I say this as a compliment- Slitterhead is without doubt one of the weirdest video games I’ve performed this complete console era, and undoubtedly the weirdest sport I’ve performed this yr. Coming from Bokeh Recreation Studio – a brand new indie workforce fashioned by Keiichiro Toyama, the creator of Silent Hill, Siren, and Gravity Rush – it has sure expectations to stay as much as, however fairly than being a slave to these expectations, it carves out a novel id for itself. It’s not with out its points, and it actually isn’t a sport that I’d advocate to anybody with none caveats- however should you can look previous its points, there’s a really completely different and attention-grabbing gaming expertise on supply right here.
Slitterhead is ready in Nineties Kowlong, a fictionalized model of Hong Kong, and sees you taking part in as Hyoki, a mysterious spirit with no physique or type of its personal, however able to possessing almost anyone they get their eyes on. In fairly tropey style, Hyoki’s reminiscence is foggy as the sport begins out, so that you don’t get a lot info in your previous or backstory, however you do know that your mission is to search out and remove terrifying monsters referred to as Slitterheads, who’ve been leaving a path of mutilated our bodies and grisly murders all through town.
“It’s not with out its points, and it actually isn’t a sport that I’d advocate to anybody with none caveats- however should you can look previous its points, there’s a really completely different and attention-grabbing gaming expertise on supply right here.”
Slitterhead may be very a lot not a story-focused sport, and it exhibits. Its narrative premise is actually an interesting one, as is its Hong Kong-inspired setting, however although the sport does broach some intriguing concepts on occasion, it very not often truly pulls at these threads in any significant approach. Most of the time, the plot serves to permit Slitterhead’s gameplay mechanics to shine, with the precise storytelling normally taking a backseat. From clunky writing to tough cutscenes to low manufacturing values throughout (extra on that in a bit), the sport doesn’t actually make a powerful impression within the narrative division.
In fact, one would possibly argue that that’s not the purpose. I kicked this evaluate off by calling Slitterhead one of many weirdest video games I’ve performed in latest reminiscence, and by stressing that that may be very a lot within the sport’s favour. That comes at the beginning from its gameplay concepts. By placing gamers within the footwear (so to talk) of a formless body-swapping spirit, Slitterhead embraces a core gameplay loop that feels solely in contrast to anything on the market, and although it does really feel greater than slightly tough across the edges, the professionals undoubtedly outweigh the cons right here.
Swapping out and in of our bodies and taking management of various NPCs is on the middle of Slitterhead’s gameplay expertise, and that’s true for almost each a part of the sport. Take the fight, for instance- on face worth, it really works like a fairly simple motion sport with a concentrate on melee mechanics, dodging and parrying, cooldown-based talents, and what have you ever, however the sport places an attention-grabbing spin on the proceedings by encouraging gamers to by no means stay inside one physique for too lengthy. Each time you possess a brand new physique, you achieve a short lived enhance in your assaults and fight effectivity, which suggests the sport retains encouraging you to maintain swapping between completely different our bodies.
“Swapping out and in of our bodies and taking management of various NPCs is on the middle of Slitterhead’s gameplay expertise, and that’s true for almost each a part of the sport.”
Equally, traversal and navigation encourage gamers to by no means stay in command of anybody NPC for too lengthy. Standing in entrance of a locked gate that that you must get previous? Merely discover a character on the opposite facet to take management of. Have to extract info from an NPC that isn’t feeling to talkative? Discover a completely different character to talk to them as that they could be prepared to share extra info with. Have to make your approach to a constructing’s rooftop however can’t discover a regular approach to stand up there? Merely hop from physique to physique on balconies and terraces to finally make it up there.
Slitterhead does an admirable job of taking its core hook and discovering distinctive and attention-grabbing methods to make it a central a part of the gameplay expertise. From fight to traversal, the physique swapping mechanic at all times stays a core a part of the moment-to-moment loop, which is why the sport feels as distinctive because it does. That, in flip, works out within the sport’s favour, as a result of that uniqueness helps compensate for a few of the gameplay points that do plague Slitterhead.
Chief amongst these points is how tough the sport feels. Just about a textbook instance of a “diamond within the tough”, Slitterhead can really feel like fairly clunky at occasions. Motion is commonly a bit too jerky (thanks in no small half to the animations), however it’s the fight the place these issues are at their worst. Usually, common assaults, parries, and blocks really feel fairly tight and responsive, however typically, the janky motion could make your actions really feel a bit too imprecise and torpid, which is simply by no means what you need in an motion sport like this one.
Slitterhead additionally suffers from a sense of repetition on occasion. The sport does attempt to alleviate issues on this space by letting you play as numerous completely different characters, which, after all, does usher in a sure stage of variation (although not an excessive amount of, because the common moveset of the people you management largely stays uniform). There are additionally numerous extra highly effective and particular people referred to as Rarities to own, who include their very own distinctive talents and assaults, from a lady who unleashes melee assaults with Wolverine-like claws to a biker who blasts away at enemies with a shotgun. With enemy selection not being as much as scratch, nevertheless, fight encounters can begin feeling monotonous after some time. It’s good, then, that Slitterhead’s distinctive USP by no means fairly loses its attraction, even because the tough implementation of a few of these concepts can let the sport down slightly bit on occasion.
“When you’re the type of participant that may put up with the jank and the tough edges – of which Slitterhead has no scarcity – there’s a wealthy vein of gold ready to be tapped into right here.”
Slitterhead additionally suffers from having usually low manufacturing values throughout the board. From an artwork design standpoint, there’s quite a bit to like right here, and from the nightmare-inducing designs of the monsters you combat to the neon-drenched streets of town that you simply discover, there’s loads right here that’s undeniably spectacular from a visible perspective. Past that, nevertheless, it’s arduous to not discover the shockingly ugly and low-detail NPC faces, the janky actions and animations throughout, the overall lack of voice performing within the majority of cutscenes (and the awkward grunts and pauses that that lack of voice performing goes hand in hand with).
If, nevertheless, you’re the type of participant that may put up with the jank and the tough edges – of which Slitterhead has no scarcity – there’s a wealthy vein of gold ready to be tapped into right here. Bokeh Recreation Studio’s debut outing is way from an ideal sport, and its eccentricities could even flip some folks off from what it’s attempting to promote entirely- however I might simply see this sport amassing a veritable cult following through the years. From its setting and its fascinating central premise to its physique swapping gameplay core and the way that’s used throughout the expertise, from fight to traversal, Slitterhead deserves numerous credit score for not solely being a uncommon instance of a sport being prepared to attempt one thing new and dangerous, but additionally (largely) pulling it off.
This sport was reviewed on the Xbox Collection X.
