Greak: Memories of Azur vs Helmet Heroes
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!
Helmet Heroes
Helmet Heroes is a free-to-play, 2D platform-based MMORPG that not only has a Maplestory feel to it, but it’s also a child-oriented game due to its cartoonish graphics. Here, you’ll get to play as one of four adventurers who set out to explore an amazingly diverse world filled with various creatures to fight and loot to collect. The game also features a satisfying progression system whereby your character development is not hampered by your chosen class, a pretty challenging gameplay, and it can be somewhat punishing if you die while carrying a ton of cash.In some way, Helmet Heroes plays a lot like a simplified version of the platformer, Maplestory, with a hint of Mario albeit minus the anime part. The game focuses a lot on exploration whereby you’ll get to discover odd regions filled with as equally odd creatures which you farm for a chance to get the item you want. Item-stealing is a pretty fun aspect of the game and it reminds me a lot of the old Runescape, but the game does give the person who dealt the most damage looting priority, at least for the first few seconds. The open-ended-styled character development, despite having you to choose a class at the beginning, may also bring Runescape to mind.
So, all said and done, if you enjoy playing 2D platformer/MMORPGs, then Helmet Heroes is a game you should check out! The game’s free after all, and it can be played by the whole family as well.