I was anticipating this a lot but didn't know this had roguelike elements. Ugh. I only get like 4-6 hours to play in a week. Thanks for the informative review.
@@84bombsjetpack23 they are probably afraid they will never finish the game if they are endlessly running around in circles with no sense of progression. Not saying that will be the case here but it looks like a possibility. I too am debating a purchase for the same reason. I do sometimes buy roguelikes but I just recently finished a really good one (Trinity Fusion) but that one you never lost your permanent traversal upgrades so you felt like you were always progressing
@@Yoshikiraa whoops, I just recently learned the difference between "roguelite" and "roguelike". Trinity Fusion is a roguelite. Ultros has roguelite elements
I won't deny that I do indeed have a big backlog of Metroidvanias to get through and yet Ultros still grabbed my attention when I first saw it. And you are right in that definitely sounds like something I've never played before, which makes me even more interested. Despite the drawbacks it has, it seems like I'd enjoy this, and accessibility options are a plus too. While the time looping mechanic lowers my interest a little bit, I might be able to cope with it. Hopefully there'll come an update or a patch which would at least make it optional. I think I will pick this up at some point. Thanks for the review.
Agreed. I honestly try to pick the ones that are actually good like Hollow Knight...The decent ones arent really worth my time.. BTW what other metroidvanias have you played that are worth playing? I am debating on wether I want to buy this one bc the demo for me was just decent....nothing special.
Yeah dead cells eventually added Accessibility options that essentially turned off the roguelike element. Would be great if they did something similar here then I'd more eagerly dip. But if they dont, I'll have to wait til I can be sure I can devote a lot of time to this
i love roguelikes so it probably wouldn't bother me much. taking the roguelike element out of dead cells would completely ruin the game. i've sunk so many hours into dead cells and loved it, if it didn't have the roguelike element i would have done everything in a couple days and lost interest. not sure about how well it will fit into this game but i'm surprised they would actually give you the option to remove it from dead cells. it's really simple, if people don't like roguelikes they shouldn't buy them, it's like some people wanna buy them then complain that they're roguelikes, like they're trying to eliminate the genre.
So every time you die you lose all your stuff or is it every time you beat a boss. And is that the max movement speed cause it seems kinda slow if the map is really big how long does it usually to retrace all the abilities
@@IDreamofIndie oh so pretty much it’s just a part of the story and you gotta reset a certain amount of times until you reach the final boss or is it like the amount of times reset is based on how many times you lose on the boss
@user-ei2ld4rg8l There are seven shamans, if I remember right. So in total 8 total times the time loop happens. Amd it's not a true time loop. You unlock short cuts, plant seeds that gives you upgrade experience that all remain when the time loop kicks in. With a special item that you can find 2-3 of every loop you can also lock abilities in place to save for the next cycle. It's kind of more of an illusion of rogue likes. Not too much random stuff happening that is typically in rogues. My main gripe of the game is it's hard to remember the best route.
I Dream of Indie comes in clutch like usual. An awesome looking indie game is on sale and of course you guys have an informative review for it. I dig metroidvanias a lot, though their ubiquity makes it feel like even the ones that are critically acclaimed don’t really grab you. The “losing abilities” gimmick here is absolutely a no-go for me. Too bad, because the game is visually stunning and gorgeous. Thanks again! You’ve never let me down lol.
Previous to this review I was already skeptical about the time looping mechanic but the fact that it halts progression and turns the game into a slog is a huge deal breaker for me. I can always count on you guys for good and honest reviews. Thank you.
I'm tellin you, there is some kind of brain worm that infects all indie devs. It tells them to insert rogue-like elements into their games. In all seriousness, it's a real shame. I was completely on board until I heard about the rogue-like looping mechanic.Nothing against the genre or its mechanics. It's just that looking at the map, I can tell the game is too big for that sort of mechanic to not get frustrating.
My pet theory is that it's easy to stretch the content with a rogue-like loop. Instead of being a four hour game, you can bolt on a looping mechanic and a few bells and whistles to vary up the runs and you suddenly have a twelve hour game (or longer).
@@thomashooper2451 That's possible. A four hour game wouldn't bug me if the price was right, but I know of a lot of people who have this mindset of "longer game = better game". The kinds of people who boast about a game having over 400 hours of content as if that is the sole mark of quality. Maybe devs are aware of this mindset and tack on the rogue-like loop in an attempt to appeal to those types of people? Those are just my thoughts, anyway.
@@psycholuigiman There's actually no mention of it being a roguelike/lite on the Steam page. Not tagged as one either, and basically all those games have a progress reset on death. Not after key story chunks. Seems like they were just trying to be as unique as possible. I love Rogues and Metroidvanias, this game doesn't seem to be enough of either to appeal to me. Even Dead cells and Rogue legacy 1/2 let you keep key traversal abilities when you die. Pretty though, and I am sure it will appeal to other people.
From the looks of it this is a 2D game with hand drawn graphics (so no polygons but sprites). A higher resolution would just be upscaled and not look much better. Or the developers would have to use 4K sprites as the default resolution (every sprite would be much much bigger) and downscale for lower resolutions. So the game might even look worse. But using 4K assets in 2D would mean lower frame rates for ALL systems. Long story short: Using 4k sprites would probably mean a maximum of 20 to 30 fps on steam deck or switch. So I can totally understand the developers decision to go for 1080p resolution. This whole 'everything must be 4k' is a little bit absurd in my opinion. Most people don't even see a diffence after playing a game for a few minutes. I play on a 86 inch TV and don't care if it's 4k or 2k, the frame rate is way more important.
I think it would be nice to have options for PC players. I can understand the decision for older hardware like Switch, but honestly, we have reviewed over 1000 games here at the channel and it is extremely rare to not get higher resolution options for a PC port. Felt like a game that really would have benefited from it. Thank you for watching!
If a Steam deck can run a AAA game like Horizon Forbidden West then I'd trust my Steam deck to run a 2d game at way higher then 30fps... 4k textures is not the perf killer you think they are.
I could not handle all those weird mechanics. Looping you back to the beginning and losing things, big mistake from the devs there. I'm bored of rogue elements being in games where it's not needed.
This rouge lite rouge like nonsense is getting old. Along with the dark souls influence, it is part of the video game paradigm shift away from intricate/combo driven combat systems, where as before games like dmc and god of war were often the most obvious influences on the action genre
looks like a fun game but 3 tabs of acid isnt enough to get visuals like this you needd at least 10 plus unless there gel tabs or liquid. then a few should be enough. ive done acid a ton in my life lol. but ya gotta try this one out.
i cant recommend it enough, to try psychedelics with an experienced friend, to guide you a little, and pick the right music. as long as you feel safe, it's a most divine and blissful experience. getting really stoned is the impressive demo. but if pot is a moped, and shrooms are a ferrari, acid is a jet plane, and deems is a space rocket. when it comes to how far you can explore other realms. take it step by step .. and find the warp ship for yourself
Psychedelics can be very beneficial and there is evidence that they have a therapeutic value from previous studies. My own experiences with LSD had a great benefit to my mental health in helping me to overcome emotional issues related to traumatic experiences in my past and how to better deal with depression. Psychedelics can also assist in obtaining a larger perspective on life and they can provide spiritual experiences in the sense of contemplating and experiencing how you relate to the big picture of reality.
Great review and honest! Thanks. The time loop information will make me wait until the game goes on sale or is offered in the ps subscription. I can’t stand games like
I'd hesitate to call this a roguelike since death isn't punished with a reset and instead it's a narrative point. Every time the game takes your abilities and time loops, the game either opens up a new shortcut to getting your powers back (you get them all back at once every time) or takes you through a completely new area with new mechanics. Each loop inevitably takes you through a new biome. The exploration and progression loop is unconventional as hell, but it's so flawless in executing its insanity that it consistently feels fun and fresh each time you pick that double jump back up again. Thorough exploration will reward you with quicker and quicker access to a full ability tree on each subsequent loop and honestly I can't remember when this genre has ever felt simultaneously so familiar and so new. Some really unique abilities. 100% run is going to require a lot of thought without a walkthrough, but I'm so here for it. Completely in love with this game!
The planting and fast travel are also really creative and unique, but people seem to just brush over them because of the loop mechanic (which is also tied to some parts of the planting system). I had a great time with the game, so I might be biased, but I feel people are judging it without taking in the whole picture.
Though I appreciate this review, having played the game for at least 10 hours, I disagree with most of what was said. As a HUGE fan of Metroidvania games, this was a breath of fresh air. It doesn't hold your hand, the rogue-like elements are much less frustrating than mentioned, and actually become less frustrating the further you get into the game. Though I respect the opinion given, I was never bored, and found it to be one of the best Metroidvania games I have played. Based on the comments given, games like Super Metroid would also be considered boring. I highly recommend Ultras to fans of the genre. Even if you don't like rogue-like games.
Rouge lites will always be more enjoyable over rouge likes. Haven't played but Im guessing the narrative reasoning is because of the cycle of life death and reincarnation. Choosing a mechanic that supports the narrative is important but should never come at the cost of enjoyment or flow unless you are absolutely certain the message hits hard enough in a way that the end result is satisfying. Hard line to walk but I support the unique qualities this game has.
I'm not sure why people complain about losing abilities with every new cycle. It took me like 5 minutes to get them all back? And with a bit of exploration, you have more than enough of those items to keep all your main attack abilities, health and attack upgrades and utility abilities.
@@IDreamofIndie Thanks for such a good review and clearly explaining the Time Loop mechanic btw!! Been following the development but wasnt sure how they'd implement it
you saved me 40euros because YES it looks good YES i like metroidvania YES the roguelite element is not for me and i don't want to play a long game that takes me back to the beginning to redo the same in a different way so next time thanks you ;)
I was sold on this game from the first trailer, but playing the demo on Steam made it a day one buy. The loop sounds entirely unnecessary. I feel like Ultros should be a pure Metroidvania, even if it's on the shorter side without the loop, but I will still be there day one.
Acid isn't that extravagant. As someone who's done acid, this is nothing like it, acid makes everything wavey and swirly. This is more like Shrooms, possibly even Peyote, which has a much stronger and vivid hallucinogenic properties. While on shroom you can hallucinate anything you can think of, so for example, on shrooms, someone was next to a lamp and the lamp made me think of a full moon, so the lamp actually changed into the moon with clouds passing by, than that made me think of a werewolf which made the person change into a werewolf, and the colors were vividly bright like in this game. I do regret shrooms because I overdosed and had the worst experience of my life, but I do not regret acid, acid was a very mellow and pleasant experience.
awwww man what a bummer. that metroidvania trope where you lose all your powers and need to explore/fight to get them back is consistently one of my least favourite things about the genre. but i've always pushed through it because it usually happens only once in a game. the fact that it's used as a recurring game mechanic here might just make Ultros a no-go for me. this is valuable to know, so thanks Joe. i suppose i'll be watching a Let's Play of this one instead.
could have been a visually stunning game with somewhat satisfiying gameplay BUT then the dev decided to make it a roguelike.... I played the demo in steam next fest and fell in love with the artstyle, the gameplay was quite slow but it's ok, but now that i know that it is roguelike i think i might have to pass
I have listened to or read over a dozen reviews so far... my conclusion is this is high in style but lacks any real substance. The time-loop mechanic sounds infuriating.
Just as with drinking you should have a designated driver, so too with drug use, you should have a sober buddy to hang out with you and help you keep things good. This one looks really wild though, and I'm a little tempted to pick it up.
So every time you die you lose all your stuff or is it every time you beat a boss. And is that the max movement speed cause it seems kinda slow if the map is really big how long does it usually to retrace all the abilities
