Rez Plz – Nintendo Switch Review
Fast Facts
Rez Plz
Developer: Long Neck Games
Publisher: Graffiti Games
Website: https://www.rezplzgame.com
Genre: 2D, Puzzle, Platformer
Platform: Nintendo Switch (also available for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC)
Age Rating: 16
Release Date: 15/07/2020
Price: £13.49
A code was provided for review purposes.
Introduction
Rez Plz is a pixel-art puzzle-platformer that brings a new twist to the co-op formular. The goal of Rez Plz is to kill your brother to then solve the various puzzles and dungeons. It’s a simple yet delightful adventure that aims to stand out from the crowded puzzle-platformer genre through its humor and unique gameplay.
Brothers In A Dangerous Time
Our playable characters are; Arcan and Zeph two mage apprentice’s who also happen to be brothers. Both brothers are your typical teenage boys who are more interested in drinking vast amounts of alcohol and chasing the local teenage girls than doing their duties. This puts them at odds with their Professor who likes to remind the brothers that they just so happen to have the small task of saving the world! Soon after a mystical blunder the brothers are granted a special scroll that not only stops these blunders from happening, it also brings the dead back to life.
It’s not before too long before more trouble brews as the academy is swallowed up by a particularly nasty spell. Deemed too weak to be an hindrance to the enemy, both Arcan and Zeph are cast aside. With the world needing to be saved and the Bothers needing to show their worth they set off to save the world…or get to safety, whichever one comes first.
Humour plays a big part throughout the journey and it comes quick and fast. From the banter between Arcan and Zeph, to the cast of colourful characters, each has a role to play and something witty to say. The characters the boys meet are memorable and unique to each other. The ones that immediately spring to mind are the seductive Twin Witches and an entire group of people who live inside the belly of a giant beast.
The Art of Platforming
Rez Plz features the classic platforming architecture such as; running, jumping and attacking. The levels all follow the same tried and tested rules which makes Rez Plz both fresh yet familiar. What Rez Plz does differently is that to solve some environmental puzzles one of the two brothers has to die. Even in death the dead brother is useful. Whether its to use their dead body to weigh down a pressure plate or to place their skull on an alter. Once done the deceased brother can easily be brought back to life using a Lazarus Stone and he’ll appear right next to you as if nothings happened.
Rez Plz is made up of five stages with each level consisting of six levels. Each stage is completely different with a mixture of different enemies and traps in each one. This keeps the game feeling fresh and its great to see how it all comes together within the grand scheme of the games world. At the end of each stage we tackle a boss-like character. Once this boss has been defeated we can then learn a new ability from the Ghostly Professor. One such power that the brothers learn allows them to turn to stone, which is used to activate pressure plates and various carts and pulleys.
Rez Plz also features two-player couch-Co-op where each player takes control of either Arcan or Zeph. It’s great fun playing in co-op and the game plays extremely well. Single-player is also equally entertaining with the ability to switch control to either brother on the fly.
Pixel-Art, Have a Heart!
The pixel art style used for Rez Plz is mixed bag of bright colours and gloomy backdrops that work well together. This difference in design is all done to highlight the often comical nature of the games gore. With the use of gore being so over the top and extravagant, its hard to remember that underneath it all is a fairly solid platforming adventure.
The soundtrack is extremely catchy and on a few occasions I found myself gleefully humming a long. Sound effects and general ambience are also both top notch and along with the soundtrack sets the scenes well. Characters are sadly mute but the on-screen text adds a great deal of character to each of them. Rez Plz has that old-school PlayStation 1 era RPG charm to its writing – albeit with a lot more humor on the top.
Switch Performance
Rez Plz plays fairly well on the Nintendo Switch. I did encounter a couple of bugs but nothing deemed ‘game breaking’. The Switch handles Rez Plz incredibly well and switching between handheld and docked mode results in a fairly fluid experience.
Brotherly Love?
Rez Plz is a nice platforming adventure. Whilst clearly built with co-op in mind, the game is fairly enjoyable as a solo player. The controls are simple enough and are extremely easy to grasp. Whilst certain puzzles can seem infuriating at times, approaching these with a clear head and a different set of eyes can often make all the difference. The bright character design does wonders to highlight the gloomy surroundings and each character is full of quirks and a lot of humor. Rez Plz won’t be to everyone’s tastes but it’s one that oozes charm and should be experienced.
Rapid Reviews Rating
You can purchase Rez Plz from the Nintendo eShop by clicking here
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