Redo has all the components needed for a successful Metroidvania, but sadly, they don't seem to fit together. It's a real shame, too, because the Metroidvania part of this game is well done. The survival horror elements don't blend into an excellent gaming smoothie. Instead, you're left with chunks of something else in your game that doesn't fit.
- Amazing art direction
- Fascinating world
- Fantastic level design
- Unbearably slow pace
- Steep difficulty curve
- Very Short Experience
Redo is a game that originally came out in 2019 on Steam but has now made the jump to PS4 and PS5. The makers of Redo were kind enough to provide a review copy of their port for this article. After playing this Indie game to the fullest of my abilities and giving some time for my thoughts to stew, I am ready for a Redo PS5 Review.
The moment I heard about the game, it immediately had my attention. A survival horror metroidvania? As someone whose favorite games are Resident Evil and Hollow Knight, I jumped at the chance to get my hands on the game and found myself impressed with many things.
Immerse yourself in the hauntingly beautiful world of "Hollow Knight," where every step unveils secrets and challenges waiting to be conquered. With its captivating art style and intricate gameplay, embark on an epic journey filled with mystery, danger, and discovery unlike any other.
Remnants of a Destroyed World
What I like most about Redo is the presentation. The game has this fantastic post-apocalyptic setting. The pixel art conveys a surprising amount of depth. The animation of the characters and enemies is also very well done.
My favorite things visually are the enemies. They are all distinct with this beautiful style that reminds me of S.C.P.s or something by HR Geiger. This incredible body horror sort of feel to them with fleshy bits in grotesque and malformed ways. They are disconcerting the first time you meet them.
Rather than spoon-feed lore to you, a lot of it is left to the player to find and decipher. The lore usually comes from interacting with environmental objects, like posters or notes. It’s very Dark Souls-like in its design, which isn’t bad. The style works well for telling cryptic tales about a ruined world.
On the other hand, the game might rely too much on these cryptic pieces of information to tell its story. I get that the approach is not to spoon-feed the player information, but I think it could stand to be more direct. I honestly didn’t know what I was doing most of the game, making the ending hit weirdly.
How Well Does the Port Work
The game is a port of an existing P.C. title released in August last year. I can’t say how well the P.C. version runs, but if it’s anything like the console version, it might as well be butter. I never experienced any slow down or stutters, no matter what happened in the game. Even when there were a lot of projectiles flying on-screen, the game didn’t chug.
I found no significant glitches. In fact, I didn’t find any glitches. The game was exceptionally stable and well-built. More than a few A.A.A. studios could learn from Redo! I may or may not be looking at Bethesda.
Taking it Nice and Slow
The core gameplay is more reminiscent of Abe’s Oddessy or a Boy and His Blob, in a sense. There’s a delay to every action that gives the game a unique feel. Your melee attack isn’t quick; pulling out the riot shield to protect yourself takes a moment. It makes platforming an odd thing. It will initially annoy you, but it should be far more manageable after getting the hang of the jumps.
This fact is helped by jumping not being a massive part of the game’s mobility. Rather than hopping from platform to platform, a well-placed R1 will have you do a dodge roll.
You can use the doge to bridge gaps. Ramps and ladders are far more common to go up and down elevations than platforms. It helps reinforce the realistic feel the game is going for. You rarely see floating platforms in the real world, after all.
It feels nice to get from one place to the next since the game expects you to do a lot- and I mean a lot of traveling. Like any good Metroidvania title, there are a bunch of items and goodies hidden all over the world. The most boring of these are H.P. upgrades, but the most exciting things are the extra weapons the game lets you use.
They stay in your inventory until mapped to your quick-select. I like how the quick-select isn’t a wheel. Instead, it maps it to one of three face buttons: square, triangle, and circle (x is mapped to jump), which makes switching between them surprisingly smooth despite the delay. They have an ammo system, but enemies drop it relatively frequently, so running out isn’t a problem.
The system for attacking is pretty cool as well. Enemies have a number above their heads for H.P. and another for stamina. Every attack will deplete energy, and when they run out, they’re stunned, and stunned enemies drop H.P. orbs. It’s a pretty neat system that encourages a mixed playstyle.
Taking it Too Slow
Of course, some negatives have to be talked discussed. The biggest of which is that the enemies are so incredibly annoying. They can easily tear into your H.P. and bring you from 100 to 0 in a second. Some of the stronger enemies in this game will very quickly kill you, and they will kill you a lot.
It makes sense, this game is survival horror, and enemies are supposed to be deadly, but you have set respawn points. It’s as if Kingsmoulds filled the Queen’s Garden from Hollow Knight. Every death will send you back to the respawn point, and the natural slowness of the game doesn’t gel with these constant setbacks.
The worst example of this I can think of is surprisingly early in-game. Down a path you need to go is an adamant enemy. Getting to it is pretty hard since it’s at the end of a long platforming segment, but it’s doubly hard to kill.
I thought I was ready once I brought a rocket launcher with full ammo, but that didn’t kill it. I just tanked the damage to move past, which probably shouldn’t have worked.
You have a dodge button, but I’m honestly not sure how well it works. Despite what it says on the tin, you can’t dodge everything with your dodge. Namely, any attack like those red balls enemies shoot can still hit you.
The ambiguity on what can or can’t be dodged goes double for any melee enemy attacks, making dodging more awkward since you’re not sure when you’ll just be slamming your face into an enemy.
The biggest issue is that the game shouldn’t be 2D with this many enemies. It works in something like Resident Evil because you have an entire axis to move on. You can go around enemies if you don’t want to fight them.
In a 2D space, it should be handled like Metroid Dread, with 1 or 2 enemies in a large area, so the player has lots of room to move around. Otherwise, strong enemies might as well be a health tax where you have to give a certain amount of H.P. to get past.
The severe damage makes deaths super plentiful, constantly sending you back. It’s only made worse by the lack of a fast travel system. The game does a decent enough job looping back around on itself, but knowing you’ll have to redo Redo’s platforming constantly doesn’t make for the most exciting experience.
The game suffers from a general lack of information as well. I wasn’t aware I could destroy these statues that blocked off my progression until I looked it up. You’re supposed to hit them with a high-powered weapon, but ammo is a limited resource.
I couldn’t find any direction in-game to shoot them, so was I supposed to guess? How would I think that? Why would I risk ammo on a valuable weapon by hitting that?
Beyond that, there is no in-game map. It’s easy to get super lost, running through the same areas (thankfully not killing the same enemies since they stay dead until you hit a checkpoint) and looking for the exit you missed.
Should You Redo It All Again
Honestly, I’m not quite sure I would. I love some metroidvanias, and Redo sets itself up for replays quite well. The game is non-linear, and secrets, including new weapons, are stashed worldwide. Unless you’re an extensive gamer, I doubt you’d be able to find all of it in one playthrough. It’d be fun giving it another go to try and find them all.
The game does support this with a New Game+ mode for those that want it. Your items, upgrades, and all will carry over, making collecting everything and getting through the early segments of Redo far more tolerable than your first time.
However, I don’t think a New Game+ is something I’ll indulge I didn’t particularly like my game on my first go for fundamental reasons New Game+ wouldn’t fix.
What I didn’t like about the game goes far beyond not having some items. It’s baked into the gameplay loop. It just feels so slow to get through. I spent most of my time going through the same corridors, repeatedly throwing myself at the same enemies.
Despite the slow game, it’s also not that long, only clocking in at around 4-hours if you don’t waste too much time. The game only cost $9.99, so it’s not a bad deal for your money.
You probably shouldn’t buy the game if you’re not into metroidvanias. The game leans pretty hard in that direction, and when it does go in that direction, it’s terrific. The world design and atmosphere kept me returning and carried me through the game.
If you like fundamental aspects of the metroidvania genre, like wide-open and well-crafted worlds with intense atmospheres, then I think you’ll get something out of Redo. I couldn’t recommend this game if you’re new to the genre or on the fence about it.
Alternatives to Redo!
There are many good metroidvania that can scratch that itch for horror-infused games.
- Metroid Dread – A great game that does the slow-paced horror very well.
- Metroid Fusion – An older game that is the inspiration for Metroid Dread in many ways, and sometimes doing it better.
- Hollow Knight – Not as horror-like as the games above, but it has a fantastic world that feels very lonely.
Visit my Youtube Channel, FuuriKuuri, for a video review of the game that should be soon, if not already.
Pros Vs. Cons
Pros
- The game is cheap
- Amazing art direction
- Fascinating world
- Fantastic level design
- Weapon variety
- A good amount of replayability if you like it
Cons
- The game is pretty short
- Very great difficulty
- The game has a slow pace
- There isn’t a map in-game
- Not very friendly to gamers new to the metroidvania genre.
Immerse yourself in the hauntingly beautiful world of "Hollow Knight," where every step unveils secrets and challenges waiting to be conquered. With its captivating art style and intricate gameplay, embark on an epic journey filled with mystery, danger, and discovery unlike any other.
F.A.Q. Frequently Asked Questions
Question: Where Can I Buy Redo?
Answer: You can buy Redo on most major platforms. You could already buy the game on Steam, and now it’s on Xbox and Playstation systems version. It has no physical release, so Redo can be downloaded from the respective digital storefronts.
Question: How Long is Redo?
Answer: My playtime was a little above 5 hours in total. Depending on your sense of direction, the game could easily be longer or shorter. From what I can find, the average playtime is around 4 hours, so I was a little slow.
Question: Does Redo! Have any DLC?
Answer: As of the moment, no. So far, DLC hasn’t been announced for Redo, and I don’t think an announcement is on the horizon.
Redo PS5 Review: The Final Verdict
Score: 6/10
Redo has all the components needed for a successful Metroidvania, but sadly, they don’t seem to fit together. It’s a real shame, too, because the Metroidvania part of this game is well done. The survival horror elements don’t blend into an excellent gaming smoothie. Instead, you’re left with chunks of something else in your game that doesn’t fit.
- Redo PS5 Review - July 12, 2022