Join us with Ximending with Yumo, a charismatic young man who ends up being the main hope in the fight against evil, within an adventure of design Anime and charisma Beat’em up.
Imagine a mix where there are room for shades of Person, elements rescued from Tokyo Mirage Sessions, details that remind us of Senran Kagura and a design of characters and scenarios that pay homage – not to say, for prayer – to figures like Shigenori Soejima.
All this under an approach on horseback between two worlds – the real one is based on the city of Ximending, while the other corrupts it to turn it into a Youshanding full of Beasts of Chaos that roam freely with evil invading plans – where we will take the role of a carefree young woman whose potential baddass is about to break loose. His name: Yumo. His mission: work in a grocery while doing overtime delivering bast.
A priori the premise (subtitled in English) is as attractive as its static images, enhanced when we see the occasional video gameplay by showy particle effects, a correct use of cel shading and more than decent animations. The title does not seem to stand out technically, being a generation away from other assets of the genre (a priori we are not worried, let's look at the engine that moves Persona 5 and the results obtained), while knowing more about your proposal becomes evident.
Riding between two worlds
It is here where the problems of this video game of the Chinese company JFi Games begin, supported by programming by JERA. Both at the design level and as regards the playable approach, it all gives off a somewhat discouraged intention: to create an experience based on imitating what other videogames do, but doing it in the fairest way possible to save the furniture, launch the title and see how it works.
It is in the combat system where we see more lights, not without quickly falling into obvious signs of lack of imagination. Its playable core beat’em up articulated in two attacks (strong and fast) is combined with the ability to dodge (which Bayonetta, if we do it at the right time the bullet time is activated) and jump to trigger different attacks from different angles. The variety of combos is practically non-existent, unlike the titles cited.
Fortunately we will have at our disposal the support of the Guardians, beings of great power that move like fish in the water in the Youshading and that we can invoke to unleash spectacular attacks. It is here that the experience, although it takes, ends up demonstrating its full potential: combining the combos of the protagonist, the exclusive movements of the guardians (they can accompany you up to three in the beginning) and the transformations of Yumo, it is an agile and fun practice, Despite being underutilized.
And it is partly the small variety of bosses and regular enemies, whose dynamics of attack, defense and special states is really limited, because the main combat proposal fails to overcome mediocrity. Despite this, Dusk Diver offers other aspects beyond the clashes, which develop mainly within the cracks that we are addressing as the plot of the title progresses.
In the variety is the spice
The action game that concerns us also has exploration notes, platform elements, resolution of (mostly nondescript) missions and secondary tasks, evolution of our relationship with the guardians (mainly taking them to different places and enjoying different dishes in the restaurants) and even takes the liberty of borrowing the tower defense genre at a certain point in history.
The problem is the same. Mediocrity does not happen in any of its aspects, some being close to suspense due to their lack of attention for such important elements as the design of levels: we are talking about, sometimes frustrating, platform. While some combat phases will take place through the (distorted) streets of the city, others take the liberty of projecting themselves more vertically.
In them we will be raised, in addition to the classic combats, small platform activation puzzles (both static and mobile) that will take us to travel the stage through different heights. It is a pity that we always remain with a sense of lack, both in talent within the game design department and in the intention – it seems to be imposed rather than born as a result of the illusion of the development team – to offer different contents in the same concept interactive.
All this leads to an aesthetically striking game, with dialogues that fall again and again in easy cliché and lack of interest, and with a tremendously limited exploration of the city, only necessary when it comes to getting dragon pieces ( they will also reward us with them in the main and secondary missions) that allow us to open new levels. Of course, once the game is over we always have to repeat the phases in more demanding difficulties, with the aim of improving our score (as if it were Bayonetta) in order to unlock illustrations and various curiosities related to the game, which will attract to the most complete and curious sector about what is behind the artistic production of such a videogame.
Following in the wake of Soejima
One of the most striking aspects of the game lies in the visual. On an aesthetic level, Dusk Diver enters the eyes thanks to a world with obvious Anime reminiscences, continuous tributes to titles such as Persona 5 or Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE, and a design of both characters and scenarios well resolved.
At the animation level we also face a remarkable section: the movements of both characters and enemies are effective, meritoriously combined with a striking system of particles, and do not clash at all with the design of scenarios and secondary characters. Despite this, at the technical level it seems to be in a previous generation, and neither the soundtrack nor the effects offer a remarkable quality: they comply with nothing else.
Video game analyzed in PS4 Pro using a code provided by the editor.
CONCLUSION
Dusk Diver has correct interactive elements, has a striking artistic design, and some of the characters and guardians have charisma. All this is diluted in a title that seems to be done mechanically (as if we were talking about an assembly line) in a new attempt by the Chinese industry to approach Japanese canons. And right now, they have a long way to go. The result is an action video game with few action components and platforms, where the right audiovisual section does not serve to raise a combat system too simple and lacking imagination to compete with its direct rivals.
THE BEST
- Character design
- The animations are well done
WORST
- The platform is resolved mediocre
- It ends up being repetitive and lacking interesting content
- The design of levels and objectives
Right
It is not the latest or the most original, nor does it have the best execution, but it can be fun if you like the genre. Good, but improvable.
