Gunbrella (Nintendo Switch) Review

Taking place in a dark, dystopian realm, Gunbrella follows a woodsman who upon returning to his humble abode finds it engulfed in flames, with his dear wife murdered, probably by the titular weapon that was found right beside her. From there on the protagonist will set on a path of revenge and try to make whoever is responsible to pay with the same coin. This quest will lead him from town to town, where he will come face to face with poor people, aggressive fascists, dangerous cultists, and even eldritch monstrosities that can't really be killed, only slowed down. Harsh and oppressive as the story is, delving with themes such as the brutality of the ruling class and corporate greed, it doesn't really manage to leave a mark on the one holding the gamepad.

The blame goes to the writing, which just never achieves making one interested in what goes on. There's tons of rain, many a depressing tune and scene, and lots of bad people doing bad things, but it's hard to care due to how this tries to make you connect with its world. Oh, yeah, there are a couple of moral crossroads here and there, but once again the writing is such that it will be easy for most to just flip a coin, and not really overthink their choice. The tiny bits of quirky humour that are sprinkled throughout this dark tale turn out to be much more enjoyable. Not comedic gold by any stretch of the imagination but it's definitely one of the good things about this adventure.

Sadly, even worse than the plot is the gameplay itself, which can be summed up as "go to A, and do something so you can reach B." This isn't really a metroivania. It's a linear action-adventure that looks like a metroidvania. In the short five hours most will need to reach the end, there's only a bit of minor exploration available, which usually gives you some additional coins or something along these lines. There are only a few enemies around that are easy to dispose, and nothing else between you and your goal. Which leads to the main issue with this game: it's main tool.

The Gunbrella is an awesome piece of equipment. With it one can shoot as well as deflect incoming fire on pretty much all directions, slow down a fall, slide on a cable by catching it with its handle, or make a quick dash move forwards. So, what's the problem you ask? Well, it's that this awesome tool doesn't find any good opportunities to shine. The platforming starts simple, and rarely gets any more complex and demanding, with the same happening with the combat scenarios, with even the bosses being somewhat unimpressive, especially after the first two or so encounters, which are amongst the best on offer. Wasted potential…