The program PlayStation Talents Gamescamp di Sony aims to help small studios develop their own project and publish it on Play Station 4. Among the software houses that have been successful in this initiative is Inverge Studios, for an independent Spanish studio which brought to the console Effie. It is a platform full of color released last June on PlayStation 4 and arrived, a few days on Steam. Let's find out in our review of Effie what this small but enterprising study was able to produce.
Effie review: breaking a curse
Effie's plot is told in the third person by an elderly man who tells the adventures of an adventurer to his niece called, in fact, Effie. The story told and the one we are about to face, he tells of Galand, a young man of extraordinary strength who, due to his laziness and his unkind character, is cursed by the witch Melira. The spell will cause Galand to lose his youth by transforming him into a silver-haired elder.
Intended to break the curse, our protagonist begins an adventure in the vermilion kingdom of Oblena in search of the elderly guardians who he hopes can find a solution to the spell. After a quick first mission, which serves as the game's tutorial, Galand manages to meet the guardians who offer to help him only if he manages to free the darkness brought by the witch from the land of Oblena, destroy the evil gems and free the villages now occupied by goblin and other creatures.
To succeed in the enterprise, in addition to his strength and courage, Galand will have to use a precious magical shield given to him by the guardians and infused with the same magic that permeates the expanses of Oblena.
The Runestone Shield
The shield Runestone represents the most important object to overcome our Quest and the only weapon that Galand will use. The combat system is extremely simple: it is possible to carry out light attacks, for smaller troops, e heavy attacks, for the most imposing monsters. These moves are flanked by special attacks, like the classic Dash forward or the ability to use the shield as boomerang. These abilities will be unlocked as you progress through the game after discovering mysteries magical engravings.
In addition to attacking, Runestone can also assert his role as a shield as well repair dai damage in arrival. Its power indeed generates one field di protection which protects Galand from any direction. This has one though resistance limited, after that, the shield will no longer have energy to defend our hero who will have to wait for a short recharge period. Runestone's stamina, as well as Galand's hit points, will increase with the level of the character through the accumulation of small runes around the world, hidden in chests or possessed by enemies.
Unfortunately, the leveling up does not involve any real upgrades or the development of the character's skills in that completely eliminates the ability to take advantage of RPG elements that could have a positive impact on the game. Likewise, there is no inventory whatsoever and the only objects obtainable are limited to gods collectable scattered around the world that just give some more information on the lore (quite sparse).
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Effie
Developer:
Inverge Studios
Price:
16,79 €
Nostalgia of the Platform
On the other hand, the world di game which, although it is very far from the definition of Open World, still gives a sense of great freedom. This is given by the possibility to freely explore it using Runestone as overboard spellbound that will help us move from one destination to another to get closer and closer to our main enemy. Unfortunately, the land of Oblena is characterized by few points of interest; enemy villages and outposts allow you to discover new items to collect and acquire new runes but nothing more,
Exploring the world, however, one realizes thegreat job that has been done from a graphic and design point of view: A original concept full of bright colors and particular elements that characterize the largest villages and castles to explore. The amount of graphic detail is not very high and the animations could have been better developed. However, this benefits the fluidity of the game always perfect and to a stable frame rate (also given by the technical simplicity of the game). Also interesting is the I share sonoro with music (not too many) well made and pleasant.
Effie Review: In conclusion
Effie looks like a platform old style openly inspired by titles such as Crash Bandicoot, Yooka-Laylee, Ratchet & Clank and many others. The road to enter the ranks of historical titles like the ones just mentioned is still very long but if this is their first project we are really curious to find out what other news the guys from Inverge Studios. We are ready for new adventures!
Effie
Pro 
- Old-fashioned platformer
- Nice graphics and sound
Cons 
- No particular innovation
- Some RPG elements wouldn't hurt
