Review written after around 40 hours, SSS ranked all levels of the Act 1 demo.
Magenta Horizon enemy roster is extremely well thought out. They are aggressive, come in high numbers and they all feel like pieces of a greater whole. What Magenta does well is that it doesn’t forget that enemies are not good just in a vacuum but work better in the interplay between each other. Enemy compositions are always engaging and make each of the chess pieces shine. They control space in different ways, hit you with projectiles or obstruct movement by sheer size alone. They also come in combinations that bolsters each other covering up weaknesses.
Big bats are easy to stagger but shoot out projectile even after you bring them to the ground, small fodder enemies come in high numbers and and can easily overwhelm you on the ground, Lobsters physically block you impeding your mobility, ranged enemies need to be dealt with fasts and high tier enemies work well both on the ground and on the air, can create hazard or support each others.The game builds on this more and more with arenas becoming way more dense of enemies, creating a system that is both chaotic and intentional, forcing you to adapt, make split second decisions and constantly re-evaluate target prioritization.
The enemy that most exemplifies this is the Propeller Demon, a small helicopter that damages and staggers you if you come in contact with its propeller blade. Alone they are easily dealt with by attacking them from below. However in combination with other enemies they become a priority as they control air space forcing you to rethink the way you move and position yourself.
The focus on enemy design doesn’t mean the player’s kit is lacking. Gretel has a lot of different moves both in the air and on the ground; strings aren’t long, instead you have different attacks that all feel distinct, useful and flow into each other seamlessly. The option while on the air especially shines through, inspired by Hollow Knight, you can pogo enemies to stay in the air but Magenta also adds two more options that open up aerial play even more. The diagonal dive builds on the pogo by having similar properties and opening up both more mobility and more approach options. The hook, instead, doubles as both an offensive and defensive tool pulling you towards enemies and letting you pass through some of them creating yet another approach option. While the lack of a movelist can be frustrating it also makes discovering new moves more organic and interesting, it will most likely be patched in later tho.
A sub weapon system supports the melee, each with their own meters that recharge by hitting enemies. In act 1 there are four of them, a simple projectile, a grenade, a spike attack and a propeller blades that work similar to a boomerang.
They also work in combination: hit a grenade with a projectile and it will create a bigger AOE explosion staggering enemies in his path, skewer the propeller blade with a well timed spike and it will spin in place dealing heavy damage all around.
As a way to customize your playstyle you also have necklaces pieces you can equip in the style of Hollow Knight that modify your moves, give you more offensive and defensive options, make moves behave differently depending on the combo counter and so on.
The slots are limited but the low number of options at the moment don’t create meaningful choices, but this will most likely change as the game gets updated.
This offensive option is also supplemented by an incredibly smart healing system, instead of using consumable items, by hitting enemies you increase a meter that gives you up to 3 charges of a healing grenade. Toss it to an enemy and for a time any damage you do to it will spawn healing orbs. Obviously this promotes aggressive play and makes it so you always need to take a risk if you want to replenish your health, but the true beauty of the system comes from the more offensive application . Equip a specific necklace piece and healing bomb will start to deal heavy stagger to enemies,you can now using it proactively taking a risk by spending a charge when you don’t need to heal , stopping a group of enemies charging at you, creating space in a chaotic situation or setting up for a combo
The same thought and care is put on the defensive options you have at your disposal together with the aforementioned pogo, dive and hook you also have an iframe dash. Dodging itself can’t be done without thought, larger or blocking enemies can’t be dodge through, once again controlling space in an interesting way.
The breadth of options means that any single one is never over centralized even more so thanks to the importance of correct positioning. Where and when you position yourself is paramount both for avoiding and punishing enemies. Harder enemies are designed with this in mind having attacks dependent on your position in relation to them that can’t be dodged on reaction alone.
This is even more apparent during boss fights.
All of the fights are engaging and fun to fight, testing you in different ways and most of the time having to split your attention to different targets playing to the system strengths.
Bulcher the train, mascot of the game, is a favorite of mine, having you continuously rethink your approach as you jump over him, avoid his charges and position yourself fishing specific attacks, all in a split seconds situation all the while dealing with propeller blades that control aerial space. Reminiscent of classic Monster Hunter is a robust system that sees the boss stagger once a secondary bar is depleted, timing your attack correctly will even make you stop a charging train.
Of the entire boss roster only one of them feels on the more mediocre side, mainly ‘cause it’s easily dealt with by just keeping in the air and doesn’t play in the controlled chaos as much as it could.
The arena design doesn’t disappoint either. Especially on the higher difficulties, Magenta plays with interesting ideas. Instead of simple carenas, you also have cramped spaces, environmental hazards and small platforms over spikes with aerial enemies forcing you to stay on the move. Bolstering the already incredible enemy design even more and creating always fresh situations.
These arenas together with the non combat areas are also fun to traverse. Levels are simple mazes that offer choices in how to route, together with cool optional fights and hidden items.
While the art direction is both unique and well made, the levels can be confusing to traverse at time, routing the level to obtain a better time rank is fun however so some frustration at first does increase the overall enjoyments on replays.
The ranking system frames the entire experience. Other than on time spent, it also ranks your style points and deaths. Interestingly damage taken is not ranked and this works twofold.
It makes it possible to keep enemy count and aggression high as taking damage becomes expected.
It makes going for high ranks not frustrating at all as minor mistakes don’t force you to reset each time, instead rewarding you for your mastery of the combat system and level. With the added bonus of not making, as many games do, the health and healing system obsolete when going for SSS.
If it isn’t clear enough I’m enamored with the game and the potential it has and I urge you to try it out . The demo is free on both Itch and Steam, and it’s rare to see such well designed passion project type of action games with such level of polish and design, especially from a solo developer. So download the demon, and go enjoy the controlled chaos of a dance in purple.
Magenta Horizon enemy roster is extremely well thought out. They are aggressive, come in high numbers and they all feel like pieces of a greater whole. What Magenta does well is that it doesn’t forget that enemies are not good just in a vacuum but work better in the interplay between each other. Enemy compositions are always engaging and make each of the chess pieces shine. They control space in different ways, hit you with projectiles or obstruct movement by sheer size alone. They also come in combinations that bolsters each other covering up weaknesses.
Big bats are easy to stagger but shoot out projectile even after you bring them to the ground, small fodder enemies come in high numbers and and can easily overwhelm you on the ground, Lobsters physically block you impeding your mobility, ranged enemies need to be dealt with fasts and high tier enemies work well both on the ground and on the air, can create hazard or support each others.The game builds on this more and more with arenas becoming way more dense of enemies, creating a system that is both chaotic and intentional, forcing you to adapt, make split second decisions and constantly re-evaluate target prioritization.
The enemy that most exemplifies this is the Propeller Demon, a small helicopter that damages and staggers you if you come in contact with its propeller blade. Alone they are easily dealt with by attacking them from below. However in combination with other enemies they become a priority as they control air space forcing you to rethink the way you move and position yourself.
The focus on enemy design doesn’t mean the player’s kit is lacking. Gretel has a lot of different moves both in the air and on the ground; strings aren’t long, instead you have different attacks that all feel distinct, useful and flow into each other seamlessly. The option while on the air especially shines through, inspired by Hollow Knight, you can pogo enemies to stay in the air but Magenta also adds two more options that open up aerial play even more. The diagonal dive builds on the pogo by having similar properties and opening up both more mobility and more approach options. The hook, instead, doubles as both an offensive and defensive tool pulling you towards enemies and letting you pass through some of them creating yet another approach option. While the lack of a movelist can be frustrating it also makes discovering new moves more organic and interesting, it will most likely be patched in later tho.
A sub weapon system supports the melee, each with their own meters that recharge by hitting enemies. In act 1 there are four of them, a simple projectile, a grenade, a spike attack and a propeller blades that work similar to a boomerang.
They also work in combination: hit a grenade with a projectile and it will create a bigger AOE explosion staggering enemies in his path, skewer the propeller blade with a well timed spike and it will spin in place dealing heavy damage all around.
As a way to customize your playstyle you also have necklaces pieces you can equip in the style of Hollow Knight that modify your moves, give you more offensive and defensive options, make moves behave differently depending on the combo counter and so on.
The slots are limited but the low number of options at the moment don’t create meaningful choices, but this will most likely change as the game gets updated.
This offensive option is also supplemented by an incredibly smart healing system, instead of using consumable items, by hitting enemies you increase a meter that gives you up to 3 charges of a healing grenade. Toss it to an enemy and for a time any damage you do to it will spawn healing orbs. Obviously this promotes aggressive play and makes it so you always need to take a risk if you want to replenish your health, but the true beauty of the system comes from the more offensive application . Equip a specific necklace piece and healing bomb will start to deal heavy stagger to enemies,you can now using it proactively taking a risk by spending a charge when you don’t need to heal , stopping a group of enemies charging at you, creating space in a chaotic situation or setting up for a combo
The same thought and care is put on the defensive options you have at your disposal together with the aforementioned pogo, dive and hook you also have an iframe dash. Dodging itself can’t be done without thought, larger or blocking enemies can’t be dodge through, once again controlling space in an interesting way.
The breadth of options means that any single one is never over centralized even more so thanks to the importance of correct positioning. Where and when you position yourself is paramount both for avoiding and punishing enemies. Harder enemies are designed with this in mind having attacks dependent on your position in relation to them that can’t be dodged on reaction alone.
This is even more apparent during boss fights.
All of the fights are engaging and fun to fight, testing you in different ways and most of the time having to split your attention to different targets playing to the system strengths.
Bulcher the train, mascot of the game, is a favorite of mine, having you continuously rethink your approach as you jump over him, avoid his charges and position yourself fishing specific attacks, all in a split seconds situation all the while dealing with propeller blades that control aerial space. Reminiscent of classic Monster Hunter is a robust system that sees the boss stagger once a secondary bar is depleted, timing your attack correctly will even make you stop a charging train.
Of the entire boss roster only one of them feels on the more mediocre side, mainly ‘cause it’s easily dealt with by just keeping in the air and doesn’t play in the controlled chaos as much as it could.
The arena design doesn’t disappoint either. Especially on the higher difficulties, Magenta plays with interesting ideas. Instead of simple carenas, you also have cramped spaces, environmental hazards and small platforms over spikes with aerial enemies forcing you to stay on the move. Bolstering the already incredible enemy design even more and creating always fresh situations.
These arenas together with the non combat areas are also fun to traverse. Levels are simple mazes that offer choices in how to route, together with cool optional fights and hidden items.
While the art direction is both unique and well made, the levels can be confusing to traverse at time, routing the level to obtain a better time rank is fun however so some frustration at first does increase the overall enjoyments on replays.
The ranking system frames the entire experience. Other than on time spent, it also ranks your style points and deaths. Interestingly damage taken is not ranked and this works twofold.
It makes it possible to keep enemy count and aggression high as taking damage becomes expected.
It makes going for high ranks not frustrating at all as minor mistakes don’t force you to reset each time, instead rewarding you for your mastery of the combat system and level. With the added bonus of not making, as many games do, the health and healing system obsolete when going for SSS.
If it isn’t clear enough I’m enamored with the game and the potential it has and I urge you to try it out . The demo is free on both Itch and Steam, and it’s rare to see such well designed passion project type of action games with such level of polish and design, especially from a solo developer. So download the demon, and go enjoy the controlled chaos of a dance in purple.