Remnants of Naezith

Genre: Platformer

Players: 1, Online Leaderboards

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Review:

Remnants of Naezith is a challenging Platformer released on PC in 2018 and ported to Nintendo Switch in 2020. In each of this game’s levels, players must navigate dangerous terrain to reach one of the titular pieces of Naezith, a dragon who has enchanted or cursed the game’s grappling hook-using protagonist.

The presentation here is good, making use of dark pixel art backgrounds that contrast well with your character and help players to focus on the acrobatics involved in completing the game’s levels. This is backed by fast-paced synthesized music that isn’t great at fitting the game’s themes, but is energetic in a way that works well with the gameplay.

That gameplay is clearly the focus here. Players can jump, double-jump, wall-jump, dash, air-dash, and most importantly they can send out a grappling hook at a 45-degree angle. However, the real fun of this game comes from combining those elements in ways that let you make use of the game’s physics.

Jumping from a higher spot and grappling means that you’ll be flinging yourself up higher when you release the grapple, or farther depending on the angle of your jump. You can further augment your speed and angle by combining an air dash and/or a double-jump, Your character can get to super-fast speeds and swinging around can even feel somewhat out of control at times, but whenever you die due to touching one of a level’s environmental hazards, that death always feels earned, and you know it’s because you messed up, not the game. The game also lets players quickly get right back into the action with a press of a button to restart the level. What’s more, players are regularly introduced to new elements, like water you can briefly skip across, ceilings that won’t hold a grapple, or walls that make you slip when you try to climb them.

If there’s any major flaw here, I suppose I could complain that the challenge level is so high that it might discourage some players, or that sometimes keeping track of the controls at the high speeds you’re flinging yourself around with can be unwieldy. However, for a mere $10, these issues are really minor complaints in a Platformer that feels fantastic to play, gives players a great sense of momentum, and speed runners in particular will love how maneuverable their character is despite only a few moves they can use in tandem. The result is an excellent entry in the genre well worth a look if you enjoy your Platformers with a bit of a challenge.

tl;dr – Remnants of Naezith is a challenging Platformer where players must use a grappling hook and the game’s fun physics system to swing their way to the end of every level. The gameplay here is great, fast-paced, and gives players a lot they can do despite having a limited move set. If you’re down for a tough but fair Platformer, this is a great choice.

Grade: A-

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