Panzer Paladin
THE SUBTLE ART OF HITTING BADDIES
We’re covering all kinds of media this month. We look at the latest games, but also check out the new tome from Bitmap Books and bathe our ears in remixed Amiga tunes
Mythical creatures are attacking Earth, and only the Panzer Paladin can save us! Piloted by the rescue android Flame, it must slay the likes of Anubis and Medusa, keepers of mystical weapons that have some connection to the ongoing supernatural invasion. All you have to do is pick a country that’s currently undergoing attack, which you can do freely as in the Mega Man games, and launch yourself into battle.
For the majority of the game, you’ll be in charge of Grit, the hulking Panzer Paladin robot. He’s capable of swinging his weapon from both standing and crouching positions, and can block certain projectiles with his shield when not moving or attacking. Some enemies can do this too, making for exciting mini duels. He can also attack upwards – doing so mid-jump essentially provides a double jump – and can strike foes downwards in mid-air, allowing you to bounce between enemies. It’s also possible to perform a back-dash to quickly escape trouble and keep your shield facing the right direction. Controlling Grit feels great and there are plenty of satisfying combat opportunities within this game.
However, what makes Panzer Paladin really interesting is its use of weapons. Throughout the course of your adventure, you’ll pick up a variety of new weapons from downed foes and in the environment. These are all broadly categorised as cutting, piercing or impact weapons, which matters when you’re facing off against enemies with weapons of different types. While some weapons are more durable than others, all will break with enough use – but before they do, you have a few ways to sacrifice them effectively. When you reach a checkpoint, you must
insert a weapon in order to activate it. Alternatively, throwing your weapon gives you additional range and damage, or intentionally breaking it casts a magic spell that grants beneficial effects such as boosts to attack and defence, healing, or increased weapon durability.
Your weapons take on additional importance beyond combat functions, too. You can only have four equipped at any time, with the excess making their way into your inventory. Between each stage you’ll have the opportunity to trade them away for health boosts, and you’re greatly advised to do this in the early going because if you begin to carry too many, your ‘spirit burden’ increases. This leads to a state of heightened danger, expressed as additional boss battles – these are risky, but they do offer unique, powerful weapons so as your confidence grows you may choose to trigger them.
There are times when you’ll leave Grit behind and control Flame directly – sometimes out of necessity, as she’s smaller and thus able to reach otherwise inaccessible spaces, but at other times voluntarily to access health refills and bonuses. Flame can’t pick up weapons and has considerably less health than Grit, but has access to a Castlevania-style whip that doubles as a way of swinging across gaps. These sections tend to be less fun, as the satisfaction of the combat system is lost and Flame is just a bit too fragile for her own good, but thankfully they represent a minority of the action.
While the game is broadly well-designed, we did spot the odd flaw. These most commonly involved enemies being placed in awkward platforming spots – one hit in mid-air will halt your momentum, usually resulting in a plummet down a pit. This wouldn’t be so bad, but the stages have too few checkpoints for their length. However, the bigger problem is the boss fight design. They’re visually impressive and a lot of work has clearly gone into their attack patterns, but so long as you keep hold of your weapons during a stage, it’s all too possible to just brute-force your way through encounters by simply casting plenty of spells. But if you fail to beat one at the first attempt, you won’t regain your weapons upon death, so you’d better hope for a full inventory.
Still, Panzer Paladin is quite satisfying at most times, and it’s well-presented too. The game uses an ‘8-bit plus’ aesthetic, with pixel art reminiscent of the NES and visual effects that would be far beyond it. The detail of the anime-inspired story scenes would have been astonishing back in the late Eighties, while the artists have embraced the garishness of the NES look to great effect.
The music takes a similar approach, based around chiptunes with the odd additional flourish, and is enjoyable in the moment but doesn’t stick with you post-game. There’s also plenty to do for those that do fall in love with the game, with modes including a tougher Remix mode and the option to create your own weapons.
Panzer Paladin is an accomplished action game with some neat ideas, varied stages and some very satisfying combat, which unfortunately has a couple of flaws that prevent it from hitting the heights of retro-inspired classics like Shovel Knight. It’s still a solid option though, so if you like your platformers with plenty of slicing and dicing, it comes recommended – particularly if you’re especially patient or skilled.
In a nutshell
Although it isn’t quite as refined as we might have hoped, Panzer Paladin is an enjoyable throwback platform hack-and-slasher. The combat is simple, responsive and fun – just how we like it.
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