Review: Downwell – PS Vita (9/10)

Downwell is one of those games that is easy to play but hard to master. I mean a 100 combo who can do that? It also takes roguelike elements from Risk Of Rain, Nuclear Throne and Binding Of Isaac and does it so well that it seems refreshing and new every go though the choices are a little more limited.

The black and white are mostly the regular colors with the crystals being the other color you see that is red until you start unlocking palettes which come in a lot of various colors like GBoy and VBoy, both a take on what it would have been like on those Nintendo consoles. The controls are easy with the d-pad or the analog stick and the X button and you are ready to jump and shoot enemies with your gun boots, one of the most original weapons known to gamers.

Inside the well you have two kinds of areas to visit on your way down: Shop for healing or getting a boost and where you will find a batch of crystals or a weapon mod that will also give you health or boost as well. You have a good bit of enemies to either slip by or kill like bats, frogs, worms and armored creatures you don’t land on or you will take damage.

You have about 4 areas to go through plus a boss but some may never see that because this game gets amazingly hard but in a fun way and not the annoyingly hard way others go for these days. You always want to try again and maybe that’s thanks to a leveling system or a rank system that always gives you something after a certain amount of crystals are reached. Plus it’s never a long game really, getting to the 2nd world takes 4 minutes if you are quick and it’s hard not to be.

Another fancy mode is Tate Mode which instead right to left, the gameplay is vertical and controls might need to be changed to better play it but is pretty challenging. You can also unlock other modes like boulder mode that gives you more life as you rank up. If there is an issue it’s a small one: I wish there was double jump that went into attack button. Jump twice then shoot which would make combos easier slightly but still a very much go to game.

Conclusion

Downwell has been ported well to the PS Vita and is recommended for all PS Vita owners who look out for a fun and challenging platformer on the go.

The review was written and provided by Chris. All screenshots are from the PS Vita version.