If you like the mortal-to-god trope, have tried it out, and realized it doesn’t work in real life, well that’s okay. We have video games to make up for that.
Recently, I had the opportunity to check out a playtest version of 13Z, an upcoming hack-and-slash rogue-like developed by Mixed Realms. It takes the mortal-to-god trope and puts a Chinese zodiac spin on the concept. The game is currently in early access so I’ll dive into what players might be able to expect.
Combat
The combat of 13Z fits well into the hack-and-slash genre. Each level has many enemies, all of which typically have small health pools. It’s immensely satisfying to mow down dozens upon dozens of enemies at a time.
13Z’s combat system isn’t the most complex, which is both a strength and a weakness. On one hand, it was very easy to learn how to master your abilities. You quickly learn how best to handle different enemies and tear through challenges. On the other, fighting enemies quickly becomes repetitive as there isn’t too much available in the way of playstyles. Eventually, encounters with enemies boil down to hitting them with your primary and secondary attacks, and then dodging, at least until one of you dies.
One thing that does end up varying gameplay a bit is the upgrade system. There are upgrades that you can get to enhance your abilities during your runs. Each upgrade is tied to one of the elements of fire, water, and lightning. This does refresh gameplay, but not enough to entirely break the monotony—I still found myself wanting more out of the combat. Hopefully, as more characters are added to the roster and mechanics are polished, combat will become more varied.
Being that this is a preview of 13Z, all from a very small part of the full game, enemy variety is limited. That being said, the current line-up of enemies is rather unique. So far I’ve seen sentient mushrooms, fire-breathing lanterns, and ogre-like brutes. Each enemy type has its own abilities and counters, but again there are only so many kinds of enemies. I’m cautiously optimistic about this though—all signs do point to Mixed Realms adding new enemies, and this can only improve the gameplay experience in my eyes.
My biggest concern about the game’s design is the difficulty spike between the normal enemies and boss fights. By the time you’ve gotten to a boss, you’ve already mastered the art of slashing lower-tier enemies. Unfortunately, this means that the player is left unprepared for the unique move-set and massive health pool of the boss. Being a rogue-like game, every time you die you restart the run. This is expected, but no less frustrating, especially on the first attempt. The path to get to the boss fights is relatively long—much of my time in early runs was spent going through the same areas I had seen previously just to get to the boss. Many deaths to bosses in this current build of 13Z do not feel deserved and make the trek back even more tiring. Now, that said, the game is in early access so it’s still a work in progress.
Art Direction
Mixed Realms has done a nice job of creating a unique, yet familiar environment. While much of the combat and action happens on these weird ethereal floating islands, there’s a simplicity and elegance in its auxiliary locations. When not in combat, you spend your time in a village, complete with an expansive town upgrade system. There are tea shops, noodle shops, and even a rooster airship. There are also a few small side quests to be found from NPCs. All this makes for a comfortable rest area when not slashing through monsters.
Much of the art style in this game reminds me of the newer Legend of Zelda games, with simple and cartoonish 3D assets. While it doesn’t have cutting-edge graphics, 13Z still looks very pleasant and isn’t afraid to use vibrant colors.
Getting into the sound design, there were some audio balancing issues. I found that the music and sound effects were inconsistent in terms of volume. I would often pause my game to raise or lower the sliders to account for this. This unfortunately took me out of the gameplay experience temporarily, but I am also known to be a stickler for audio balancing.
There isn’t too much voice acting in 13Z, but it is strong where it’s present. Your character is accompanied by a disembodied narrator urging you on throughout your journey. This narrator is voiced very well and really captures what a spiritual guide should sound like, calm but firm. That being said, the narrator is used a lot. Like a lot. He will always chime in when the player does relatively mundane tasks such as opening boxes and picking up scrolls. It was endearing at first but became an annoyance after my second or third run.
Conclusions + Looking Forward
The current build only gave access to Lyra, the Fox as a playable character. The extent of the game is through the first act which sees the player challenge the zodiac of the Goat. No release date has been announced yet, but Mixed Realms has promised five additional characters, 11 more bosses representing the other zodiacs, and three more acts.
13Z has the makings of a fun experience, but it’s a situation in which I would wait until the full game releases before assigning a rating. Many of my concerns are related to the depth and variety of the gameplay. I think a lot of this can be remedied with the inclusion of the other heroes meant to join the roster. 13Z has some quirks to work out, but we’ll keep an eye on it as it progresses.
