Greak: Memories of Azur vs Hollow Knight
Greak: Memories of Azur
Greak: Memories of Azur is a gorgeous action-adventure game featuring a young boy in search of his sister in a world engulfed in turmoil, no thanks to the bloodthirsty Uglars. Playing as the boy Greak, you’ll venture across various regions in Azur, exploring every inch of it for hidden stashes, completing quests, and battling enemies along the way.The game starts off like a relatively regular action platformer, where you’ll get to jump, swing your sword around, and solve relatively simple puzzles by switching characters once you manage to reunite him with his sister. This part is actually pretty similar to the gameplay in Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, a favorite of mine.
In fact, you’ll get to control both characters at the same time, which is interesting, though it does complicate things a bit during combat especially considering that the sister is a magic user and deals damage from afar while the brother is a sword-wielder and does best dealing damage from a much closer range.
In a way, Greak: Memories of Azur also feels a bit like a Metroidvania in the sense that the game hides secret chests and rare flowers in places that you, if you don’t pay too much attention, might miss. Even if you spotted the items, you will still need to figure out a way to get to them, which usually involves some creative and sometimes very precise jumping. Expect to get frustrated… a lot!
The gorgeous hand-drawn art in Greak is definitely one of the highlights of the game as well. The out-of-focus background in the distance matches well with the stuff at the front too.
In a nutshell, not only is Greak: Memories of Azur a gorgeous action-adventure game with a heartwarming story about a brother trying to reunite with his sister in a world embroiled in war and infested with dangerous creatures, it also comes with a fun gameplay that's perfectly "midcore". So, if you're into story-driven platformers, you'll want to check out this one!
Hollow Knight
Hollow Knight is a cartoonish yet somewhat hardcore 2D side-scrolling action game that will see you travelling across the dark yet wondrous world of the Hallownest, filled with huge hallow caverns, ancient ruined cities, deadly wastelands and more. Unlike most games, the combat system in this one is based on precision and timing, rather than blindly hacking and slashing, and of course, different enemy types will require different strategies. Your character will also have access to some really powerful skills and abilities by equipping Charms.Not to mention, as opposed to simply giving you a map of sorts, you actually need to chart your own journey with mapping tools which can be bought in the game. And if that's not enough, the game even has a super challeging difficulty level, the Steel Soul Mode, which will truly put your skills to the test.
Despite being developed by only 2 people, Hollow Knight somehow managed to nail everything right on the head, be it its gameplay, the melancholic atmosphere of the game which helps to tell the story of a ruined civilization, a beautiful, dark world to explore, as well as a robust and in-depth character progression system. If this sounds like something you'd like, you might want to drop by and take a look.