The Weaponographist [Game Review]
Game: The Weaponographist
Genre: Rogue-like action
Developer: Puuba
Publisher: Mastertronic
Copy supplied by developer
The Weaponographist is a top-down rogue-like dungeon-crawling action game developed by Puuba and published by Mastertronic.
STORY
World-famous demon hunter Doug McGrave has been cursed by a witch for refusing to rid of demons the town of Hellside, and now he is constantly losing power when he isn't killing demons, and he is forced to help save the village from evil. This is as far as the story goes, and it's essentially pointless. The few lines of dialogue spoken by the town's people are funny. There's nothing more.
GRAPHICS
The game isn't particularly stylish. The animated look suits the tone of the game, but the animations aren't all that polished and the different dungeons have small variations from one another. However, there is a good variety of enemies, some more detailed than others.
GAMEPLAY
The game is very similar to The Binding of Isaac, but it doesn't have as much depth. You move with the WASD keys and you attack with the arrow keys. Your objective is to kill all the enemies in each room, to then move to the next one until you arrive to the end-level boss.
You start out with your fists, and you can pick up the weapons and magic that your enemies drop. They have small durability, and their attack power depends on how much high your combo meter and level is. Every time that you die, you will spawn back at the village, and you can buy upgrades for your character, the weapons and the magic that you found while playing. You can either choose to start from the first level, or load a checkpoint that is usually found in the room before the boss.
There are many weapons to pick up and use, each with different pros and cons, as well as some magic spells that you should only use when facing a boss.
CHALLENGE
Most of the time you won't find yourself in much trouble: the enemies have predictable patterns that are easy to understand, and the higher your combo is, the stronger your attacks are. The bosses at the end of each dungeon are the most challenging part, but the possibility to reload the checkpoint that is usually before their room makes it less frustrating than it should be.
SOUND
Nothing stands out here: the techno-music feels really repetitive and might get on your nerves, and the sound effects aren't varied.
REPLAYABILITY
As with many rogue-like games, the replayability is the strongest point: trying to defeat the same boss over and over, and levelling up your character and becoming a force of nature make this an addicting experience that will last for a long time. There are also 19 Steam achievements and multiple upgrades that are worth unlocking.
Overall, if you are looking for a time waster and you like games like The Binding of Isaac but aren't looking for something as complex, The Weaponographist is a must-buy for you. If you aren't into this kind of games, you will most likely hate it.
Story: 5.5
Graphics: 6.5
Gameplay: 7.5
Challenge: 7
Sound: 6
Replayability: 8
ENJOYMENT: 7
FRUSTRATION: 4
