Developed by Monolith of Minds and published by Deck13 Spotlight, Resolutiion is a brand new action and adventure game. Resolutiion has actually been developed by two German developers, who also happen to be brothers, who have been working on the game since the past 5 years. This is our review of the Nintendo Switch version of Resolutiion in which we explore a dark cyberpunk world and tackle some really mean bosses.
Resolutiion puts you in the shoes of Valor, an old killer who must look after an AI called Alibii who must infiltrate a terrorist network in order to save the city. The game is set inside a dull yet alive cyberpunk city where you must explore and decipher your past as well while exploring the future. Resolution features brilliant cyberpunk visuals in retro art and is a massive throwback to classic action-adventure titles. The world is brilliant to explore and is of a pretty decent size as well. While most areas that are story-focused in the game tend to be linear but there is plenty of exploration in the game as well and you can always stray from the main path to meet new NPCs, learn about game lore and even find some enemies to fight.
Despite feeling like a linear title, the game gives you the freedom to revisit old areas and explore them again. Some of the missions are designed in a way that you will eventually need to do a little bit backtracking however it is not too much that you might get bored. All I remember from my playthrough is that I hardly had to backtrack 3 or 4 times in order to turn in for a mission. The world has plenty of NPCs to speak with. Every NPC will have some unique information or gibberish for you. It really makes the cyberpunk world of Resolution feel alive. I accidentally found a hidden cave in one of the areas and when I went in, I found an NPC there just hanging out. I did found some health and money there but it was a surprise to see an NPC in a place where I least expected it.
Combat during the early stages is pretty boring as you have no dodge or side-step ability to avoid enemy attacks. The enemies are not too tough either at the start of the game however sometimes you get overwhelmed with the number of enemies that appear on the screen and you miss not having a dodge to avoid them. However, as you reach the first boss and defeat him, you get a cool ability to quickly move around. This costs too much energy but it works really well as a Dodge ability. Apart from dodging, you can also use it for moving around quickly. After this, you continue to unlock more and more abilities which make combat much better and easy. You get different abilities and attacks that not only help you in the traversal of the world but also in combat.
Apart from the abilities consuming your energy, your weapons also utilize this same energy bar which means that you have to balance your abilities and weapons. Powerful weapons use more energy so using a ranged weapon is always a gamble in combat because it might drain all of your energy and you might not have enough left if you need to dodge out of the way after using it. The enemies get tougher and tougher as you progress in the game so you have to be very efficient with how you use the energy. Early stages of Resolutiion give you plenty of practice time with the abilities and weapons that you obtain so you can easily get comfortable with them and try to find a good balance between using your abilities and the weapons. I like this particular challenge of the combat because otherwise, death is not really harsh in the game.
Dying is really convenient in Resolutiion. You simply respawn at the last checkpoint you passed and all the enemies along the way remain dead. Even the damage you dealt to these enemies is not reset. So you basically just have to reach that spot again and continue from where you left. I do not know whether this works with boss battles as well or not but I am pretty sure that boss battles will reset because I did not die on any boss for some reason. I found the normal much more annoying in the game than the boss battles. The boss battles are pretty much straight forward and once you understand their attack patterns, you will have no trouble defeating them.
On the other hand, the normal enemies swarm over you and once the attacks start coming from every direction, you have to be on the run, avoid fire and kill them all. Most of the weapons require you to be stationary and then aim and then fire. This makes using weapons a liability if there are a lot of enemies around you because some enemies are slow while some are really fast and do not give you much time to stand still, aim at them, and then fire. Apart from being slow, I found this particular mechanic a little gimmicky as well because during boss fights, I would quickly stop, aim and fire but the weapon will just not fire until a give it a little time. This is fine with slow-moving enemies but with bosses, you do not have the luxury of time. For quick hits, you will always rely on your fist combo which is probably the fastest attack combo in the game. You have this unlocked right from the start of the game. It is a powerful three-hit combo that allows you to kill all normal enemies in one combo.
The enemies come in all shapes and sizes in Resolutiion. The early stages have really simple enemies and the only problem is their sheer amounts of number sometimes but as you progress in the game, the size of the enemies keeps getting bigger and bigger. Right after you leave the initial area, there is a huge cat creature that burrows down in the ground and only pops out to snatch you and take you on a wild ride. Similar, even the tiniest enemy could be a big problem sometimes. Enemy design is one of my favorite things in Resolutiion. They are designed pretty well and they all fit right in the dark and gloomy cyberpunk world of Resolutiion. The game does not disappoint you when it comes to enemy design in any way. The same goes for weapons and abilities. You have plenty of wacky weapons and abilities to ensure that you survive easily in the game.
Another great aspect that I loved about Resolutiion is the brilliant level design of the game. As you traverse the world of Resolution, you will come across different indoor and outdoor environments and their design is excellent. They perfectly capture the cyberpunk futuristic feel of the main theme of the game and sets an excellent setting for the game. These levels range from forests to open plains to mechanical indoors. Each environment is unique and brilliant in its own way and I absolutely had a blast exploring them. Open-areas are pretty wide and give you plenty of areas to explore while indoor areas are not too claustrophobic as well. I am sure that you will spend plenty of time just exploring these environments just because of how cool they look.
Final Verdict:
Resolutiion is a brilliant action-adventure game set in a beautiful world and tough enemies. While the gameplay, especially handling the weapons take some time, overall I really liked the simple gameplay and visual style of the game. With minimalistic UI, the game really offers an immersive experience. The developers had classic SNES titles as their main inspiration while developing Resolutiion. While the visuals and art design certainly is a throwback, I will say that gameplay might be simple and plain, there are plenty of mechanics here and there that make you realize that this is a modern title. Everything is crisp and refined while SNES titles were not as crisp and refined. I am not saying this in a bad way. Considering the gamer today, we are used to crisp controls and mechanics and Resolutiion delivers just that packed with visuals from the SNES era. If you like playing action-adventure games, then Resolutiion should be on your must-play list and I highly recommend this game.
Final Score: 8.5/10
