Games worth discovering

Double the platformer - Chronicles of 2 Heroes: Amaterasu's Wrath Quick Review

1K View2023-06-05

Chronicles of 2 Heroes: Amaterasu's Wrath

Get

PLAY IT OR SKIP IT?

Play it if you love unforgiving platformers, but skip it if you don’t. Chronicles of 2 Heroes: Amaterasu’s Wrath is a throwback to the days of tough-as-nails 16-bit platformers like the original Rayman, Ghosts ’n Goblins, and classic Mega Man. Here the gimmick to master is switching between brother and sister heroes who both have different abilities: Kensei has samurai armor and a sword, but can’t jump; Ayame is agile and throws kunai, but is far more vulnerable to damage.

TIME PLAYED

I’ve played a couple hours of Chronicles of 2 Heroes: Amaterasu’s Wrath, which was enough time for me to hit a couple brick walls: screens in which I could figure out what I had to do, but have yet to be able to execute the precise sequence of jumps, character swaps, attacks, and dodges to actually progress through. While things started out simple, the game got more demanding very quickly.

WHAT’S AWESOME

• Challenging platform action. Chronicles of 2 Heroes required me to develop precision timing, but that alone wasn’t enough: I also had to have a plan. Once the difficulty ramped up, I’d typically spend a couple failed runs just learning what was ahead in a particular screen, where the disappearing platforms were, and which enemies I needed to kill or dash by in order to reach the goal. Once I knew what I had to do, I could get to work mastering the specific jumps and timings required to get there. Each time I managed to pull this off, I felt very proud of myself—exactly the kind of boost I remember getting from some of the NES classics like Ninja Gaiden and even Silver Surfer.

• Hero switching. I could swap between Ayame and Kensei at the tap of a button whenever I wanted, and the two feel very different—especially since Kensei can’t jump at all, and Ayame eventually gets a double-jump that can keep her airborne for what feels like a decent amount of time. I needed both of their abilities in order to succeed in most situations, and that added a rewarding puzzle dynamic to the frantic platforming I was doing.

• A big, interconnected world. There’s lots to explore in Chronicles of 2 Heroes’ haunted feudal Japan, and plenty of secrets to discover. As I uncovered new areas, I periodically stumbled across large temples, which function as a waypoint system and base of operations. I could warp to any temple location I had already discovered, plus keep tabs on all the various secrets I’d found.

• Cats. Speaking of secrets, each area in Chronicles of 2 Heroes has cats to find and rescue. All the cats I discovered made their way back to the temple, where they would join me for a tea ceremony (as long as I had 50 coins to spend).

• Perfect for Steam Deck. Steam says it’s “still learning about this game,” but I spent most of my time with Chronicles of 2 Heroes playing on Steam Deck, and it works flawlessly.

WHAT SUCKS

• Apparently, me. It’s been a while since I played a hardcore platformer and I certainly felt out of shape. Did I mention this game is hard?

• Sound and music. The soundtrack and effects in Chronicles of 2 Heroes aren’t bad, but they could use a bit more thump. The chiptune music just came across as a touch too tinny for my ear.

• Uncompromising. Look, I get this is meant to be a hardcore platformer. I know it’s not supposed to be easy. It wouldn’t be terrible, though, if things ramped up a little more gently. I’ve hit a couple screens where I feel I just can’t move forward, not because I’m missing a special ability or anything, but because I’m just not good enough to do everything without messing up and having to start the area over.

💬 Are you a masocore platformer fan ready for a new challenge, or will you be steering clear of this brother-and-sister combo? Let me know in the comments.