Witchinour is a difficult twin-stick-spellcaster roguelike, cutely-ugly with chunky pixels and a bit-filled soundtrack. Others have already mentioned Nuclear Throne and Risk of Rain, of which elements of both are present – Witchinour essentially affixes a ROR-styled Time/Difficulty system to the NT overhead shooter thing. It’s a move providing initiative to keep the pace up, play quickly and dangerously – especially once bosses get involved and no cover exists, and your evasive maneuvering will be seriously put to the test. Death comes quickly in this game, often from a single mistake.
Combat-wise, it does take a bit of getting used to the spells & specials available, especially with a relative lack of information available. Different spells and specials unlock with play so you do get a chance to gradually try everything out, but you probably won’t be winning any runs until you've picked a single character & spell set and stuck with it for hours. At this point I’m finding it difficult to want to branch out beyond the Sniper character with Protection & Overcharge spells, but that’s also because I think it’s the fastest build.
Levels are randomly generated and, for the most part, this works. On occasion, you’ll be dropped in the middle of a mostly-open level surrounded by enemies & projectiles from all directions, and, well, in most cases, dead. Spells and specials tend to be instantaneous, lasting for a second or two at most, and the upgrades can seem a bit muted. There is a thrill to surviving this kind of thing, but it can also be deflating to finally reach a high level and be wiped out in an instant. To this effect, I wouldn’t mind seeing more of an effect from the level-up upgrades, which might potentially help balance out some of the difficulty/character imbalances.
My main criticism is that the bosses can seem unbalanced and occasionally unfair, certainly at least until one has fought them enough times. In addition, some of the earlier levels seem to appear more frequently than others, which can make learning boss and enemy patterns somewhat challenging – and that’s assuming once you finally get to the boss, it doesn’t decide to repeat the wrong attack multiple times in a row, depleting your MP and/or HP stocks in a second. As of this review I have beaten the game a few times and, while very satisfying, it does occasionally feel like luck factors in on some boss fights. Stages 4 & 5 (Lab and Battlemage) are especially punishing in this regard; without any cover, the machine-gun spam of wall-reflecting bullets fills the screen nearly instantly, and even with the extra invincibility frames powerup it’ll chew through a full HP bar in a second. As for the earlier stages, the Dragoon and Orc levels seem noticeably more difficult than the Archery and Ruins stages – I am unsure if the level selection is random or tied to your Alert level, but the difference in difficulty between these levels seems rather marked.
I would like to give an appreciative nod to the soundtrack, as I’m especially fond of how it subtly integrates itself while dialing in the intensity with the progression of levels. Each level starts off with a relatively minimal theme before a new layer of music is added with the progression of each floor – it’s a nice touch, deceptively cute on the earlier levels but with some filthily intense distorted bits as the game gets harder.
I like Witchinour quite a bit, but I’m a glutton for this kind of punishment. The difficulty will undoubtedly ward off some, though much like Nuclear Throne, as you get faster and more confident in dealing with enemies, the waves of “this is impossible” gradually subside. In any case, definitely one for the “I want my games difficult” set – there may be “fuller” games of this type, but the minimalism here cuts away any loose fat and leaves what matters: fun, fast-paced action that’s certainly worth the five dollars if you don’t mind getting slapped around a bit.
