Alwa’s Collection

Genre: Compilation / Metroidvania

Players: 1

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Review:

Alwa’s Collection, released in physical form only on Nintendo Switch in 2021, is a Compilation of two entries in the Alwa’s series, Alwa’s Awakening and Alwa’s Legacy, both Metroidvania games released separately on Nintendo Switch in 2018 and 2020.

I have previously reviewed both of these games. Here is what I thought of each of the games in this collection:

Game	Genre	# of Players	Grade
Alwa’s Awakening	Metroidvania	1	C+
tl;dr Alwa’s Awakening is a Metroidvania with an old-school aesthetic and design inspired by classic NES games. Unfortunately, it’s not just the aesthetic that’s inspired by those older games, with the progression being a bit slow and the difficulty being overly high. It’s still worth a look for fans of the genre who have the patience for a game like this, but for most there will be better options on the Nintendo Switch.
Alwa’s Legacy	Metroidvania	1	B+
tl;dr Alwa’s Legacy, the sequel to Alwa’s Awakening, is a Metroidvania that improves on its predecessor in just about every way. The result is a game with some great puzzle design, excellent boss design, solid visuals and music, and while the world design is still a bit overly convoluted, this is still overall an excellent Metroidvania that fans of the genre should absolutely be sure to play.

In short, both of these games are at least decent, but Alwa’s Legacy is definitely the better of the two, improving on the first game in pretty much every way. However, both games feature some good puzzle design and boss design, and are generally games I would consider to be worth playing for fans of Metroidvania games.

Having said that, the question becomes if this Compilation is worth buying instead of getting the individual games. And the answer is… probably not. The individual games are normally priced at $10 and $18, respectively. Meanwhile, Alwa’s Collection has a normal price of $30, though at this point its price fluctuates, even going up to as much as $35. To be fair, it does also go down to prices under $25, but if we’re counting that I should point out that the individual games’ regular sale prices can bring their combined cost down to under $15, so no matter which way you cut it, the Compilation costs more than getting the games individually.

There are really only two reasons to get this physical-only Compilation instead of just getting the digital games – the first, naturally, is if you want these games in physical form and are willing to pay the extra dollar amount to get them. The second is if you’re interested in getting the holographic stickers included in the physical release.

In short, Alwa’s Collection is a Compilation that does include two Metroidvania titles worth playing (though this is more true for Alwa’s Legacy), but this is a pretty expensive way to play them when you can just get the digital versions of the game for less. So while I do recommend these games, this probably isn’t going to be how you’ll want to get them.

tl;dr – Alwa’s Collection is a physical-only Compilation of two solid Metroidvania games, Alwa’s Awakening and Alwa’s Legacy. The games here are solid entries in the genre (though Legacy is clearly the better of the two), but this Compilation’s price means that you’re paying a premium to get the games on a physical cartridge along with some pack-in stickers. For most players, you’re better off just getting the individual games on the eShop.

Grade: B-

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