Game:

MessiahEnd Refrain (2021)

Duration: 50:22

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Doujin action game "Metroidvania" spin-off based around the "Messiah End Revenge" fighting game (original game was called "Regret") developed by Hiyori Oshin and originally released in 2021 on Steam and for the Nintendo Switch. It was created using "Pixel Game Maker MV" and while I feel the fighting game it's based around was better (and also free, before it was inevitably pulled), this is the first commercial release from the dev and costs as much as a higher-end cup of coffee and goes on some decent sales, so its asking price is pretty modest. I am giving it a soft recommendation for this alone, but I want to stress that the game is fairly simplistic overall with numerous caveats and won't be taking the shine away from most (more accomplished) Indie / Doujin Metroidvania titles.

MER takes place beyond a town referred to as the "Closed Circuit" where, rumor is, a great Messiah has arrived. However, unlike the great Messiah of the past who helped the world in times of an unprecedented crisis, this "Messiah" is not a savior but an annihilator that will "cleanse" the world by reducing it to nothingness. Two years ago, through a plan called the "Messiah's End Project" someone attempted to bring the Messiah back through artificial means and created a monster which spawned further demons and pushed back those who attempted to stop it, creating a quarantined land. The Messiah cannot be defeated with ordinary weapons, but a young woman, Lydia, has been blessed by the church and bears angelic powers which are effective against the demons. Believing she is the only hope to quell the demons, she journeys alone through the quarantined land and meets more than just the forces of darkness...

The game is fairly short, weighing in at about two hours, and it's also fairly linear. While the game is dubbed a "Metroidvania", even the creator uses this term mildly; the game doesn't have much in the ways of puzzles or backtracking and while the game features different area maps, the game is simply a bit maze-like in structure. There are hidden items in destructible walls or hidden areas, a few items and spells to purchase and various upgrades to improve your basic stats (HP / MP / Feathers for Weapon & Attack upgrades) and abilities, but most of them are not required to finish the game. Lydia herself controls okay enough, though her actions are a bit stiff compared to others in this type of game, but the game is a bit buggy in spite of numerous updates with minor collision issues and control mapping issues. One more glaring problem however is saving: the game will say it "saves" but does not unless you press F5 to go back to the title screen first, at least on my rig. I lost over an hour of progress the first time I played until I figured this out. You can also use the numbered keys for other prompts such as adjusting sound and language options.

The visuals are not particularly noteworthy (at a glance, it looks like one of those Doujin Ecchi / Ryona / Vore / Eroge titles, but it's not) but the soundtrack is surprisingly pretty nice, and the dev also voices various characters. While there is almost no dialogue, the game has a poor translation which was likely machine-translated. While the story can generally still be understood, some lines are stated multiple times (but just phrased a bit differently) and some characters have multiple names. The dev should have gotten a volunteer to help localize it. The game is an okay way to kill a few hours. This is a video of the game in action. You can get it at:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1522040/MessiahEnd_Refrain/

Enjoy.

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