We tried the demo of ReSetna, a metroidvania-style action adventure. First work by Today’s Games which, at this stage of development, shows interesting characteristics.
ReSetna presents itself as a metroidvania that focuses on combat and an interesting lore.
In a world where organic life has long disappeared, ReSetna is awakened by the artificial intelligence APEX to face the threat posed by a mysterious Signal. As the Signal spreads chaos, upsetting the balance of the world and driving robots mad, we must uncover the truth behind this disturbance and eliminate its influence. With the IXA drone, ReSetna travels through a world in ruins and full of dangerous enemies.
The game is the first work of Today’s Games, a studio founded by professionals with experience in game development. Some of the members have participated in the creation of games such as Serious Sam, Talos Principle, League of Legends, SCUM and The Red Solstice.
From their business card there are all the conditions for an interesting product.
Let’s see what the development status of the game is currently like.
What ReSetna Offers Currently
The demo available on Steam, puts us in front of a well-articulated map. The positioning of the checkpoints and the vertical development of the areas are good. Checkpoints act as both a save point and a teleport. Only caveat: we have to choose to save because the game doesn’t do it automatically. In addition to this they also heal the damage suffered by the protagonist.
Our objective will be to search for and deactivate the 4 NODXs in the Acidia region. Once the mission is completed, we can face the crazed machine boss.
The platforming is very interesting. The protagonist already has a double jump, a dash/dodge and the ability to attach to specific ledges. This makes the area very explorable even if some areas are inaccessible, suggesting future upgrades.
Map, Design and Enemies
The map also features traps and environmental hazards such as acid pools or shooting turrets. Furthermore, the enemies have a good variety: they range from hand-to-hand combat, to ranged attacks and even some that explode. There is no shortage of larger creatures that can give us a lot of trouble. In this case we must learn to master the parry. However, I will talk about this later. There is also a mini boss that once defeated will not return. The enemies are quite aggressive and will chase us, and that’s not a bad thing. However, this, together with their positioning and environmental dangers, leads to inevitable cheap damage or to them being trapped and easily defeated.
ReSetna, the Protagonist
ReSetna is our protagonist, and in addition to the skills mentioned above there is also that of parrying. Parrying with the right timing, thanks also to the visual signal of the enemies, allows us to counterattack with a repost. The mechanics, however, need more work, because often the visual signal does not correspond to the timing of the parry, especially on projectiles.
We have 3 types of weapons available. A sword, double blades and a kind of glaive. Each weapon has its own moveset, ground and aerial combos and a charged move that is nice to look at but rarely effective. It’s a shame that the glaive is the most “broken” weapon at the moment. This makes its choice mandatory given the notable difference in damage output and range compared to the other two.
ReSetna can be upgraded via currency collected by destroying enemies. At this point in development we cannot intervene either on the character or on the development of weapons. We can partly work on chips which, once assigned in a Tetris style grid, increase some of our characteristics.
My Two Cents
ReSetna has good potential and good ideas. The aesthetic aspect is a nice sight, the map we visit is well structured. I don’t want to give too much importance to some imperfections in the animations and jumps, especially in grabbing onto ledges. The parry system is good and requires considerable timing. Unfortunately, with projectiles, the perfect parry does not lead to a repost, but gives the player a commitment that makes him vulnerable. All these things are felt in the final boss fight. Cheap damage and a routine that is often too random which inevitably leads to taking damage.
Don’t get me wrong, there are no game breaking bugs or unfixable things. These issues of balancing and cleaning the combat phases are long, laborious and time-consuming steps.
In games like this I place a lot of emphasis on feedback from hits, both suffered and given. Things that are there but can be improved.
Despite this, I have confidence because ReSetna seems to have solid ideas and foundations.
I wish the developers good luck while waiting for further news.
For now I invite you to play the free demo on Steam and tell us what you think.
