This review contains spoilers
*Review copy provided by publisher Dolores Entertainment
Low Story is a new side-scrolling 8-directional shooter where you play as titular character, Low. Thrown out of his apartment to a world under the control of “The Red One”, Low becomes influenced by the curse of the red eye that overlooks his world. This evil must be stopped, and Low is the only one that can break the curse and defeat the world ending evil. Over the course of six levels, Low will shoot his way through waves of enemies, solve puzzles, and repair damaged machines to defeat the minions under “The Red One” with an arsenal of weapons and gear.
When I started playing Low Story I knew that going in I shouldn’t be expecting a title that would stand up to recent titles of 2023. This is through and through an indie game, developed by Engin Baştürk (who has no further publications yet according to Steam) and something that much like other titles under the umbrella of Dolores Entertainment, I was hoping to see a similar challenging, but enjoyable game. Thankfully I was not disappointed. I found myself having fun and reacting organically to the game mechanics and surprises within each level while learning how to overcome the obstacles ahead of me.
When I first loaded the game, I got my first glimpse of the character Low and immediately thought I was looking at Sackboy from the Little Big Planet franchise. While this didn’t stop me from playing the game, it would be nice for the developer to have designed a character that was more original. Continuing the first level, you are informed of the various controls such as shooting, jumping, rolling, and collecting power-ups. This first level reminded me a bit of the first level in Mario as you are starting to learn everything and there are minimal enemies to worry about.
Aiming and firing at enemies is not difficult and is fairly smooth, so that was a relief. Only on a rare occasion would I have issues finding the right angle to defend myself against enemy soldiers because I was always running. I hardly stopped to fight the smaller characters, and at times would stand just off screen to shoot them without worry of taking damage. The enemies would spawn around me, so I had to pivot to counter incoming attacks from the left and right, while avoiding projectiles and watching my health.
Low has an unlimited ammo pistol and the ability of picking up additional weapons from enemy drops or by purchasing them from the store that appears near the beginning of each level. The two additional weapons are an Uzi and a Bazooka. There are also health & mana recovery orbs as well as a splash damage power-up that you can purchase using Black Stones from enemy drops, or from “The Cave” quest issued by the shopkeep that tasks you with defeating “The Eye” once per level for 100 Black Stones. The cost of the consumables are a respectable value and by the end of the game I was able to purchase multiple Upgrade Points from the shop and a companion robot that would provide a second source of damage against the enemies before me.
Further into the level there is a “Challenger Stone” that you can choose to participate with and fight “The Challenger”, a swordsman that fights you on a fishing dock and rewards you with one of seven special items that provide stat boosts to your damage, health, or special “Bullet Rain” ability. This ability is great in a tight pinch as it allows Low to fire a flare and call on a rain of firepower to damage the enemies around him. This ability was used mainly in boss fights and a few encounters where I became overwhelmed by minions in the later levels.
The bosses at the end of each level were unique and had cool designs that were reflective of the design of that level. Each boss had unique abilities that gave them authority as a larger enemy compared to the smaller soldiers, but none gave me any difficulty in combat (with the exception of The Booster). Saving my consumable weapons such as the Bazooka, provided me with more than enough firepower to spam the trigger and defeat the bosses before they could really move. As the levels advanced, I would have to swap weapons more as the bosses would have more health and take less damage, but I was more likely to fall due to a water trap (Low can’t swim) than the enemy themselves.
The puzzle mechanic of the game occurs at least once a level and is a timing puzzle where you must stop a rotating or sliding line on your H-R Tool to repair a broken machine or lock. This becomes more difficult in later levels and more frequent as well. From the screenshot above, the dark vibe of the game is very apparent as while I never had issues seeing anything, the greyscale world with illuminated color highlights can get boring at times. But the assets were of a high definition especially in the scenes where you use this tool.
The fourth level was my favorite as it was a horror themed escape room house with Low having to search for keys to open doors on each floor and gather lights to summon the level’s boss. After opening a few doors, the atmosphere turned into a survival horror with a shadow woman teleporting in front of me and draining my life away when touched. I laughed in excitement at these moments multiple times and had the most fun here. The audio also was best represented here with the sharp jump scares and panic driven music.
Reaching the final boss, “The Red One”, Low will fight his strongest enemy with the final boss who has the powers of all of the previous bosses. This encounter took the most time for me as I had to learn the Red One’s moves, from various projectile attacks, a death beam that is an instant kill, a summoned drone that fires seeker missiles and the worst issue, his height. Low is a small character and cannot jump over most of the bosses unless they duck or kneel. This is also where I found issue with the combat in the fact that I could not dodge past The Red One as if he was a brick wall. But after a few deaths, I was able to defeat him and move to the ending of the game.
Low Story has three endings to choose from, but now all of them make sense, unfortunately. This is something that I was very disappointed with as the overall story is loosely structured and short of just informing that “you play as a character trying to stop an ultimate evil”, there isn’t much of a story. There is a good and a bad ending, but the third option left me confused as I sent Low back to his apartment and I just roamed the empty room until the credits rolled. No voice over, no closing text, just “Go Home”. The other two endings which I won’t spoil were good and I enjoyed the bad ending over the good in my personal opinion.
I was able to complete Low Story and watch all three endings in less than three hours. Playing on my Xbox Series X I was able to unlock all but one achievement that didn’t unlock after I met the requirements, but this seemed to be a glitch that would resolve itself if played again. Unfortunately, there is no Chapter Select to repeat a desired level to get this, so I would have to replay the full game. While I would say I enjoyed the experience, I was not motivated to play a second time right away. For an indie game that was (what I hope) a passion project for a small developer, I thought Low Story was okay. I had some fun moments and could see the game being good for speedrunning, but the overall package feels unfinished. With a lack of story and assets that could have more personality to them, I would recommend the game for the easy achievements and a fun fourth level for those that want something quick to play.
Low Story releases November 7, 2023 on Nintendo Switch, PS4/PS5, Xbox One/Series consoles
Low Story is a new side-scrolling 8-directional shooter where you play as titular character, Low. Thrown out of his apartment to a world under the control of “The Red One”, Low becomes influenced by the curse of the red eye that overlooks his world. This evil must be stopped, and Low is the only one that can break the curse and defeat the world ending evil. Over the course of six levels, Low will shoot his way through waves of enemies, solve puzzles, and repair damaged machines to defeat the minions under “The Red One” with an arsenal of weapons and gear.
When I started playing Low Story I knew that going in I shouldn’t be expecting a title that would stand up to recent titles of 2023. This is through and through an indie game, developed by Engin Baştürk (who has no further publications yet according to Steam) and something that much like other titles under the umbrella of Dolores Entertainment, I was hoping to see a similar challenging, but enjoyable game. Thankfully I was not disappointed. I found myself having fun and reacting organically to the game mechanics and surprises within each level while learning how to overcome the obstacles ahead of me.
When I first loaded the game, I got my first glimpse of the character Low and immediately thought I was looking at Sackboy from the Little Big Planet franchise. While this didn’t stop me from playing the game, it would be nice for the developer to have designed a character that was more original. Continuing the first level, you are informed of the various controls such as shooting, jumping, rolling, and collecting power-ups. This first level reminded me a bit of the first level in Mario as you are starting to learn everything and there are minimal enemies to worry about.
Aiming and firing at enemies is not difficult and is fairly smooth, so that was a relief. Only on a rare occasion would I have issues finding the right angle to defend myself against enemy soldiers because I was always running. I hardly stopped to fight the smaller characters, and at times would stand just off screen to shoot them without worry of taking damage. The enemies would spawn around me, so I had to pivot to counter incoming attacks from the left and right, while avoiding projectiles and watching my health.
Low has an unlimited ammo pistol and the ability of picking up additional weapons from enemy drops or by purchasing them from the store that appears near the beginning of each level. The two additional weapons are an Uzi and a Bazooka. There are also health & mana recovery orbs as well as a splash damage power-up that you can purchase using Black Stones from enemy drops, or from “The Cave” quest issued by the shopkeep that tasks you with defeating “The Eye” once per level for 100 Black Stones. The cost of the consumables are a respectable value and by the end of the game I was able to purchase multiple Upgrade Points from the shop and a companion robot that would provide a second source of damage against the enemies before me.
Further into the level there is a “Challenger Stone” that you can choose to participate with and fight “The Challenger”, a swordsman that fights you on a fishing dock and rewards you with one of seven special items that provide stat boosts to your damage, health, or special “Bullet Rain” ability. This ability is great in a tight pinch as it allows Low to fire a flare and call on a rain of firepower to damage the enemies around him. This ability was used mainly in boss fights and a few encounters where I became overwhelmed by minions in the later levels.
The bosses at the end of each level were unique and had cool designs that were reflective of the design of that level. Each boss had unique abilities that gave them authority as a larger enemy compared to the smaller soldiers, but none gave me any difficulty in combat (with the exception of The Booster). Saving my consumable weapons such as the Bazooka, provided me with more than enough firepower to spam the trigger and defeat the bosses before they could really move. As the levels advanced, I would have to swap weapons more as the bosses would have more health and take less damage, but I was more likely to fall due to a water trap (Low can’t swim) than the enemy themselves.
The puzzle mechanic of the game occurs at least once a level and is a timing puzzle where you must stop a rotating or sliding line on your H-R Tool to repair a broken machine or lock. This becomes more difficult in later levels and more frequent as well. From the screenshot above, the dark vibe of the game is very apparent as while I never had issues seeing anything, the greyscale world with illuminated color highlights can get boring at times. But the assets were of a high definition especially in the scenes where you use this tool.
The fourth level was my favorite as it was a horror themed escape room house with Low having to search for keys to open doors on each floor and gather lights to summon the level’s boss. After opening a few doors, the atmosphere turned into a survival horror with a shadow woman teleporting in front of me and draining my life away when touched. I laughed in excitement at these moments multiple times and had the most fun here. The audio also was best represented here with the sharp jump scares and panic driven music.
Reaching the final boss, “The Red One”, Low will fight his strongest enemy with the final boss who has the powers of all of the previous bosses. This encounter took the most time for me as I had to learn the Red One’s moves, from various projectile attacks, a death beam that is an instant kill, a summoned drone that fires seeker missiles and the worst issue, his height. Low is a small character and cannot jump over most of the bosses unless they duck or kneel. This is also where I found issue with the combat in the fact that I could not dodge past The Red One as if he was a brick wall. But after a few deaths, I was able to defeat him and move to the ending of the game.
Low Story has three endings to choose from, but now all of them make sense, unfortunately. This is something that I was very disappointed with as the overall story is loosely structured and short of just informing that “you play as a character trying to stop an ultimate evil”, there isn’t much of a story. There is a good and a bad ending, but the third option left me confused as I sent Low back to his apartment and I just roamed the empty room until the credits rolled. No voice over, no closing text, just “Go Home”. The other two endings which I won’t spoil were good and I enjoyed the bad ending over the good in my personal opinion.
I was able to complete Low Story and watch all three endings in less than three hours. Playing on my Xbox Series X I was able to unlock all but one achievement that didn’t unlock after I met the requirements, but this seemed to be a glitch that would resolve itself if played again. Unfortunately, there is no Chapter Select to repeat a desired level to get this, so I would have to replay the full game. While I would say I enjoyed the experience, I was not motivated to play a second time right away. For an indie game that was (what I hope) a passion project for a small developer, I thought Low Story was okay. I had some fun moments and could see the game being good for speedrunning, but the overall package feels unfinished. With a lack of story and assets that could have more personality to them, I would recommend the game for the easy achievements and a fun fourth level for those that want something quick to play.
Low Story releases November 7, 2023 on Nintendo Switch, PS4/PS5, Xbox One/Series consoles