Looks amazing, but marred with clunky combat and technical issues
Move over God of War there is another game based on Greek mythology and it is Apotheon. Sure some Greek Gods show up as personas in Persona 3 or playable gods in Smite, but there aren’t many games entirely set in Greek mythology. With all that said, it is very unfortunate that Apotheon doesn’t do anything much with its’ story. The story is similar to that of God of War without the constant talk of being angry and yearning to have revenge. Zeus being a jerk that he is abandons humanity causing chaos and grief. You play as Nikandreous, a Greek warrior that saves his town from an attack from bandits. He is then greeted by Hera and she explains that the origin of humanity’s suffering is caused by Zeus. The only way Nikandreous can save humanity is by killing gods gaining their power and eventually challenging Zeus.
The visual design is Apotheon’s strongest suit and makes an immediate impact once the game is booted up for the first time. The game looks as if you were playing on ancient Greek pottery. There is a loving attention to detail from how the characters move across the screen as if they were drawn on actual pottery. One striking example is how your character climbs ladders on its’ sides rather than directly in front of it.
The colors match the ancient Greek pottery to a tee, with an emphasis on yellow and red hues. Unfortunately, the game rarely mixes up its’ art style. I found the yellow and red hues especially difficult to look at for gaming sessions longer than an hour. It felt like the equivalent of playing back to back Mario lava levels for one hour straight. There are some some levels that introduce blue and green hues, but they are the exception to the rule.
The gameplay in Apotheon plays like a metroidvania game without the gating element. Once you have access to lockpicks and Greek fire which is gained a little past the tutorial, you’re free navigate to any area within a level. You do gain powers by defeating bosses in Apotheon, but they only serve to advance the story and improve Nikandreous’ combat effectiveness.
Speaking of combat, Nikandreous can wield swords, axes, lances, bows, maces and more. Each weapon has a wind-up time as well as an attack range requiring the player to switch between weapons mid-combat depending on the situation. Attacking an enemy with a spear that’s too close and the spear won’t connect. You can throw your weapon directly at the enemy and pick it back up, offering a stylish alternative to finish off a ranged enemy without resorting to bows or javelins. There is also a stamina bar that prevents you from spamming attacks. Rounding out the list of combat options are shields, a combat roll and craftable utility items like Greek Fire, potions and armor kits.
The combat sounds well designed but is easily abused. Ranged combat works as intended, but become extended affairs especially against shielded foes. There is no enemy collision so you can literally walk into the enemy and swing at him until he dies. In fact you can do this with almost any weapon even spears as long as you have Nikandreous aim directly above or below. Once I was out of stamina, I would roll out the way, let it recharge and redo this process. I was able to repeatedly do this even against late game foes.
The other issue with the combat is its’ physics. There are some enemies that can throw Nikandreous. On one occasion, my character was thrown into a wall and clipped through the other side. On another occasion, my character clipped through a wall and was instakilled. There are also explosions and certain enemies that can knockback Nikandreous. The knockbacks have a tendency to bounce Nikandreous ludicrously high in the air allowing you to skip major portions of a level if timed correctly.
Inventory management is unintuitive and clunky. The weapons and items are arranged vertically as small icons and becomes a mess to go through especially halfway into the game. There is no way to sell items so you’ll often find yourself rummaging through ten to twenty melee and ranged weapons. Adding insult to injury is that some weapons are completely buggy. The discus weapon for example is a boomerang-like weapon, that returns to Nikandreous after being thrown. Once the discus returns to the player, the weapon is automatically equipped. There were occasions when the discus was permanently affixed as my equipped weapon and I was unable to change weapons. In order to fix the issue, I had to throw the discus and have it get stuck in the environment. Also there is no quest log and I wasn’t even aware that there were optional quests until I checked the item section in my inventory.
Technical issues also find its’ way in the audio department. The music was fine, but the sound effects and voice acting were completely silent. After some quick Google searches, I discovered that the game does not work for speakers in surround sound settings and must be set to stereo. I had my speakers set to surround sound for over a year and this is the first game where I’ve encountered such an issue.
Ultimately Apotheon is a satisfactory but flawed metroidvania type game. The game is absolutely gorgeous and nails the ancient Greek pottery art look. But looks are the only thing the game does right, everything else about Apotheon is marred with clunky combat and technical issues. I can’t recommend Apotheon to anyone unless if you’re into Greek Art. If you want to play a metroidvania game that looks great, does its’ combat justice and is technically sound, I would recommend playing Guacamelee instead.
