The Tarnishing of Juxtia – Review
FromSoftware’s unrivalled history on video games is something that many would like to emulate, as the company seemed to capture a unique zeitgeist at the turn of the previous decade. Moreover, not simply in the sense of the real-time action RPG genre, with which the Souls name is so closely associated. Indeed, call it an inevitability or perhaps some other form of deep-seated nostalgia for the 80s and 90s brand of challenge, but even the wide and continuously-populated genre that is the action-platformer has found a fair few efforts to inject the dread and the depravity of the former into that of two dimensions.
Games like Hollow Knight, Salt & Sanctuary, and Blasphemous may range greatly in terms of style, scope, and gameplay, but they all share a same dark, mystical mythos at their core. And with it comes the arduous task of navigating the obstacles that will inevitably pop up along the way. To a large extent, this sums up The Tarnishing of Juxtia nicely, and you probably don’t need any further explanation of it. Developer Actual Nerds’ latest action-platformer, at worst feeling more like a checking-off of all those typical features you’re no doubt aware of, if not already getting tired of seeing repeated. A story with some unresolved details that evokes an earlier, terrifying apocalypse; a world overrun by the macabre on all fronts (physical, magical, and technical). Then there’s the game’s actual meat and core loop, which involves a wide variety of weapons, armour, and things to equip and repeated visits to the game’s version of the fabled healing/regrouping site, water fountains.
To be blunt, it’s tough to make the case that The Tarnishing of Juxtia is presenting anything here that is novel, thrilling, or even significantly different from what has come before. Sufficient to give the Actual Nerds’ take on real-time fighting a passing glance. These are not the wisest of souls. That possibility may already sound discouraging on paper. Even if you’re the type to like wallowing in your own misery after playing a game like Blasphemous, for example. At the very least, Juxtia succeeds in creating a game that is unusually Souls-like, possibly to a fault, thanks to its mastery of both the fundamentals and its own sense of grandeur and self-importance. A game you can conquer in seven to eight hours and be reasonably certain doesn’t merit a second look, even if it does feature amateurish mistakes and head-banging boss battles. That’s possible, because at first it boils down to the conventional style of real-time battle between two aeroplanes.
You have the usual attack, roll to avoid damage, and magic attack options, all of which are controlled by the three familiar bars at the top left of the screen that indicate your health, stamina, and mana, respectively. A frenzy-like trigger is activated after hitting foes a predetermined number of times, represented by a predetermined number of icons at the bottom of the screen, adding a touch of nuance to the basic formula. Once you’ve filled up all the icons, you’ll enter a brief time where your stats will improve somewhat. It’s a minor change, but it’s one that helps discourage players from being too passive during battle. You can spend the money you earn from killing enemies on various stat upgrades at one of the many huge fountains sprinkled about the world. With the exception of a few frustratingly out-of-the-way locations, the game is generous in delivering much-appreciated breaks from the relentless conflict. Even though you can’t level up at smaller fountains, you can still recover your maximum health and healing items by using them. While this next idea won’t win any awards for creativity, it could prove to be really useful nonetheless: a shortcut that leads to a gate or lift that otherwise wouldn’t have been accessible.
The universe of The Tarnishing of Juxtia, however, risks appearing simplistic as a result. Due to the game’s focus on action platforming rather than Metroidvania-style exploration, the level design may feel simplistic and lack depth. The game only goes so far as to pull you away from the straight and narrow that is its major figurative beats by offering optional areas to visit, and with them, mini-bosses of sorts defending priceless goods and gear. It’s not that those aforementioned rhythms and the journey there aren’t pleasurable in their own right. Where the game succeeds, though, is in its battle settings, particularly in the variety and quality of its enemies. When it’s on point, it provides legitimately cunning and underhanded means of tripping up players without their direct awareness. One such instance is when an antagonist encourages you to perform a dodge roll. Another comes from one of the game’s key bosses, and it requires you to learn its attack patterns and time them to perfection.
Visually, it’s a hodgepodge of setups you’ve seen in countless other games, but the encounters are nevertheless highly engaging and enjoyable to master. When dealing with story-focused managers, the implementation of some circumstances can be less than ideal. Due to the intentional limitation to only two dimensions, it is often difficult to keep track of what’s happening on the screen. And Juxtia doesn’t always manage to strike the perfect mix between challenging and manageable while dealing with overlapping adversaries, most of which are participating in some type of attack at the time, be it projectile, area of effect, or melee. With one foe blocking your view of another’s impending attack, and the game’s absence of a sprint button compounding the problem, you may find yourself occasionally frustrated by the controls.
The accumulation of passive powers and special moves over time is a small solace for the otherwise dissatisfying lack of structure. You can equip two “brands,” which are like special attacks powered by your magic metre and provide optional buffs/trade-off stats in the form of “gifts” that raise one attribute while lowering another. Then there are the astonishing number of swaps that occur as a result of the boss-killing talents that players have acquired. The wide selection of weapons, some of which include a stronger, charge-up attack, and the Relics won from vanquished bosses both offer much room for personalization and a wide range of offensive possibilities. It’s not an exaggeration to say that switching between several of these skills is incredibly tempting. That’s especially true when you think about the fact that its output is based on the same trade-off principle and, in some circumstances, can be stacked based on how often you manage to land a successful strike on enemies. For all the game’s transitory pleasures and perks, one mechanism provides the most lasting enjoyment.
Where The Tarnishing of Juxtia may not score well on originality, it just about makes up for in heart and dedication. In the increasingly crowded and competitive market that is the glaze of Souls-like attraction, standing out from the crowd is becoming increasingly tough. Individually, the game’s ideas and mechanics may not wow, but they come together to make something that’s moderately entertaining. Featuring a variety of well-designed boss encounters and similar areas where enemies use their own ingenious methods on top, this game provides the trademark blast of irritation and desire to see oneself triumph over them. The Tarnishing of Juxtia manages to maintain the course and avoid getting too excessive in its blatant influences, but it may leave some readers wanting more meat on the bones and requiring a deeper plod through its own kind of melancholy. An intense platformer that doesn’t drag on for too long.
