Darkness falls across the land, 2D pixels are close at hand. Creatures crawling in search of pigment will terrorize your neighborhood. As we all know, Soulsbourne games are becoming more popular. This is partially due to the success of Elden Ring and in a way the PS5 exclusive Demon Souls. During our time at PAX East 2022, we had the opportunity to preview multiple Soulsbourne-like games. Look for our coverage of Prime Matter’s Dolmen and The Last Oricru at a later date. Instead, we will cover Over the Moon Games and Coatsink’s The Last Hero of Nostalgaia at the Thunderful Games booth.
The Last Hero of Nostalgaia is a satirical action-adventure, brought to life by a twisted and wicked tale. Explore this world that has been corrupted by pixelization and turned into a 2D world. Stand out as an unordinary hero and save the citizens of Nostalgaia.
Impressions
Going into The Last Hero of Nostalgaia, players should expect Souls-like mechanics but with a twist. The game boasts that there is full character customization but how well can you customize a stick figure. Until the hero removes his helmet, you don’t realize what is fully going on. The game’s artistic perspective makes players view the world from a different perspective. Souls players will have to adjust their combat style to fight a variety of enemies.
As we were playing through The Last Hero of Nostalgaia it was hard to get out of the Souls bourne mentality. Yes, combat is similar to Dark Souls, but the mechanics are slightly different. Adjusting to 2D combat is a different feel than when you can hit a full 3D. You have to adjust your attacks to a precise area so thank god for the lock-on mechanic.
Going through the demo, we were shocked at how the enemies would move, how our character would interact with the environment, and how the enemies’ attacks animations would render.
The game pokes fun at other souls’ games while trying to enhance the genre. The game pulls in inspiration from its predecessors.
Final Thoughts
Going into The Last Hero of Nostalgaia, we were a little bit burnt out on the Souls genre. Thankfully, this game was able to give a refreshing perspective while still meeting some of the needs of Souls-Bourne players. The game never made us angry like Elden Ring or Bloodbourne. All combat felt reasonable and fair which was shocking after being so immersed in the genre. It will be interesting to see how the game progresses from a 2D world to a 3D environment.
Looking at the trailer, it’s obvious that the world will change as you play through it, but sadly, we didn’t get to see the drastic change.
