Nintendo Switch Review Code Provided by Team17
Trying to present a new gameplay style is something that developers tend to aim for when they create new games in classic genres. However, the problem with this is that it can become convoluted really easily. This is the problem I faced when playing The Serpent Rogue by indie developer Sengi Games, which was published by Team17. While this game does present an interesting premise, it is a bit overly complicated to understand and as the player, I just felt lost far too often. Let’s break it down a bit.
Story
An alchemist that is only known as The Warden has found himself in the mysterious, dark land of Mount Morbus. It is here that the Serpent Rogue has laid down its roots which has quickly begun to spread its evil, threatening to overwhelm the realm. It falls to The Warden to confront the Serpent Rogue and bring peace and tranquillity to the land.
While this premise is fairly straightforward and provides a mission that is easy to get behind, the presentation of the story in the game is almost all visually or metaphorically presented. There are a few dialogue moments, but the concept that I should just be able to figure out how the story was progressing definitely muddled the experience, given that it wasn’t delivered in a way that showed clear progression.
Gameplay
Starting out, you are on a dark pathway with an obvious destination thanks to a light in the distance. This is an immediate rough start that throws the player into the game as this gives them a chance to learn the controls, but better be quick because attacks will start coming in long before you reach the end goal. Once you get past this part you will find yourself in a camp area which seemingly nothing to do.
My first playthrough experience was roughly two hours of quickly sifting through this camp, which didn’t appear to offer much initially, and then going to the next area where there seemed to be quite a bit to do. In this next area, however, are plenty of threats that without proper approach can be lethal and learning to fight off these enemies, even the small ones, seemed almost impossible. It wasn’t until I decided to restart, given that I accidently destroyed my one-and-only bush to use for coverage, that I figured things out better.
Rather than going to where the obvious progress points were, I spent more time in the camp areas and found that there is actually quite a bit of material and such to collect. By collecting everything here, I could make some proper progression and get better use of the controls. After collecting everything I could think of, I went back to the dangerous area with more caution and managed to handle the bush better so I could explore, collect, and fill my notebook with information.
This is the general progress that this game has - which is vastly different from the type of game progression most games provide and gamers are more accustomed to. While it would have been perfectly fine for this progression to be more about collection and patience while building up your work, the problem is that there is no real tutorial or NPC to help guide you to do this. So, since you are left blind, you are going to use educated guesswork to progress and this game doesn’t play like the other games, so your guesswork is more harmful than helpful.
Eventually, you should be able to figure out how to interact with the well, gather the supplies you need, manage to fight off a few of the smaller enemies, make the lantern light, and perhaps a few other steps based on however you personally prefer to progress in this section of the game, then make your way past the brush and/or dog-like creature that are blocking the different paths you can take. Once you do this, you’ll be in a new area where the confusion and guesswork seem to pretty much start over again.
So, in short, the gameplay breaks down to logging as much information as you can, gathering as many supplies as you can, interacting with the environment in ways that only seem obvious after you do so correctly, talk to a few NPCs for the slightest bit of information the game will give you (plus some aspects that take place in later parts of the game), craftings - of course, and knowing how to fight with a defense-first attitude. Oh, and plenty of death because that will be a big part of the game, including as part of the progression. Don’t worry, if you do die and it isn’t for story progression, you can head back to where you died and collect all the material that you dropped.
Audio and Visuals
These aspects of the game are probably the best part. I really enjoyed the art style they went with as it did wonders to maintain a mysterious atmosphere that continued to push curiosity. Curiosity is definitely the main aspect that will drive the player to pursue progress in this game given how frustrating figuring it out in the first place is.
While the sound effects were simply fitting, the music in the background really filled the atmosphere. It presented a mixture of spooky and mystery that was fitting to the environment and overall visual tone of the game itself.
Replayability
I highly doubt anybody would play this game more than once, especially since it doesn’t really provide much of a reason to do so.
What It Could Have Done Better
Rather than make this a bit of a rant, I’ll just summarize everything that could have been done. There was practically no tutorial to this game and the player is basically just thrown into a strange world with an ominous goal yet no clear pathway to proceed. You want us to collect stuff? Make it obvious that we should be doing this. You don’t want us confronting enemies right away so you give us a bush? Make it respawn or provide more than one in case they make a mistake. Every step of the way through this game felt like a leap of faith and sticking the landing only meant that I’m off to the next difficultly presented segment of the game rather than a feeling of accomplishment.
Verdict
The Serpent Rogue is a game with a great concept and a solid setup but was executed so incredibly poorly that it simply was not an enjoyable experience. I was really looking forward to this game, so I hate to see that it turned out how it did and I wish it would have been better. Being ready for a new experience and being shown a game that is changing the way gameplay can be presented was something I was hoping for, but to have to figure out how to play something that felt like a new progression system is just a bit crushing.
The Serpent Rogue is now available on PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch.
