[Gamescom 2017] The Swords of Ditto - Hands On

[Gamescom 2017] The Swords of Ditto - Hands On

This year's Gamescom, although not full of news, was a reconfirmation of what was shown during E3 in Los Angeles. One of the games that most intrigued us in this last fair was The Swords of Ditto and we in the editorial team had the opportunity to test it behind closed doors at the just concluded event in Cologne. During our test, which lasted about half an hour, we were able to test the adventure in cooperative with a developer. So here are our impressions on the title!



[Gamescom 2017] The Swords of Ditto - Hands OnWelcome to the island of Ditto

The videogame is developed by Onebitbeyond, however, under the guidance of Devolver Digital, well-known developers of Absolver, Hotline Miami and many others, it will talk about a young castaway who will accidentally find himself on the mysterious island of Ditto. In this land every 100 years a kind of calamity called Momo returns, which, after awakening from its long sleep, will hurl curses on the villagers. Before starting with the real hands on there is a premise: after each game over the videogame will change in a procedural way, therefore each user will have a unique and unrepeatable setting. The product is a hymn to friendship, in fact the experience is designed to be exploited in a cooperative and strictly locally. The graphic style and the madness of certain stylistic choices are reminiscent of Adventure Time in some ways, thus offering a perfect mix between a more cartoon style and a gaming experience that is anything but for children.

At the beginning of the experience, after recovering from the unexpected landing, we headed to the village to obtain equipment and other useful items for the journey. The purpose of the video game seems clear, to be able to defeat the hideous creature in order to put an end to the terrible curse that surrounds the island's population. As we headed towards the main quest we started seeing the game world; being all with a 2D view you will see the two protagonists moving all over the screen, gradually destroying the various enemies and getting money to unlock more and more crazy weapons. From the hand of a monster hitting the ground to do area damage, to a sort of incendiary bombs, the solutions are truly multiple and are all to be unlocked. The result is an engaging game world that manages to express its desire to tell the story, thanks also to a touch of irony on some dialogues that dampen the serious tones of this desperate mission.



As we progressed we came across a couple of dungeons that hid different environmental puzzles that obviously had to be solved. In these phases it seems clear to us that the help of a partner is a must to be able to end the experience as some sequences are made to be faced exclusively in two. We do not deny that we had fun and it is even more original when, in the event of a fall of one of the two heroes, it is possible to revive him with a hug, all signs that mixed with the graphic style make The Swords of Ditto that product as beautiful as it is unique to be found on the market.

[Gamescom 2017] The Swords of Ditto - Hands OnAttack in order not to be attacked

You will have to learn to master the combat system quickly if you do not want to be caught unprepared. Although apparently it may seem like a product intended for children, The Swords of Ditto shows a punitive side already after the first moments of the game. You will therefore have to adapt quickly in any situation as even the quietest enemy could reserve unpleasant surprises. In addition to the possibility of a light and a heavy attack, you will have a special weapon that you can change to your liking, and dodging, a movement that will immediately be decisive between victory and defeat.

As mentioned earlier the game world is procedurally developed, but what happens if you are defeated? The whole island automatically becomes darker and darker while, on the contrary, if you manage to defeat the evil Momo, you will come back to life after 100 years with the island getting brighter and more colorful. It remains to be seen whether the parts of the story will change each time in the complete product, perhaps always proposing different bosses or an ever-increasing level of challenge, so as to be able to extend the longevity of many hours. When you return with another hero, you can pray at your predecessor's grave, present in the center of the village, so as to recover his equipment and not find yourself without weapons and defenses every time.



The Swords of Ditto in conclusion it is a really interesting game from many points of view, both from the artistic realization and from the ingenuity of the development house in devising a trick to give, whenever desired, new life to the game. The focus of the question will be to see if this system works properly and that it is not only used to hide, if we can say so, the problems related to a small number of dungeons, puzzles or contents of any kind. This, for now, we are not yet given to know but the conditions for finding ourselves in front of a small videogame pearl are all there. So stay connected with us to not miss the future review.


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