Last Vanguard

Recommend this game for any metroidvania lover. Main difference is this is actually metroid like as its a shooter. Played on challenging difficulty to get all achievements in a single playthrough. It was really challenging in the beginning but with more weapons and upgrades ended well. Story is good eventhough it was in bits and pieces similar to modern games. Combat was fun and exploration was really addictive with unique biomes. Platforming can be a hit or miss with cliche design. But overall a really fun and addictive game. Let me wanting more.

This is an excellent metroidvania, a cool combination of gameplay like Cuphead but with open ended progression. The game allows you to choose which location to visit first, and gives you most of the movement abilities since the start, so it is very open-ended. The map design is nice, although more fast travel locations would have avoided a bit more backtracking than I expected. The art style is pretty unique for the genre, I had not played a metroidvania taking place in a retro-futuristic war ravaged landscape before this one. The design of the enemies is nice, and the bosses are pretty unique. There are also a ton of bosses, which is a plus. Playing it in hard is recommended, since that way you need to engage with the whip mechanic to charge up the energy system to reload the guns, and also recover HP, and use other abilities. The game provided a nice challenge on hard, but still the most I had to retry a boss was around 5 times. There is not much story or lore, but it goes hand in hand with the themes of the games, which has a message about the self-destructing nature of war. Overall, this game is very recommended if you like something a metroidvania that is bit different from the norm. With the Cuphead inspired gameplay, to the war-centric art style, it is pretty distinct from all the other fantasy and sci-fi metroidvanias around.

One of the things I appreciate most about Last Vanguard is that it starts players with a double jump. Where most Metroidvanias feel restrictive at the beginning, this one immediately gives movement a smooth and satisfying flow. The game is also truly open—players can head to any area from the start. Combat feels equally good, with the option to move and fire or stay stationary and aim. Different guns with unique firing patterns provide variety, and I especially liked the inclusion of a healing bot. It charges from melee strikes on enemies, creating a loop of ranged combat, close-up strikes, and healing that kept me engaged. Enemy and boss variety is also strong, with distinct patterns to learn and overcome. Unfortunately, the writing is not on the same level. Dialogue often boils down to “We’re going to fight because you’re here,” without meaningful context. Worse, it can’t be skipped cleanly—pauses in the text force you to sit through it, making the weak story even harder to ignore. The reconnaissance bot is another major low point. Controlling it feels awful, requiring constant jump taps to elevate while navigating to boxes to use electricity to activate switches. These sections are explained poorly, break up the action, and play out like a frustrating Flappy Bird minigame. They’re not only unfun, but used repeatedly, and they single-handedly make replaying the game unappealing. I’m baffled these weren’t scrapped. Navigation is also an issue. The map doesn’t feel intuitive, forcing you to zoom in to see detail. Pinning locations is clunky, and the map often opens centered on a previous area rather than your current position. It feels uniquely unhelpful for getting around. Bosses, while well-designed in concept, suffer from excessive health pools. Their telegraphs are clear and their mechanics interesting, but the drawn-out length of each fight tests patience more than skill. Beating them wasn’t difficult—usually within a try or two—but enduring minutes of repeated dodges and attacks dulled the excitement. They end up being both a highlight and a disappointment. Other frustrations include poorly communicated mechanics—like melee switches hidden in the environment that I only discovered by accident—and oddly picky NPC interactions that require standing in the exact right spot to press up. These aren’t game-breaking, but they add friction. Technical issues, however, were harder to ignore. I encountered a boss that refused to move or attack, another that sank into the floor, and a chase sequence where the camera failed to pan properly, forcing reloads. Reloading itself is a chore, as you must exit the game and trek back from the nearest save point. On top of that, my PS4 controller wasn’t recognized at all, even though the game claims it supports it. Despite these problems, I’m still recommending Last Vanguard thanks to its excellent core combat loop, satisfying movement, and strong enemy variety. But the reconnaissance bot sections, bloated boss health, clumsy map, and technical issues keep it from greatness. As a first project from this team, it shows real promise, and I hope future titles refine the foundation laid here.

Pocas veces se ven metroidvanias argentinos con un apartado visual tan bonito. La jugabilidad tiene sus cosas buenas y malas, pero en un todo es una experiencia entretenida.

juegazo

The reason i play so many MV's is because you never know how good they'll be before actually trying them. They can be annoying slogs that you complete 100% out of stubborness or the best hidden gem of the year. I'm very happy to say that the last vanguard is the latter as this game exceeded all my expectations in the best ways possible delivering on nearly every front. The few gripes i could have with the game are nitpicks more than anything but for clarity's sake i'll still mention them. Not without mentioning all the good aspects either ofcourse and what better aspect to start off with than the most pleasant suprise, platforming & level design. Despite a relatively simple core moveset you start the game with the game; being a double jump, air dash, wall climb & grapple hook, the game pushed these mechanics to their limits. Some areas, especially the final level of the game, had some deviously fun and difficult platforming gauntlets require a series of moderately precise jumps. There's some margin for error here but you need to enter a flow state to clear them which felt immensly satisfying! Movement in general throughout the game is very enjoyable although the wall jump animation confused me sometimes as it looked like a double jump. Still though it controled very well which cannot be said about one other aspect. Slight spoiler warning i guess but you eventually unlock a remote controled drone that's used to unlock some doors by maneauvering it through narrow hazard filled corridors. I would have enjoyed these a lot to add some variety but the thing feels horrible to control because it's very hard for it to come to a standstill so more often than not you'll crash into the walls/hazards long after you've let go of the inputs. That was the only controls related issue though as all other platforming and level design aspects were exquisite and the game's definitive strongest point. However it doesn't fumble that other major gameplay mechanic either, combat & bosses. I generally prefer melee MV's over ranged ones but this one did it incredibly well, i'd even say it's my favorite ranged MV out of the ones i've played so far even better than ghost song (my beloved). The guns feel incredible fun to use, they control great with an optional button press to lock you in place and a great variety of different weapons to try. However the real strong point that makes the combat so enjoyable is the sheer variety of excellently designed enemies to beat. None of these felt obnoxious and each of them was fun to fight, having a perfect difficulty for what they were, a regular enemy. However the same balance didn't apply to the bosses. Each and every boss in this game was a bullet spunge and a half, having healthbars that often felt like they just didn't deplete. Oddly enough they still felt like the perfect difficulty though? Like if they had been squishier i would've probably first tried them but as is they took me about 10-20 minutes each which is honestly a good sweet spot for normal difficulty. However i didn't play on normal, i played on easy which was kind of suprising to still be met with such a challenge. I'd recommend easy for most players as it's got plenty of challenge without being impossible but it does feel odd to have 'easy' be this 'hard'. Still though the game gave me a perfect challenge on both platforming & combat. Failing at a boss or platforming sections quickly respawned you but without maximum energy (mana) which is another small QoL feature the game is lacking. A small change that could make a big difference but not enough to detract from the experience in any way. Neither did the lack of good SFX, don't get me wrong what's there works but generally sound design isn't this game's strong suit, luckily the music was pretty good. No standout tracks but they still felt very fitting for the setting, making me immersed in the game's world and wartime setting. The visuals also do a great job at this, especially the grain filter that gave everything a vintage look. The lighting especially popped in this game with some suprisingly pretty areas which was unexpected given the game's relatively simple artstyle. Characters are drawn with very simple shapes and colours but they felt suprisingly charming. Which in turn made it all the more easy to sympathise with the game's story which despite some localization issues still came to a satisfying conclusion. The narrative is standard fare, with no real revelations or deep worldbuilding but it worked to tie the whole package together. No bugs to detract from the experience either or lag, crashes and stutters of any kind, the game just worked on a technical level. The only weird thing was not being able to quit to the main menu, but otherwise no more complaints other than a lack of a fast travel spot in one of the 5 main biomes. It's alright though since the game has a handy drone that you can use to TP back to your last campfire, fast travel point or your main base (which is a good place to get money). However this drone mechanic sometimes didn't want to work which initially made me think it was a later upgrade. The game in general doesn't explain things very well like shotgun double jumping but it's still cool to discover that on your own though or with a youtube playthrough if you're feeling extra confused. There's sometimes a lack of clarity for what to do where to go. This is a side effect of starting out with all your movement abilities as you can go pretty much anywhere from the getgo. This does make it very open ended with satisfying exploration although that satisfaction of getting a new movement upgrade is lost. Despite this major MV element laacking a bit it's still an incredible little A-tier metroidvania that does platforming, level design and combat exceptionally well while doing a great hob with the visuals, music and story. While bosses feel a bit overly tanky, especially on easy difficulty and the drone controls poorly there's no real other downsides to this apart from a bit of missing QoL features, in short an easy recomendation!

solid if slightly odd platforming, combat mechanics have a limitation that you can only swap gear at specific weapon stations, which means rather than optimizing for the area you are in you tend to stick with a weapon that is an all rounder most of the time then switch if there is a save point right before a boss that is giving you trouble.

Додайте будь ласка Український переклад.Тому що гра хороша але хотілось розуміти діалоги. Дякую велике.

TL;DR: Last Vanguard is one of the best metroidvanias released in the last decade, and it deserves a much bigger audience. I’m genuinely surprised this game isn’t more popular. Last Vanguard delivers pretty much everything you could want from the genre: striking art direction, a compelling story, excellent sound design, rewarding exploration, memorable boss fights, tight controls, and solid performance throughout. The game leans a bit more toward platforming and exploration than pure combat, which I personally enjoyed, but there are still plenty of challenging boss encounters to keep you on your toes. It strikes a great balance between difficulty and fairness, meaning it's demanding enough to feel rewarding without crossing into frustrating territory. If you’re a fan of metroidvanias, or you take satisfaction in supporting ambitious indie developers, this is an easy recommendation and an absolute must-play. PS: You can earn 100% of the achievements in a single playthrough if you start on the hardest difficulty.

This is a pretty unique experience. Most of it really good. The platforming was really tight and responsive. It's one of those games were moving around the map feels satisfying once you get the hang of it. You get access to all of the typical metroidvania movement abilities pretty much from the get go: double jumping, air dashes etc. On top of that you get several unique abilities that let you access parts of the map previously unreachable and a selection of weapons and perks. I think the visuals and the music are really beautiful. The latter reminds of the Kyle Thompson games. Another similarity is the difficulty of the game. There are three difficulty levels to choose from. I went for the middle one and the game felt a lot like Islets, making for a pretty chill experience throughout most of the game. However, while Islets was pretty consistent with its difficulty, Last Vanguard unfortunately is not. There are some bosses in the game that are significantly more difficult to beat. On top of that there are also non-optional platforming sections that could rival some of the zestier White Palace sections in Hollow Knight. The only part that I had a huge problem with was the interface. It's very rarely something I comment on, unless it's bad. And in the case of Last Vanguard, it's terrible. I've been unable to swiftly navigate through the maps, the menus even after 15 hours of gameplay. Take this for example: When you teleport, and the map won't center on your new location, so you either have to slowly scroll the map using the movement buttons (though the pointer for your char's location isn't always there) or you return to the map overview screen using your attack button (yup), and then zoom in on whatever your new location is using your jump button. Then there's also horizontal scrolling / item selection within menus using your ability 2 and ability 3 button. Oh and did I mention you cancel out of popups using ability 1? Yeah, just criminally bad. Maybe if you use the default controls on a gamepad it's better, I dunno.