While multiple games are being remastered for players to enjoy a nostalgic trip through titles they once played and beloved, other developers are taking the inspiration they got from those classics and making something new. Heavily inspired by the classic titles like Medieval and Spyro, indie developer Nicolas Meyssonnier has been working on his own game Pumpkin Jack. After playing the free demo on Steam he released I can say that I highly recommend you try this game out!
Gameplay
Mixing together combat and platforming, there are a few different challenges you will come across. The demo only included one level, but it was full of paths to take, walls to climb, moving platforms, and large gaps for the player to play around with the platforming aspect. There is the ability to double jump and they even make it where timing a jump while running to get a further distance come into play. I can see platforming becoming a challenging aspect for this game overall.
The combat is pretty straight forward with a couple of different combo styles and a dodge maneuver. You will have to time when to swing and when to dodge because enemies can do a heavy amount of damage, especially when they start to horde around you, but if you have been playing games like these before then it shouldn’t be too hard. Even the boss fight at the end is just like the classic boss fights; figure out how they attack and when their vulnerable, then move and strike accordingly.
Along with these two aspects being utilized, there are collectibles in the levels in the form of crow skulls. What’s interesting is that you get a crow partner that ends up helping you along your adventure because you care to collect these crow skulls. I’m not sure yet how they plan to use this collection aspect with the partnership, but I suspect a form of bond increasing or skill improving to be based on how many you collect.
Expectation
It seems like Pumpkin Jack is going to give us a brand new game that will take us back through the classic styles that games were made with. A simplistic, silly story that gives the player a reason to go through all the trouble, plenty of challenges to face in the arena of platforming, combat, and puzzles, along with a loveable character to control and play as.
I am hoping they focus more on the platforming aspect than they do the combat aspect, but the balance should remain closer to a 60/40 scale so that there are lots of both. Just as a fan of platformers over fighters, that would be a lot of fun to have as the focus and the little bit that was in the demo was quite an interesting tease of what they can do.
Conclusion
Pumpkin Jack is definitely on the right track to being an unforgettable game! I look forward to all further updates this game will have and have no doubt that I will be on this game the moment it is released. The gameplay is a ton of fun, the story is an interesting antihero focus that isn’t usually approached, and there is just so much about this game that catches my attention. I highly recommend you play the demo for yourself if you haven’t yet!
