Worldless

Worldless attempts to differentiate itself from its peers by adding satisfying turn-based combat to the usual Metroidvania loop. It largely succeeds, helped by an intoxicating art style and varied puzzle mechanics. Some difficulty spikes interrupt the flow and knock the dreamlike exploration off balance, but you'll feel compelled to overcome them.

Though its turn-based combat may end up doing most of the heavy-lifting, that Noname Studios have cleverly crafted something that's both fleshed out and as appealing as it is, means Worldless still winds up a delightful studio debut.

Overall, although I wouldn’t count Wordless as one of my favourite 2D games, it’s one that isn’t afraid to try new things, and is able to do so with a gorgeous minimalist approach. With its harmonious blend of colours and sound and the mix of turn-based and real time combat, much like "Carol" and "Barry", the end result is a coming together that leaves you satisfied, but perhaps also leaves you wanting a little bit more.

Worldless is a beautiful game that blends the joy of exploring a Metroidvania with seriously compelling timing-based combat.

Worldless took a different route when it came to the combat mechanics that helped make it differ from other Metroidvania, but I enjoy the Hack n Slash form of combat that is in Hollow Knight and Dead Cell. Don’t get me wrong the turn-base fighting was fun, it just took a while to get my head around as the tutorial wasn’t the best. There was a frustrating difficulty spike when you hit certain enemies that would leave me stuck for ages and unable to progress.

Worldless is a fun and challenging action platformer that has a great minimalist style, and a battle system that is fun to master. However, there are bits that need tightening up to make it truly great.

Worldless is not going to be for everyone. The harsh difficulty of the combat, and the thin plot can make it tough to move forward. However, there's satisfaction to be found in clearing the title's challenges. Combined with the splashy visuals, the adventure is worth undertaking if you're up for the task.

Worldless captures the thrill of a good close fight.

Worldless is an excellent, intelligent and well-packaged video game, capable of both offering brilliant platforming phases and representing an extremely focused and addictive Metroidvania. Supported by a story to be discovered, it is a video game that focuses both on the visual impact and on its combat system, managing in an enveloping way to be incredibly in focus in both lights. That's a lot, a lot of stuff for a team on its first video game that arrives in such an aggressive and fierce market.

I liked Worldless, but I wasn’t very good at it. Visually, the game looks great, and I had a lot of fun exploring the world and trying to make sense of the vague story while taking in the scenes and listening to the score. Combat, however, is tough. It’s not broken or glitchy. It just takes some fast fingers and careful attention to really master it. I liked it in principle, but it just didn’t click for me. I still give Worldless a solid recommendation. If you’re up for the challenge, you will discover a unique adventure that’s well worth taking the time to master.