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amazon Greak Memories of Azur reviews
Greak: Memories of Azur – In recent years, games of the Metroidvania genre have gradually become more popular, especially with indie game developers like Hollow Knight, Ori, and the Blind Forest, etc.
This popularity is because Metroidvania is a game genre that doesn’t need too much to develop but can arouse people’s nature to explore things around and solve puzzles.
The low cost doesn’t mean it’s an easy game to make. If building a world is too simple, and the gameplay is shallow, these games will make gamers boring.
Developed by Navegante Entertainment, Greak: Memories of Azur is a game that aims to give gamers a memorable Metroidvania experience.
Greak: Memories of Azur take place in a land called Azur. In this land, a race called the Couines suddenly appeared. The Couines love peace and want to build a life in Azur.
Meanwhile, lurking in the dark jungles of this land are the Urlags, a race that exists only to ravage the land. Courines and Urlags soon confront the victory belonging to Couines. They built a peaceful society until one day, the Urlags returned with a mysterious force, and they used that power to conquer the land, causing the Couines to find a way to escape.
Players will play as Greak, Adara, and Raydel, three brothers of the Courines race. At the beginning of the game, all three will be lost together, and the player, the youngest brother Greak, will have to find the other two members.
Once reunited, the three will find the parts needed to build an airship, escaping from Azur.
The first point attracting many people’s attention to Greak’s Memories of Azur is probably the game’s beautiful 2D graphics style. The developer has used this graphic style to bring a vivid and detailed world, making the writer sometimes feel the game is a controllable picture.
Coupled with the image will be the sound, and in this area, Great: Memories of Azur has done very well. The background music of the game is quite diverse. It gives the writer a variety of emotions such as relaxation in the barracks, tension when exploring dark caves, and excitement when fighting bosses.
In addition, the small sound effects such as the sound of sword slashing, the sound of water clapping when the player falls into the lake. The sound of running words when the two characters talk to each other is also well done, making the writer always feel happy when experiencing the game.
Greak: Memories of Azur allows the player to control three brothers, Greak, Adara, and Raydel, and the gameplay mechanics of all three are deep enough to make the game completely individual for each character.
Starting with Greak, the youngest brother of the family. Greak uses a small sword to attack enemies at close range and a crossbow to take out enemies that can fly or stand at a distance. Greak can also learn new moves from the barrack’s guards, making the combat skill set more diverse.
Greak reminds the writer of the young adventurer character motif, popularized by Link of the Zelda brand.
The second sister of the family, Adara, is the complete opposite of her younger brother. Adara is a mage who can use magic to “fire” against enemies and hover for a short period. Adara’s magic skills will improve when she collects mystical items instead of practicing like her brother.
Finally, there is Raydel, the oldest brother of the family. Raydel is a knight, shown by the fact that he has a long sword and a sturdy shield. However, the point that makes Raydel completely different from his brother Greak is that he owns a Grappling hook similar to Batman, allowing him to go to places that the two brothers can’t reach.
As they explore the world of Azur, the three brothers will encounter puzzles that need to be solved and, in some cases, puzzles that will require each family member’s unique abilities. That makes transitioning between family members essential.
In Greak: Memories of Azur, the number of items that each character can carry is relatively limited, ranging from 3 to 5 cells, depending on the character.
However, the problem here is that the game doesn’t have a separate page for key items, which results in the player losing a precious slot that can be used to carry healing items.
For example, a task requires the writer, Greak, to pick up four ropes to help build an airship. When a rope is picked up, it has taken its place in Greak’s item bag, and since there are not enough four strands, Greak cannot give it to the quest giver.
And so, the writer had to travel for several hours with useless ropes in the character’s pocket. It wasn’t until a while later that the writer learned that this game allows us to throw items on the ground, and it will stay there, not disappear. That is one thing the game doesn’t instruct us on!
Throwing necessary items on the ground also leads to another problem: we have to go back to the old location to pick them up, making the journey inadvertently longer.
Players can expand their inventory by purchasing bags from the stall, though this is still a very limited solution.
where can you get a Greak Memories of Azur online
Greak: Memories of Azur – Nintendo Switch: Buy it now
Greak: Memories of Azur – PlayStation 5: Buy it now
Greak: Memories of Azur – Xbox Series X: Buy it now
In general, Greak: Memories of Azur would be more complete if there were a separate page just for items important to the quest.
Besides the 2D style, another notable feature of Greak: Memories of Azur is controlling three characters simultaneously.
That is done by using one main character and pressing a button to “hold hands” with the rest of the characters, making sure all three move as one.
In theory, controlling the trio is a pretty cool way to move, but the game doesn’t perform well in practice.
More specifically, while controlling two or more characters, the player must ensure that the playable characters stand close, almost overlapping each other. Otherwise, there will be puzzles where two characters jump simultaneously. Still, only one character reaches the finish line; the other character falls into a deep hole or thorny field, losing blood, unfortunately!
Even though it is guaranteed that all three characters are close together, sometimes there will be one or two characters that suddenly move slower than the other, leading to a misalignment.
Another drawback is the “summon” button of the game’s character. When family members are separated, the game will allow the player to call the rest by holding a button.
However, this button is mostly useless as it can only work at extremely close range. The summoned character can only run forward or backward, unable to do other actions even as simple as jumping. Players should save time by controlling the rest of the members themselves.
The last drawback is that the switch between characters sometimes has short moments of delay. That is a nuisance when you have to solve puzzles that involve timing or fights.
Why bother when fighting bosses? That’s because the three characters have three separate health bars; as long as one character dies, the game ends instantly.
This shortcoming of Greak: Memories of Azur can be completely overcome if the game has a 2 or 3 player local co-op mode.
I understand that this also means that the quest to find Greak’s brother and sister will have to be replaced, but I believe it’s a worthy trade-off for a smoother gameplay experience.