Mystik Belle

Developer: Last Dimension | Publisher: Last Dimension | Release Date: 2015 | Genre: Indie / Action / Adventure / RPG | Website: Official Website | Format: Digital Download

Belle Macfae is a first-year student at the Hagmore School of Magic but ends up having one of those days where nothing goes her way. In an attempt to improve her grades, she stays up late practicing fire magic, only to be knocked over by a mysterious person. Belle is barely back on her feet before she is hauled in front of a council of witches and accused of sabotaging a very important ancient ritual. Although Belle protests her innocence, she is tasked with re-creating the brew or facing immediate expulsion. An evening filled with exploration and adventures follows as Belle searches for the ingredients she needs to recreate the brew.

Ever since the release of Symphony of the Night, there has been no shortage of Metroidvania-inspired titles attempting to recreate the magic, but quite a few fell short. Mystik Belle certainly shares a few traits with the genre but infuses its platforming with a healthy dose of classic point-and-click adventure-style puzzles. As Belle explores the various rooms of the school and the surrounding areas, she encounters many items that can be collected. Some items are vital for completing her quest, while others are complete junk that can be tossed in the garbage. Since Belle has a limited inventory, you must be very careful about what you lug around as you might find yourself on some far-flung corner of the map without the item you need to solve a puzzle.

Fortunately, teleportation rooms are found at various locations around the map and serve as a means to get around quicker and as handy drop-off points for items. Of course, you can only travel between rooms you have already discovered, but they are spaced out evenly to ensure that backtracking is manageable. We were impressed with the puzzles as most are very straightforward and logical but still quite clever. Solving puzzles usually requires finding a point on the map that can be interacted with and then “using” your inventory object on it. Don’t worry; hotspots are marked with an exclamation mark when Belle passes them, so you don’t have to scour the screen looking for points of interest. Some puzzles require combining items, which Belle does automatically if all the necessary materials are in her inventory. While the limited inventory space might irk some players, it never really bothered us and brought back fond memories of early titles, such as the Dizzy series.

Mystik Belle features from the more than sixty types of monsters that you’ll encounter during your quest. However, there are also a couple of friendly (and not-so-friendly) faces along the way. Talking to other people will often provide valuable clues to help you on your way and also demonstrate the humor in the game. Some of the conversations had us laughing out loud, but the game contains some language probably unsuitable for young players. In addition to solving puzzles, Belle must defeat the eight bosses standing in her way and learn new powers to unlock previously inaccessible areas. Everything from double jumping and forward dashing to underwater breathing is up for grabs and essential to explore every nook and cranny of the large map.

Killing enemies earns Belle experience points, and leveling up improves her health and firepower. Be careful, though, as getting killed results in Belle losing all her experience points progress toward her next level. However, her level cap of eight is relatively easy to max out, and the game even has an “easier” difficulty setting if you struggle with the default challenge. The game also saves automatically when you enter a new room, so there is no need to search for a save spot when you want to stop playing. You need to stay on your guard as enemies respawn when you re-enter a room, and some rooms also feature foes that constantly appear from the edges of the screen. Overall, though, the game isn’t too tricky, and genre veterans should have no trouble completing it.

Visually, the game is an absolute treat thanks to its beautiful and highly detailed pixel art style. The enemies show a lot of imagination, and there are quite a few nods to other classic titles to spot in their designs. Belle and the other characters in the game have pretty large sprites, allowing for a ton of detail. While even the smallest enemies look good, the bosses deserve a special mention thanks to their size and designs. We don’t want to ruin any surprises, but suffice to say that some of the boss battles are very memorable. The final boss, in particular, reminded us of something you would expect to find in a Treasure title back in the day. The locations you can explore are also quite varied, from dark caves and spooky forests to underwater areas and dank dungeons.

The audio is outstanding and features some catchy chiptune tracks that perfectly match the game’s style. The game works best with a controller since you spend most of your time navigating tricky platforms. Belle can blast enemies from a distance using her wand and carries a handy broom for whacking enemies who venture too close. We had no issues with the controls except for the dash move, activated by double-tapping forward. Pulling off this move consistently proved to be a bit of a challenge, but it isn’t unmanageable.

We had a lot of fun with Mystik Belle and found it to be a light-hearted and addictive title. It features two different endings, and we highly recommend tracking down the eight secret scrolls to face the true final boss. Players looking for a “pure” Metroidvania experience might find the puzzle-solving aspect of the game a little annoying as it can impede your progress, but we thought it added a lot of depth. It took us about eight hours to discover everything and complete the final boss, but for the truly dedicated, there is a speedrun achievement, which challenges you to do it all in one hour! Mystik Belle is a great title and quite an accomplishment, considering it is mostly the work of a single developer.