Severed, a PS Vita exclusive from Drinkbox Studios, demonstrates the platform’s capabilities with a design reminiscent of mobile gaming.
From one-armed, lonely girl to warrior princess
If Drinkbox Studios rings a bell, it’s likely due to their work on Guacamelee, a vibrant and challenging Metroidvania title. In Severed, they maintain a similar aesthetic – one influenced by Frida Kahlo and Mexican art – while exploring the touch-based dungeon-crawler/action genre, exclusively on the PS Vita. Sony’s handheld, despite its current limited support, possesses a unique charm, and Drinkbox clearly demonstrates their appreciation for the platform.
Severed tells the story of Sasha, a one-armed protagonist searching for her kidnapped family. From a first-person perspective, players navigate her through dungeons, castles, and forests, confronting the enemies holding her family captive. Sasha wields a demonic sword, controlled by quick finger swipes across the screen, similar to games like Fruit Ninja or Infinity Blade. Each enemy presents a unique attack pattern and weakness, demanding players track incoming attacks from multiple foes, strategically timing and executing strikes with varied motions (short, quick attacks versus long, powerful ones) and skillfully blocking. At its best, the gameplay delivers a thrilling, albeit stressful, sense of power.
The aesthetics are recognizable from Guacamelee
The graphics, while not groundbreaking, showcase Drinkbox Studios’ stylish aesthetic, characterized by striking colors and evocative designs. The game sometimes evokes The Witness in its visual style, and the PS Vita’s hardware is well-utilized, delivering a smooth frame rate with minimal loading times. The music and sound effects contribute effectively to the atmosphere, enhanced further by using headphones. The controls are intuitive and the game mechanics are straightforward. Players move along the cardinal directions and rotate seamlessly, exploring rooms, breaking objects, collecting items, and interacting with the environment. Severed is accessible and engaging, with moderately challenging enemies, allowing players with reasonable dexterity to complete the game in a few hours.
If you play your cards right, you get a little while at the end to fillet an enemy and buy upgrades for their limbs. Hu!
Given its price point (approximately 150 SEK at the time of writing), Severed offers good value. It is a concise experience, blending puzzles and touch-based combat that doesn’t demand excessive skill. While the initial pace is somewhat slow, the game evolves into an engaging and stylish adventure suitable for casual summer enjoyment. It also highlights the untapped potential of the PS Vita, which deserves more than its current status as a second screen for PS4. However, it’s worth noting that games like Severed could be readily adapted to modern smartphones, which ultimately defines the experience, for better or worse.
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