Trash Quest

Genre: Metroidvania

Players: 1

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Review:

Trash Quest is a Metroidvania released on PC, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in 2021. Players take the role of a gun-toting raccoon exploring a spaceship, evidently in search of trash to plunder.

The presentation here is decidedly retro, featuring pixel art 2D visuals with a Game Boy-esque limited color palette. This is backed by a decent but not especially memorable chiptune soundtrack. It all more or less works as a throwback to the Game Boy era, but isn’t especially compelling.

As for the gameplay, this is a decent Metroidvania, though a fairly linear one. You won’t be doing much exploring. Rather, when you get an upgrade, you’ll be looking for the next area that upgrade unlocks, opening doors along the way that make for easier traveling between areas, and perhaps occasionally trying to work your way through an optional challenge room to get extra upgrades for firepower or health. The challenge in Trash Quest comes largely in the form of some really tricky platforming, as well as some occasional challenging boss fights. These fights are pretty good, but seem an odd fit for a game that otherwise features some really disposable combat.

All told, Trash Quest a decent experience, but at $10 it’s hard to recommend when there are some truly great Metroidvanias at the $15 mark, such as Hollow Knight and Guacamelee. At the very least, this game might be worth a pick up when it goes on sale. It’s a decent entry in the genre, but it’s more of a brief diversion than a truly noteworthy experience.

tl;dr – Trash Quest is a Metroidvania that has players fighting through retro-styled Game Boy-esque environments as a gun-toting racoon. This game is more focused on challenging exploration and difficult boss fights than it is on Metroidvania-style exploration. It’s a decent entry in the genre, but not an especially noteworthy one. If you catch it on sale, it’s not bad, but at full price, you have better options.

Grade: C+

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