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Animus: Harbinger Review—A Copy of the Teeth-Gnashing Challenge Dark Souls Fans Are No Stranger To

20K View2021-11-01

I’m not sure about you, but I do relish the time I spend with my family at sporadic gatherings. Even so, there’d always be times when certain individuals love grating on everyone’s nerves.

Whenever that occurs, there’s only one way to survive—play video games.

Taking a step away from the drama, I’d take a trip down memory lane, reminiscing about the game sessions I’ve had with my cousins.

Regardless of how many games we’ve tried and our love-hate relationship with the Soulsborne series, we’d always return to Dark Souls.

Since the gathering is held at Nana’s cottage this time, there won’t be any decent gaming desktops or consoles lying around.

For the lack of a better option, I began scrolling through my massive games backlog on my phone and settled on a game that will perhaps satisfy my Soulsborne cravings—Animus: Harbinger (AH).After forking out US$4.99 (S$5.48) for the entire game, I immediately set off for the world of Animus. There, you’ll be stepping into the shoes of a taciturn (potentially undead) knight in a gloomy wilderness.

One look is all I require to deem this game as something Dark-Soul-ish, yet it somehow can’t pull off that slashing poise of the Soulsborne series.

Without a vast world to explore, the South Korean developer, Tenbirds Corp, has sectioned AH into small arcadey stages that provide no regions to uncover the rich lores and history of the damaged universe.

Instead, the once familiar fighting mechanics—you being massively underpowered and having to resort to strafing around to evade the massive threats—has all but been stripped away, leaving behind core violence in the mobile package. That may have been Tenbirds Corp’s intention of amping up the difficulty, but I reckon this will only work for some people but not for others.

Apart from that, I was presented with an almost overwhelming number of buttons to consider as I strive to smash giant monsters into gory lumps in each stage. Yet, these janky controls and exceedingly swift camera speed don’t make the combat any more manageable as it’s infuriating trying to get my fingers and thumbs where it is supposed to be at the right time.

Sure, it does make your victories a bit more thrilling, but it also means you’ll die... a lot. Perhaps, this may offer a more Dark-Souls-like experience for some? 🤔

Although the arena style of taking down the big bosses may have been quite well-designed, the combats do become somewhat repetitive as soon as you’ve figured out the bosses’ janky (unique?) move sets. Thus, AH doesn’t possess any wounded charm of an actual Soulsborne game.

Anyway, if you happen to love brooding dark fantasy or are looking for something that you can play in short bursts, this might be right up your alley! So, brace yourselves and give AH a try here to see if it’s Dark Souls enough for you. :3

Otherwise, please follow my page to stay updated with upcoming reviews on other games. Alternatively, you can always leave a comment on what you felt about AH or recommend other games you’d like me to write a review on!

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