Hunter’s Legacy: Purrfect Edition

Genre: Metroidvania

Players: 1

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Review:

Hunter’s Legacy is a Metroidvania originally released on PC and subsequently ported to multiple platforms, with the Nintendo Switch getting an enhanced “Purrfect Edition” in 2018 that adds a slew of new features and expanded content. This game puts players in the role of a cat warrior in a fantasy world fighting to help a tribe of cat people fend off an attack from invaders and uncovering a deeper threat.

The presentation in Hunter’s Legacy isn’t likely to impress anyone. The game’s colorful hand-drawn visuals are simple and blocky, and while this version of the game touts improved animation, I can’t help but wonder how bad it was before, because it isn’t great now. Add to this some frankly ugly character designs, a completely forgettable soundtrack, and annoying voiced cat sounds your character makes every time they attack or get hurt, and you have an audiovisual experience that’s simply not appealing.

When it comes to gameplay, Hunter’s Legacy stumbles in multiple places. The core platforming isn’t great, the combat doesn’t feel fantastic, level design is inconsistent and at times seemingly random, and for a Metroidvania the stuff you’ll find is pretty sparsely distributed – it’ll at times be a while before you find any noteworthy upgrades or alternate paths for exploration.

Having said all of that, I still can’t help but like this game. While the level design is often nonsensical and tedious, on occasion it has some really clever puzzles. While the combat ain’t great, some enemies are cleverly crafted and make for some fun battles. And while this game doesn’t do the Metroidvania thing as good as I’d like, it still manages to nail the core elements that make the genre so enjoyable.

I suppose then that you could say that Hunter’s Legacy is more than the sum of its components. There is no one element of this game that I could point to and say it’s particularly good, from the gameplay to the graphics and sound… yet all together it still makes for an enjoyable game. While the Nintendo Switch has a plethora of great Metroidvania games, if you’re looking for a decent one that’s relatively inexpensive (this one normally sells for $7), Hunter’s Legacy may be worth a look.

tl;dr – Hunter’s Legacy is a Metroidvania where players explore a medieval fantasy realm with a warrior cat. This game doesn’t do anything particularly well – it has issues in its graphics, sound, gameplay, level design… yet even with these problems, it still manages to be an enjoyable Metroidvania, albeit certainly far from a “purrfect” one.

Grade: C+

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