I went into this game thinking it would probably be fun, but I thought it would most likely be an overrated nostalgia bait 3D platformer with n64 graphics. I was wrong.
The problem I have with a lot of the 3D platformer genre is that the base movement mechanics are either entirely too floaty, or the movement is so stiff that it feels like a Crash Bandicoot clone without the difficulty or creative levels. That's not at all the case here. Basically right away you're thrown into control of your character, Sybil. She's a humanoid animal with exaggerated features reminiscent of a Pokemon fan art, but in the best way. She moves fluidly, there is definitely some weight to her movement but it's not so fluid that you lose control when you need it. Keep in mind, as this is a metroidvania, at this point in time you have incredibly limited movement options.
At the end of what serves as this game's tutorial, you're given your first unlockable move and thrown into the world. And when I say thrown into the world, I mean you are basically on your own from this point forward and the rest of the game is an open environment for you to explore.
This is Pseudoregalia's strongest element by far. A lot of people will tell you that Pseudoregalia is great for it's freedom of movement and fluid mechanics, which is true and I'll get to that, but those elements would be essentially meaningless without a suitable environment to experiment in. Most platforming games where I REALLY enjoyed the movement system suffer from a lack of difficulty and/or exploration in their level design. Most platforming games where I REALLY enjoyed the exploration or difficulty curve tend to have clunky or uninspiring mechanics. Pseudoregalia is the first game I have experienced in my lifetime that successfully gives me an enticing environment and what feels like the best possibile tools to explore it.
It cannot be ignored that the visuals of this game are heavily inspired by N64 era platformers, and on first impression this can appear to be nostalgia bait to reel in people looking for a refreshing childhood reminiscent experience. Maybe I'm coping and I really did fall for the nostalgia bait but regardless I think the visual style is appropriate here and adds to the atmosphere. The level design is open ended and oftentimes the rooms you're in feel like they've been broken apart specifically for you to move through them. They still feel natural and inspired and unique, but it really FEELS like you're supposed to be doing what you're doing.
Thematically it is like a castle that you would imagine exploring in a dream. Upon first glance it's like you're royalty. Your surroundings make you feel important but small. It feels like you live here, you belong here. For some reason though, it makes you feel like you need to get out.
This is not because it's scary, or because there's a sense of impending doom or anything like that. It's because you want to explore. You can tell there is a way forward, and each new area you discover is like a new dream you've stepped into. Each area is dark and cold and vast but feels familiar and uniquely designed for you. The enemies fill these environments like they are its guardians. There isn't much variety here but there doesn't need to be. The few enemy types feel like they know each other, like they all work together to guard this place that you're trying to pick apart.
The combat in this game isn't very inspiring, but it is enough of a challenge that it's engaging, and walking into a room full of enemies is intimidating. There are occasions where the enemies are used to aid the platforming, and some where the enemies are used to add difficulty to the platforming. I don't really care about the combat in this game, and I don't remember anything except for a very specific encounter (which I will not spoil). It doesn't detract from the game in any way though, especially since I have never once cared about combat in a 3D platformer.
I saved the movement discussion for last because I'm scared of how long I'm going to talk about it. The movement system in this game is one of the most rewarding and satisfying movement systems I have seen in a video game ever. It's a metroidvania, so by nature you unlock abilities throughout your playthrough so that you can go back and access areas you weren't able to before. Usually this is done through walls that are breakable with certain abilities, high ledges that you can't reach until you unlock something like a double jump, or environmental hazards that you need an ability to traverse.
Pseudoregalia does have a couple obstacles in this style, but it keeps them to a minimum in favor of more open and technically-accessible- you-can-make-it-if-you-try-hard-enough obstacles. There are countless times during my first playthrough where I looked at an obstacle, said to myself "I don't think I'm supposed to do that yet", and then spent 10 minutes trying to do it anyway to find out that I in fact wasn't "supposed" to yet but totally can because I'm getting good at the movement. That might be the greatest feeling you can make a player feel when designing an open-ended platformer. Not only is that possible for almost every single challenge in this game, but it is apparent that it's designed that way intentionally. Sometimes when you sequence break a video game, you end up soft locking and you're in a spot that you REALLY can't get out of. That is not the case here at all. Every time I felt like i broke the sequence of the game, there was a little reward waiting for me.
Sometimes I'd go a direction that seemed entirely impossible, only to find out that I was going the back way through a section that is normally accessed from the other side of the map. I'd then find out the reason it's normally accessed from the other side of the map is because there's a new ability at the end, and there's an appropriate platforming challenge leading up to it. Now I've gone in the other way, and I got the new ability without discovering the "entrance" or doing the intended challenge. Due to the nature of the environments though, this didn't feel like I broke the game or missed out on something, because every room makes you want to explore every opportunity. I'd break the sequence and get this new ability just to go backwards through the challenge rooms just so I could discover the area where the entrance was.
Aside from these seemingly intentional sequence break options, there are little bonus power-ups scattered throughout the map that can make exploring easier, but aren't necessary to discover everything. This can be as little as some extra damage or as impactful as an extra wall kick. They're always in a clever spot where you have to think just a little about how to get there, and it feels awesome when you do.
To top it off, all the sound design and music in this game is phenomenal. Sure the music is a little repetitive at times because it's difficult for a solo dev to get a wide variety of music, but I never got tired of it. It was droning in my ear contributing to the atmosphere rather than pounding at my ear drums. The sounds to the movement make it feel like there is significance to every action I take, even just jumping around between platforms.
I really don't think I'll experience something like Pseudoregalia again. I finished it last week in a single sitting and immediately started chasing that high looking for another game to play. I'm definitely going to replay Pseudoregalia but I will never be able to find the feeling this game gave me on the first playthrough. I'm playing other games that are heavily recommended by fans of this one (currently Corn Kidz 64). They're good. Great, even! But they don't offer the same thing that Pseudoregalia does. Maybe it's recency bias since I've just finished it, but this might be my favorite game of all time.
I think it's obvious I'm going to recommend this one to any fans of 3D platformers, exploration/atmosphere based games, or fans of good video games in general. Definitely play it in any way you can to support the dev, because I'm sure they're going to make big waves with their future games.
Love y'all,
PCx180e