Summer is a time for game sales, and there have been some pretty great titles for ridiculously low prices lately. There’s nothing better than stumbling upon some rad looking title you know nothing about, and being able to take a gamble thanks to the low cost of entry. Going off a killer cover or minute-long trailer is the closest I get these days to digging around in a KB Toys bargain bin. One such delightful discovery is Thunder Lotus Games Metroidvania title Sundered.
Living up to the name of its genre, Sundered incorporates weird tech you could find in a Metroid title, and while it isn’t exactly playing with the horror trope beasties of Castlevania, it very much embraces horror and monsters in the form of Eldritch terrors based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft. In the fashion that is typical to the genre, you will traverse an ever-expanding labyrinthine map, fighting creatures and collecting tools and ancient powers that allow progression to previously inaccessible areas. It does well with the design, with interesting and varied maps, critters, and powers; frantic and satisfying combat; and an interesting story set up.
You play as Eshe, a woman lost in a desert until she reaches bizarre ruins that she is then subsequently pulled into by unknown forces. There she meets the not at all unsettlingly named Shining Trapezohedron, who bestows combat abilities to our heroine, and travels with her throughout the game. Her geometric friend explains that his kind and a technologically advanced race known as the Valkyrie were at war, and the results of this war left behind Elder Shards, which are eldritch magic whatsits that he would like her to collect. The set up is cryptic, but it allows for a bizarre world full of interesting creatures as well as offering a game mechanic that opens up fascinating skill progression.
These Elder Shards are crazy-powerful business, and you are given a choice in how you want to handle them. Give them over to Ol’ Shining Trappy, and he will corrupt your powers, making them far more powerful at the cost of your very humanity. Adding damage to your normal shield power, or gaining the ability to temporarily transform into a gargoyle to glide short distances instead of having a standard double jump. Or, if you’re feeling more humane and less deal-with-a-devil-y, you can choose to burn the shards at the Valkyrie’s furnace, which can offer you different bonuses such as adding flames to downward attacks or an extra strike to your combo. It is a fun way to experiment with playstyles, but also evidently offers multiple endings based on what you choose to do.
Though, I don’t know for sure what those endings are because six hours definitely didn’t get me extremely far. Sundered is tough. But not in an unfair or overly frustrating way. Enemies can absolutely swarm you in a massive horde, but they could just as easily not bother you for a few floors. Every enemy has a very specific telegraphed move set that makes it easy to learn proper dodge timing, but it is definitely a challenge when you have a screen full of baddies and a miniboss to contend with. Of course, getting beaten down is half the deal, as Sundered also incorporates some roguelike elements. Death will bring you back to the beginning of the dungeon, but the currency you collect from individual enemies remains, allowing you to level up your health, shield, luck, and combat stats before jumping back into the fray. Areas of importance, like shrines where you learn skills, areas you had to manually unlock, or mini-boss/boss rooms remain where they are, but the rooms in between will be procedurally shuffled after each death. However, while the order the rooms would change, I would still learn my way around each room on their own, despite the order. It’s a cool way to add to the unsettling fever dream atmosphere the title is building.
I personally did not encounter any bugs or even major frustrations as I played Sundered. Yeah, it’s absolutely a challenge, but no death really felt unfair, even if overwhelming. However, the one negative point of this article is my own fault. Having never heard of Sundered before checking out the killer trailer, I didn’t realize that the “Eldritch Edition” added a four-player local co-op component not in the game previously. I’m hoping to give it a try in the future because I imagine it will be some chaotic, violent fun.
If you like the old school challenge of Metroidvania titles, in a market filled to the brim with them, I think Sundered stands out. The beautiful and unsettling art design, as well as the unique take on skill progression and borrowed roguelike elements, gives it a singular style that is worth checking out. Especially seeing as it is only $4.99 on Xbox One at the moment as part of their Super Savings Sale (which is worth checking out for a ton of titles, by the way). It is also available for the Stadia, as well as on the PS4, Switch, PC, Mac for $19.99.