a game. That being said, it's clear that the artist behind Xenia is at least a decent artist. However, the game still looks rather unimpressive, if not bland. What's depressing is that some of the art actually stands out as being pretty nice. An early boss fight has a weird crispness that actually looks like it was an intentional art style.

The biggest issue facing Xenia, though, is its gameplay. Moving feels alright, and the combat is, at its worst, passable. In fact, it could be argued the gameplay manages to be both the best and worst part of Xenia, as it manages to function properly, but it fails to do much more than that.

The main problem is that the game itself is entirely too difficult. As early as the third level, it's easy to get stuck with nowhere to go as the player clears a checkpoint with one hit point left, and find they are unable to proceed at all. This means they will have to restart the level, because, despite being a Metroidvania, Xenia takes that term very loosely. It's an oddly linear game, which just so happens to occasionally break off into paths. This leaves the player unable to proceed, as they have nowhere else to go and no health to find.

The most annoying part is that the game does have some interesting ideas. Collecting gold to grab potions between levels is a smart way to integrate inventory management. Unfortunately, collecting a sufficient amount of gold to use this feature is much easier said than done. The level select screen also acts like a mini-level, which is a nice little touch, but overall adds nothing to the gameplay itself.