Gigasword is a new pixel art adventure game from developer Studio Hybrid and publisher Akupara Games that fuses puzzles and action. We first reported on its release in July, and it is now available on Steam, priced at $18. It’s also available on Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox. We’ve played through the first few hours to bring our thoughts on this intriguing title. Gigasword is a bit of a throwback to the classic era of Metroidvania-style games, featuring a great blend of simple yet clever puzzles and action-packed platforming sections. While the same tropes do keep cropping up, such as solving a puzzle to get the key to the next room, the pacing and tight gameplay keep it engaging.
The story centres on a young man, Ezra, who has been charged with saving the world after all the humans attack a race of owl-headed creatures. The two factions have not had the best relationship, and the humans feel it’s their turn to rule. The soldiers storm the owl’s tower and steal an ancient relic that curses them by turning them into monsters. Ezra must restore order by fighting the monsters and getting the relic back where it belongs. The opening section of Gigasword is filled with striking cutscenes that include some excellent pixel art. The overall story is fine for a game like this, although some of the dialogue does feel a little heavy at times.
Following the opening sections, which also handily act as a tutorial to most of the basic moves, we found ourselves in the tower and wielding a giant sword. This is where Gigasword becomes very interesting and certainly unique when compared to other games in this genre. You can drop the sword at any time, and doing so means you can jump further and generally move around more easily. However, you cannot attack in this state and will need to pick the sword back up to kill enemies. What this creates is brilliant puzzles that require you to either move the sword about on mechanical platforms or change the room in some way to make carrying the sword accessible.
This continuous loop of dropping the sword and having to find a way to move it around is well implemented and is the basis of almost all the puzzles. But it’s not just the puzzles that make Gigasword a great game. When you’re in a room that is filled with enemies and becomes what we call ‘action’ rooms, the combat is fun and engaging. You are forced to learn to roll out of the way of enemy attacks before swiping your sword or performing a jumping dive bomb move. Later in the game, you’ll save enough currency to start upgrading, and the combat evolves again as you can shoot a small beam if you keep your health full.
We only found ourselves stuck a couple of times during our time with Gigasword. These were usually when a puzzle wasn’t immediately obvious, or we needed to find a way to use the sword to traverse larger jumps. A hint here is using the dive bomb move to propel yourself further. We also faced two bosses, both of which were brilliant fights that weren’t too hard, but hard enough that you felt as though you had a decent battle. There is also a handy map which clearly shows where you should explore next and shows what keys you’ll need.
The beautiful pixel art in Gigasword is also well animated for the most part, and some brilliant rooms will make you gasp once in a while at the attention to detail. Everything is also marked out well on screen; it’s obvious when you need to drop the sword or use it to push blocks. There is also just enough left to the imagination, and there is a sense of achievement when you spot something and move the level forward. Gigasword is a fine puzzle action title that has enough fresh ideas to stand out. Fans of quality pixel art adventures will enjoy this one.
