How would you feel if someone stole your ingredients for a spell that you were working on? Your initial reaction would be pretty upset, wouldn’t it? You would probably even go to the extent of chasing after the thief and retrieving back your stolen items. Witcheye puts you in the eye of a witch (pun intended), that is trying to get back her spell ingredients that were stolen by a knight and a wizard.
My first initial reaction of platform adventure Witcheye was, “Thank-you Moon Kid Games & Devolver Digital!”, as it brought me back to a time in my child hood where I was discovering retro games through the Sega Master System II, which was where my initial love for video games began.
The gameplay within Witcheye is strategical, so you can’t just expect to breeze right pass. You have to really study the attack patterns of your enemy and figure out how to skilfully get around them. What I really loved most about old school retro games was that you always had to think before every decision you made. You could not just simply go in carelessly with hope that you wouldn’t be hit or killed, every move had to be carefully planned and thought out prior to proceeding. Even with collecting treasures in-game, you would always need to think carefully about how get to them. Although in Witcheye you float through most of the game (you are literally a giant flying eyeball), it does tend to feel like you’re a bouncing ball as you vanquish enemies by bouncing on them.
The mini bosses and actual bosses at times proved to be quite challenging and the amount of frustration that followed made me even more determined to keep trying until I finally saw victory or threw the console out the window, so as you can see – it’s no easy task. Even then, every move had to be thought through, particularly with where you were situated on the battlefield, deciding on when to attack, when to dodge, figure out the weak points of your enemy and the bosses attack patterns. They were overall a lot of fun though and helped me love the game even more. Not only did it give me a trip down memory lane, but it delivered so well in its crafty gameplay and unique concept. I really adored the cutscenes that were included as well, which was a more traditional method of storytelling, which really allowed me to appreciate the game more. The pixel art is visually amazing and really captured the traditional retro game feel so well. The character designs and particular boss designs were also brilliantly pieced together.
The overall game time of Witcheye was fairly short and I found myself completing it with 2 to 3 hours, however the game does have replay value. Certain more difficult modes are unlocked once the main campaign is finished, so if you feel like mastering the game further and are looking for more of a challenge you try your luck by playing through a more difficult game setting. Not only did Witcheye have a good gameplay feature but I really loved the music which gave a real retro 80s feel to it, but it was just so funky, especially with the bass and synth action, which was pure fire.
Overall, Witcheye is an amazing retro inspired game and stands out more than any other retro indie game I have played to date. Sending me to a very treasured gaming memory of my life, I will without a doubt say that this game is absolutely worth getting into and having as part of your collection. The gameplay is challenging, the storytelling and concept are unique, the visuals are beautiful, the sound effects are great, soundtrack is iconic and I assure you that it won’t fail in delivering an original, fun and amazing retro gaming experience.
Witcheye is available on Nintendo Switch and PC now.
