Portrayed as an escape through a stressed-out game developer’s mind, The Prisoning: Fletcher’s Quest is published by the newly revived Acclaim and developed by Elden Pixels of Alwa’s Awakening and Alwa’s Legacy fame. Once again leaning into their retro pixelated visual style, this quest is more concise but still tightly controlled. While the slightly more non-typical gameplay is appreciated, it doesn’t always hit the high notes.
Fletcher goes to therapy to help with his game design burn-out but is thrown into a hypnotized dream state in which he must escape. The narrative tells a personal story of the developers and is geared more towards humor, consistently poking fun at how stressful game development can be. This quest is also self-aware as Fletcher bumps into Alwa early in the quest who offers some subtle guidance but is mostly there for the sake of having a cameo… because why not.
This digital download advertises itself as a Metroidvania but it is more of a Metroidvania-lite. From an interconnected map, the gameplay is par for the course. Navigate some rooms. Eventually find an item to allow further progression. Then fight a boss. Gain a new power. Reach the next area. This rinse and repeat gameplay, however, feels a bit generic due to the procedural stage generation.
One gimmick comes from Fletcher’s form of attack. His gun can only produce one on-screen bullet at a time but can shoot through most barriers to reach the edge of the screen. Meaning, if there is an enemy on the other side, having precise aim will work to your favor. On the flip side, if you are close to an enemy, it is possible to fire rapid machine gun-style to fell enemies quickly so there is a bit of a risk/reward. This, in combination of the 2-hit deaths, and the player will quickly realize that positioning and reaction time is paramount. Also, if you get annoyed with the frequent deaths and retreading from the last checkpoint, there is an option activate assist mode which conveniently restarts the player at the beginning of that screen which is a welcomed feature.
In addition to the one-bullet mechanic, the other highlighting feature comes from the randomly generated maps. However, new maps only appear when starting a new save. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take long to see the cookie cutter screen structure. Without much variety in enemy types and set pieces, the repetition is apparent despite the basic difference from screen to screen. Thankfully, the responsive controls and high jump height keep the action faster paced. After an hour to two, don’t be surprised if you start zipping through screens with speedy precision. Personally, I found this to be the most satisfying aspect of the game; burning through each screen even without firing a shot can often yield the fastest results. However, I found bosses to be a slog. They often take way too many hits and have cheap attacks that require pixel precision. I actually rage quit on the first horse boss but forced myself to continue days later just to finish this review. If I didn’t have to write about this game, I would have stopped there, deleted it, and would have never looked back. Players that hate multiple rounds of trial and error from cheap tactics will want to look elsewhere.
Fletcher’s Quest continues Elden Pixel’s signature style and provides a glimpse into the minds of developers under the heavy weight of crunch time. For the most part, the presentation is well done, the controls are great, but the procedural stage design doesn’t make the game better. If fact, it weakens it by sacrificing a tightly designed hand-crafted experience for a nothing-to-special copy/paste screen layouts… if you even want to replay another 3-4 quest again. Although the Alwa titles are more enjoyable, this is one of those games that should still be placed on your wishlist if you are a fan of these previous works, waiting for an inevitable sale.
SCORE: 5/10
By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com
X/Twitter: @ZackGaz
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