Veritus is a Top Down Pixel-art Action-RPG with brilliant real-time combat and addictive puzzle gameplay.
From the get-go, I will say that I was very impressed by my time with Veritus. Despite having to look up the name over and over again, I can safely say this was one unforgettable experience. Just a shame, the feeling does not last the whole way.
Pixel-art Plot
The king has been assassinated and the murderer still roams the castle, hidden within the shadows. The party of warriors who were supposed to keep said king alive, must now find the villain and bring them to justice.
Your guide is a golden spirit angel thingy called Enetha. After about every major point in the game, you meet her and she guides you to the next task.
In Veritus, You play as the Minor, a nameless pony-tailed avenger ready to solve puzzles, kick ass and take names. Alongside you, there is a party of adventurers that will help you on your way. While you don’t really control them, they all help in some shape or form. (except for one Lilly, who swims for you in certain parts of the game)
Companions:
First, you have, Myna: A pink-haired fan girl who wants to one day be as cool as you and fight monsters. The game portrayed her to be a little annoying but I found her endearing. Reminds me of my niece.
Oh, yes, she is the daughter of the miner. There is an incline that she might be adopted but I don’t believe it was ever confirmed.
Second, we are introduced to Zaegul: A half-human, half-giant rat who was a trader and messenger for the king. While shown in glimpses, it is made aware that Zaegul saw the king get murdered. He gives a letter that the king gave him to pass on, just before passing away.
The rest of our party consists of Sonny(A big bulky guy who is a chef), Uros( a very friendly yet dramatic Minatour who is a weapons management expert), Lilly(A sulky teen-like magical creature that hates everyone or maybe just likes to act sullen), then there is Lacrima. (A blue-tinted magical lady who is always happy.)
Finally, we have Lacrina, the actual head of the party. She is the one who gives us our instructions when not coming from Enetha. She is a hard-boiled and serious figure with some motherly- ness to her. Very interesting to talk to.
Okay, enough of that. Let’s talk about the gameplay.
Pixel-art Pow Wow
The main strength of the real-time combat RPG Veritus lies in the vast yet simple gameplay. Keeping a mix between hard action akin to the build of a Miner but also the ability to use a certain level of magic. It is all pretty cool stuff.
In your possession are an axe, a rope, a magic claw and one slot(for random stuff). The axe is used to attack enemies and destroy breakable objects, the magic claw can lift options and if you have the right magic power selected, it can even lift and throw enemies, the rope is used to either zip to enemies or items or pull them towards yourself
As you can see, this keeps the game going at a very fast pace.
UPGRADES
As the real-time combat RPG progresses you either find, unlock or craft new items to use. No, this is not some lazy crafting system. There is actually a brilliant gameplay piece to it.
At the start of every chapter, you will find yourself in a room surrounded by all your party members. Each member, barring Lily and Lacrina, provides you with one important service.
Let me explain in the same order I understood it:
Uros the Minatour, carries a large bag. You interact with him to change the effects and passives that you wish to have. For example, if you want the dashing special attack or the spinning one.
Zaegul carries an even bigger bag. For a measly 25 coins, he will give you one random item from his bag. These items can have one of two uses.
Sonny provides you with meals. Each meal will give you a temporary buff that lasts till the next time you die. It is your classic case of extra health, extra damage, extra speed, etc.
Finally, Yoro provides you with weapon and body upgrades. Bringing her a stack of 3 items, either found in the game or taken from Zaegul, you offer her recipes. She takes the instruction and magical blacksmiths give you some brand new weapons or gear.
While no exact indication of what a recipe will create, each time you use this feature, the material of your weapon changes, giving you a completely different style of gameplay.
However, despite the pretty gameplay look and feel, certain choices keep the score from reaching a perfect 10.
Niggles.
From the beginning, the navigation is horrendous. With no map or compass, a lot of the RPG has you walking from room to room and fighting respawning waves of enemies just on the small chance that this could be the way forward. At that point you would have gone on an hour-long track, only to make a U-turn at the end.
The save game system is very annoying. At the start of the missions, you will find these large paintings that you can enter Mario64 style. Inside, the castle’s ghost-ish butler, Scroon, greets you and offers to save the game and replenish your health. Every time you die, you return here.
I do not think I have to go into much detail on why that is annoying. At points you would be at the doorstep of a villain or maybe had just completed a very complicated movement puzzle, only to lose and have to return all the way back to the start of the level.
It does not reset progress, only takes you back.
Lastly, there is a place in the game where you can go back to old parts of Veritus and replay them. This was entirely glitched out. For one, when you go back, the puzzles are still solved. So puzzles required to access certain areas, well, no longer exist.
There is no way to return to the main game without finishing the play either so this means more of this feature just straight-up soft-lock the game. It is very annoying and stupid.
Pixel-art Perfection
However, despite all that, this was a very fun experience and one I will go back to even after this review so I can really dive deeper into real-time combat and RPG elements.
This is a real-time combat genre-defining piece and deserves a lot of praise from gamers. There is no need to go into the nitty gritty because, in the end, only one thing matters. Veritus is a beautiful Pixel-art game with very fun Action- RPG/ puzzle elements and I recommend it.
PS: Play with a controller. The Keyboard support is Horse Manure!
