Batbarian: Testament of the Primordials

Batbarian: Testament of the Primordials is a polished indie action-adventure that successfully blends Metroidvania exploration, puzzle-solving, platforming, and light RPG mechanics into a memorable underground quest. Developed by Unspeakable Pixels and published by DANGEN Entertainment, the game places players in the role of a fearless barbarian who finds himself trapped within a sprawling subterranean civilization after an unexpected fall. Accompanied by a glowing bat named Pip, the hero must uncover the forgotten history of the mysterious realm while searching for a way back to the surface. Although the premise is familiar, the execution gives the adventure its own personality through inventive mechanics, charming dialogue, and a world that constantly rewards curiosity. The game's defining feature is its partnership between the barbarian and Pip. Rather than acting as a simple companion, Pip is an essential gameplay mechanic that transforms both exploration and puzzle-solving. Players can guide the bat by tossing different fruits, allowing it to illuminate dark passages, activate distant switches, distract dangerous enemies, and reveal hidden pathways. This seemingly straightfor…

Decent puzzle platformer, but I had some issues with the physics on some puzzles (I'm not sure if this was due to it running at 165fps). I also found a way to consistently get stuck in the walls. Took around 10 hours to complete.

Better than I thought it could be. Although, the mechanics and platforming are sometimes clunky and unnatural. You do get enhancements pretty quickly to mostly offset this, tho.

Lo recomiendo, a pesar de que tiene muchos fallos. Es un metroidvania muy duro, muchas veces por las razones equivocadas. El que apenas puedas ver la pantalla lo hace innecesariamente más complicado de lo que debería. Muchas veces no sabes adonde ir, no porque sea un metroidvania, sino porque sigues el camino obvio y te lleva a una mejora, y el camino que realmente tienes que seguir está muy escondido. Hay tramos en los que te aparecen 2 o incluso 3 jefes seguidos. Hay puzzles en los que tienes que hacer varias cosas a la vez (lanzar un objeto, saltar y moverte a algún lado) y es muy complicado mecánicamente. Por suerte, el juego tiene opciones de asistencia que te permite solventar algunos de estos problemas, es la única razón por la que he podido acabarmelo.

Bat wings in deep caves Ancient primordials stir Echoes bite the dark

It's a pretty good game gameplay-wise, except for the fact that Pip's abilities are limited in use. If you're a completionist and keep getting every pouch upgrade, you'll still be annoyed because the most useful ability has 7 uses at the endgame. If you're not, you'll be MISERABLE in combat because if you miss a throw, that's it, usually the enemies who drop the bash ability are the ones that can *only* be killed using them. An advice though: do not make focus your main stat. There are no respecs and it is basically useless since there is more than enough gold to be obtained from exploring/backtracking and puzzles usually have trees that give you one ability use (only if you have 0 left). Since there are chests that give stats, I'd actually put 0 points in it from level-ups if I ever played again.