![]() This is what I mean when I say it feels less deliberate than Blasphemous, which committed fully to it’s Metroid style design. With its power, Nairta Boy must travel through the Digital Kingdom, restore the Creator’s memories, and defeat HIM. The same night, in another part of the city, a young boy receives a calling from his computer and upon reaching into it, his body becomes entangled with the code of Narita Boy-a digital warrior, who, upon entering the Digital Kingdom is told of HIM’s plan by the maternal overseer of the Digital Kingdom “Motherboard,” and given the Techno-sword. Unable to remember and patch the corrupted lines of code, HIM and his army of rouge programs known as Stallions, seek to infect the Digital Kingdom dominating it’s three houses and destroying the balance of the “Trichroma.” Telling the story of Lionel Pearl, also referred to as “The Creator,” who, while writing code for his “Digital Kingdom” is accosted by a malicious program known as HIM-who reaches through the program and causes Lio to lose his memories. Narita Boy’s story wears it’s TRON inspiration right on it’s sleeve. There is a lot to like about Narita Boy, but I think I would’ve liked it more, had it drawn even more from Blasphemous. ![]() On the other hand, you can see so much of Blasphemous’ influence in the game’s visual design, it’s atmosphere, and even the gameplay that it’s hard not to draw comparisons between the two. Unlike it, though, Narita Boy is rich with text and frantically unfurling mythology, which serves its mystical adventure themes in virtually all cases.Talking about Narita Boy is difficult, since I want to avoid comparing it to Blasphemous-despite the fact that both games were published by Team 17-they were made by different developers, and as such I feel it a bit unfair to hold it to the standard of a completely different game. Much like that game, it’s an occasionally clunky but gorgeous experience that tells an effective story. In certain respects, this also musters echoes of Eric Chahi’s classic Another World (released in the US as Out of this World). It’s usually functional and meets the basic difficulty level of the game, but it’s stiffer than what players might be used to these days, and a far cry from the fluid action in something like Dead Cells. Bosses and mini-bosses are unique and plentiful and, while Narita Boy is agile to the point of even being a little slippery, button delays and committed attacks often make the frequent combat feel more stilted than empowering. Special combat and movement abilities are steadily introduced along the adventure, with most fights relegated to trapping the player in screens with scripted sequences of enemies to take down. The gameplay is much more simplistic than its aesthetic may imply. In other words: there’s no tile-repeating techniques here every single screen and area and animation looks painstakingly handcrafted and positioned, pixel by pixel. Many of the characters in Narita Boy are reminiscent of that title’s unique gangly pixel-art style, but also the rich, time-intensive depth of its visual assets. ![]() In addition to Tron – from which Narita Boy liberally borrows with its weirdly enthralling, solemn-but-silly digital creationism lore – it feels equally indebted to developer Caypbara Games’ landmark Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery. ![]() There are many different touchstones at play here. Related: El Hijo Review: A Wild West Pint-Sized Sneaky Stealth Adventure At the center is the titular hero, Narita Boy, a player sucked into the world of his own purchased video game to act as a kind of silent wacky sentinel, destined to rescue unfolding laser-lit lands from “HIM.” The protagonist wields the Techno-sword, a tri-colored transforming laser sword used to dispatch a bustling rogue’s gallery of “Stallions,” errant hench-creatures intent on keeping The Digital Kingdom in chaos. ![]()
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