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On the main menu screen there’s New Game, Continue (a previous game) and Bonus Area. Upon starting a new game you’ll find yourself besides a stone wall, nearby are some colourful buildings and homes. Snowcapped mountains are in the distance, with a big bright sun shining down on all below. From here you will have some information about what keyboard keys will allow you to move, jump and interact with to help you on your way.
The world has been cursed by an ancient plant-based cosmic being known as the Haustoria. Making your way across the screen, you come across your father, a wounded soldier who hands you the Magical Thumbtack. This magical thumbtack will allow you to pin and unpin certain objects you cross paths with on your journey. With the magical thumbtack you set off across the land, however the beautiful lands that you know will soon disappear. Instead you’ll find yourself in weird and twisted places, you need to find a way of lifting the curse and the removal of the Haustoria.
As you make your way through Haustoria you’ll have to solve puzzles so you can proceed. These puzzles can be by using the magical thumbtack or by other means. If you come across objects blocking your way or ladders which are out of your reach. If they have thumbtack on them then you can manipulate them to benefit you.
Clicking on the thumbtack on the object will unlock that object. You can then move it into position to help you, you do this by moving in a direction. So, say you need to move a ladder down so that you can reach and use the ladder. Clicking on the thumbtack on the ladder to unlock it and then moving to the left or right will move the ladder up or down. The ladder might not come down far enough for you to use it, if this happens then you will need to lock the ladder in its current position. Then move your character into a position so that you can unlock and carry on moving the ladder to the position you require. You may need to do this several times especially if you and a ladder are on a short platform.
Scattered here and there are some weird looking creatures, short arms and legs, two pointy ears with a leaf covering their face. These are Forest Dwellers and they will help you as you progress on your journey. Some of these Forest Dwellers you can catch (if fast enough) and collect them, there are thirteen in total. Some when combined with the magical thumbtack will help you clear your way of monstrous creatures.
On the main menu screen, you can find Bonus Area, this will be available to you sort time after playing the main game. Here you play just as you would through the main game although you won’t have any game saves. What you will find in the bonus area is prototype drawings and creatures which never made it into the game. With some information about why it didn’t make it into the current game.
There isn’t much in the way of options, the in-game menu will detail the Keyboard Controls and there’s a Music Volume slider. Upon starting the game up, you can change some options in the Unity Launcher like Resolution, Graphics Quality, Windowed, Key Binds.
Haustoria is a platform game made with nice hand drawn graphics, the music is good. I did find it a little bit frustrating at times using the WASD keys when jumping around platforms and falling off. This is probably more down to me and couple problems I have, I’m sure most folks will have no problems. I could have tried using the Arrow Keys and rebinding of Jump and Interact keys in the Unity Launcher, but I normally have problems with that, so I didn’t bother. I wasn’t aware of my gamepad (Xbox One) was supported until I just tried it as I was writing this line in my review.
Positives
+ Nice hand drawn graphics
+ Has achievements
Negatives
- Frustrating at times
- No cards currently
With the magical thumbtack in hand, set off on a journey to repel the cosmic being Haustoria and release the curse upon the world.
7/10
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