World to the West (Nintendo Switch) Review

Fittingly, A World to the West opens on a young Teslamancer, named Lumina. This young lady is the first hero and it is her misadventure that kick-starts the story. Lumina is playing with some ancient technology and is transported to a land unlike anything she knows. Her arrival was somewhat meant to be, though, as an ancient crone seems to be expecting her and the world is littered with totem poles made up of four faces, one of which is actually Lumina's.

The first few chapters are spent introducing Lumina and the other three heroes, giving them a little story to tell, establishing their special skills and outfitting them with some new ones. World to the West is very much a game based on teamwork. The world is filled with obstacles that can only be overcome by specific members of the team and utilising each is the key to progressing, switching between each character as new paths are blazed.

Starting with the aforementioned Lumina, as a Teslamancer she has the ability to do short "hop" teleports. Only in a straight line and for a set distance, but this is used in puzzles where she can teleport through certain obstructions or to make leaps across gaps. Next to be introduced is Miss Teri, something of an adventurer whose special abilities branch into the mind-bending. Miss Teri can throw her scarf to grapple onto posts and pull herself across, but also after receiving a power-up is also able to control any animal in the environment. This lets her take on numerous puzzles, riding a mind-controlled giant Catfish, getting a piggyback from a Mandrill, and getting it to toss her onto unreachable heights and more.

After Miss Teri comes the diminutive Knaus, a child slave with a shovel and some dynamite who can crawl through tiny spaces and blow open paths for his fellows to follow. Finally, there is Lord Clonington, a '50s-style strongman with fists that can punch through obstructions and with enough tensile strength to be able to climb.

Each has a little introduction story, which then all combine as the group comes together to take on the main villain, who has a link with each. Miss Teri was working for him, but found herself in his dungeon after being betrayed. Knaus was a child slave, told lies and forced to mine with other children, all overseen by the antagonist. Lord Clonington is fighting for recognition from the villain. Lumina wants the same technology that the villain is trying to collect, but while he gathers it to rule, she just wants to be able to get home. On top of the story, there is a huge amount of batteries to try and track down hidden away in every corner of this world. There's a very different aesthetic with the environments here, shifting from a steampunk experience to a large overworld of varied locales - desert and tundra, forest and caverns.

Traversing the large world becomes easier and easier as World to the West progresses. The totem poles act as checkpoints, which can be fast-travelled between once visited once - at least for the character who has visited it, meaning that each character has to traverse the whole map, and there are unique paths and obstructions, so each has to make their own way.

After finishing the game, which will take 7-8 hours, there is another obstacle to overcome - a grand ancient door that requires all of the batteries to be gathered up to see the true end of this story. It's not only fun to figure out each of the ways to get at them, but totally worth it for the conclusion, too.