Alwa´s Awakening - An arrow directly to your nostalgia

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Hello everyone! Did you already check out Castle in the Darkness, the retro style Metroidvania game I talked about in the last entry? If you like classic action/adventure games, I highly recommend you to give it a try. In fact, if you like this kind of games you are in luck, for in this new entry I’m going to talk about yet another title that follows on the steps of Castle in the Darkness. The game is called Alwa’s Awakening. Let’s see what this new retro gaming gem has to offer.

Published recently by a small Swedish indie team formed by just four men called Elden Pixels, Alwa’s awakening is a retro style Metroidvania inspired by the classic action/adventure games of the 8-bit era. The story of Alwa’s Awakening says that a long time ago, Alwa was a pacific realm thriving with life. However, one day the realm was attacked all of sudden by an evil being known as Vicar. Vicar started to spread chaos through the land, and created the Protectors to help him to find the Ornaments, a series of holy items that kept the world of Alwa in perfect balance, for it is said that whoever owns them will obtain a power beyond imagination. Vicar plunged the once beautiful world of Alwa in the most absolute darkness, but when everything seemed lost, a ray of hope felt upon Alwa. A mysterious young magician known as Zoe was sent to the world of Alba to fight Vicar and bring back the peace to the world. As it always happens with this kind of game, the story is something completely secondary, a mere excuse to invite us to grab the controller and start playing, but just like with Castle in the Darkness, part of the game’s magic resides precisely in its simplicity, on top of fitting perfectly with the values the game aims to represent.

Regarding the gameplay, although at a first glance Alwa´s Awakening could seem your typical generic retro style plataformer, as soon as you advance a bit through the adventure, you soon realize it´s a pure breed Metroidvania, so in Alwa´s Awakening we will be able to explore the game´s map, although as it´s typical in this kind game, there will be certain areas that will be out of our reach till we obtain first the necessary skill that will allow us to access them. As we explore the map, we will face a variety of enemies that will try to stop Zoe, as well as really though bosses that follow the legacy of bosses that require of the old method of trial and error in order to be able to defeat them. However, opposite that we can find in Castle in the Darkness, where the gamplay is clearly focused on the plataforming and action elements, Alwa´s Awakening gameplay will focus on the resolution of puzzles, for (almost) each screen could be considered a puzzle itself. Although at the beginning of the adventure Zoe will only be able to jump and attack with her staff, as we progress though the adventure, we will obtain a series of magical gems that will grant Zoe various spells, such a creating giant bubbles that will allow her to float and reach high places, create cubes that she will be able to use as a platform or even as a shield against the enemies just like in the classic Solomon´s Key, or the skill to use lightings to activate switches and attack the enemies, but what is really interesting is the way in which the Swedish team has implemented these spells in the game. Once we obtain one of the spells, the game will put us to the test one spell a time, increasing the level of difficulty progressively so that we can master each of the spells little by little, till eventually the game will force us to use different combinations of the three spells in order to be able to complete stages, making the gameplay really addictive despite its relative simplicity. Of course, the exploration will still be one of the main elements, so we will be able to find the typical hidden rooms in which we will find items that will allow us to improve Zoe, as well as orbs that will allow us to reduce the bosses life provided we can find enough of them, thus making things easier for those that are better at exploring and puzzles solving rather than fighting, and giving a sense of fulfillment to those that decide to explore every inch of the charming world of Alwa. Of course, a retro game cannot be complete without an also “retro” level of difficulty, so just like we could see in many of the 8-bit classics in which the game is inspired on, Alwa’s Awakening will put our gaming skills and patience to the test constantly, specially on the last stages of the game, but fear not, Zoe won’t make us suffer as much as Hayabusa-san did.

Regarding the graphics, Alwa’s Awakening follows the standards we can see in Castle in the Darkness and the classic 8-bit era games, with a retro graphic style that provides the characters and stages with a special charm that only the pixels can, although it does not reach the quality standards seen in Shovel Knight. And if the graphics are charming, the music is no less charming, with catchy melodies that seem to have come out straight from one of our old NES cartridges and that fit perfectly with the game’s tone.


Alwa’s Awakening is another great tribute to the old classics that seem to refuse to disappear despite the drastic changes the industry has experienced in the last years, proving that they still can conquer the hearts of thousands of players, and that they can entertain as much as any of the modern productions even if their gameplay mechanics can be rather outdated and simplistic for the new generations used to productions that tend to lean (perhaps too much sometimes) towards the world of Hollywood. However, it is precisely in that simplicity where the magic resides, for where many see limitations, many others see just another way of understanding videogames, something that Alwa’s Awakening understand and respects during the whole adventure. For now the game is available exclusively on PC via Steam. If you tried Castle in the Darkness and you want more, you should definitely give a chance to Alwa’s Awakening, for I’m sure that, if you are a fan of this kind of game, it’s addictive and straightforward gameplay and charming presentation will make you fall in love with it right from the very beginning. Enjoy it!


GAMEPLAY VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kivu8HfDY3Q