While there are certainly some excellent top-down action RPGs that sets the bar extremely high, I do think there is room in the genre for more experimentation and growth. Recently releasing on the Nintendo Switch, Redeemer starts off strong with a mildly interesting combat system that’s more in line with an arcade beat-em-up. Unfortunately, on the Switch, Redeemer is plagued by performance troubles coupled with some just ugly visuals. That aside, there is some merit to be found and with enough effort, Sobaka Studio could create some excellent titles in the future.
Redeemer is a violent rampage driven by the atrocities of a major manufacturer of cybernetic weapons. The game’s protagonist, Vasily, was once of their elite killers. The brute of a man escaped the demons of this company to face his internal monsters as a monk. Redeemer’s adventure begins as the remote monastery that Vasily has called home for over twenty years is attacked and his brothers are openly slaughtered by the same corporation that he tried to bury in his past.
This action title feels like a mix of Hotline Miami and God of War but the overall quality doesn’t come close to either of these games. Even at the first cutscene, I realized that Redeemer lacked the polish that I hope to see when games make a gradual transition from PC to console. That first scene’s audio actually played faster than the visuals, resulting in an awkward slow zoom in on Vasilly’s meditation in complete silence devoid of even music.
At the outset, players are gradually introduced to the game’s controls through simple level design and button hints. It’s here where I noticed that despite the game running poorly, the combat can be pretty awesome. There’s a satisfying mix of punches and kicks to unleash with a stylish zoom when finishing off enemies with a brutal finisher or through skilled play. Vasily also steadily becomes stronger by finding manuscripts from the ways of the monk with a focus on melee and the tactics of a soldier with a focus on firearms.
My upgrade choice immediately focused on getting my physical attacks up to speed, as I found the guns to be more of a situational tool. Guns are easy to find, fitting into simple typing rather than having specific weapons, but the ammo is limited. For example, a shotgun may only have four rounds upon picking it up but its blast is effective against groups of enemies. They’re more a power-up than something a player can stick to, which does force the player to be aware of all the options at their disposal much like Hotline Miami or even Breath of the Wild.
There are also melee weapons like hammers, knives, and pole staffs but they are so slow compared to using Vasily’s fists and they can be easily interrupted by enemies. I found myself avoiding melee weapons entirely as I kept taking more hits than I would have without one. Unfortunately, a later enemy is immune to punches and kicks, so I was regretfully forced to use melee weapons in later stages. For these monsters, I typically backtracked to pick up a gun, resulting in this awfully slow back and forth to deal with annoying enemy types.
There’s also an enemy that chucks acid that can temporarily stun and slow Vasily that is the absolute worst thing to come across. There were a few areas with several of these and I found them to be annoying rather than challenging.
Although, I really enjoyed getting into a flow of well-timed charged punches and quick gunshots. Even though the game chugs throughout the campaign, it felt awesome to move from room to room, establish threats, and take them down in the most effective way. There are stealth and environmental kills that can be used to take out single targets but for the most part, I played how Vasily looked, straightforward and violent. Sadly though, this feeling was all mechanics as the sound design is rather lackluster.
For anyone who picks up Redeemer, I would advise using the game’s Russian voiceovers. The English actor for Vasily lacks the bravado that I would expect looking at the character. Not only that, but he sounds like a bored bro just reading for a paycheck. There’s little emotion and it doesn’t help that Redeemer’s writing is poor. I can’t weigh in on how this might compare to the Russian script as I know nothing of the language but I did find more enjoyment after switching to the Russian voice actors.
I’ve mentioned it a few times already, but I cannot stress enough that Redeemer runs poorly on the Switch. I played entirely in docked mode and the framerate just would not stay stable. It seemed to run way better in the optional Arenas, which are just wave-based challenges.
Visually, I found Redeemer to be pretty hard to look at. There were many rooms that had smaller details on the floor that while moving gave them this awful jittering effect. There’s also a disconnect in the game’s levels compared to the poorly delivered narrative. It goes from mountaintop temple to a research facility to a greenhouse area with little transition aside from some empty dialogue if anything at all. Most of the details of the story I know from having done a news article on the game and by re-reading the game’s description on Steam.
I wish that Sobaka Studio would have gone more for an arcade slant with Redeemer.
While the main character has an interesting design, Redeemer’s narrative doesn’t add much and fits most revenge story tropes
If the game performed better and the worlds were more interesting to be in, Redeemer would have made for a solid arcade beat-em-up. Add in some high score mechanics and a few different ways to play, like a randomized map or something, and I could definitely see myself spending a few nights cracking skulls and downing beer with a buddy.
Like in other games I’ve played over the past couple months with similar performance issues, many of my gripes can be fixed in a patch. Unfortunately, even if Redeemer was buttery smooth, there are core design problems. There have been some major improvements made since the game’s initial launch on PC but I expect that my issues with the game would be similar despite the platform I played on.
There are some cool ideas in Redeemer but they just don’t come together in an enjoyable way. Hopefully, a more refined sequel will put Vasily in a better light. For now, his defiant echoes through the mountains will likely fall on deaf ears.
Find more information about Redeemer and Sobaka Studio on the official website. A digital copy of the game was provided for the purpose of review.
