Hey gang, Valkor here. And we’re back with another GameView nugget that won’t rank high as one of my favorites, but there were some moments of enjoyment. I’m talking about Krut: The Mythic Wings. And if you don’t know about this title, well then you’re about to learn more about it TOV style. It’s a slow burn, but I didn’t hate it.
Krut: The Mythic Wings is a hack and slash platformer that centers on a winged warrior named Veera, who looks to save his homeland that’s being ravaged by a group of rock ogre men lead by their commander Zurah. Initially, Veera cannot defeat Zurah, as his armor is impenetrable. Thankfully, he'll have a fighting chance, though, after gaining the silver wings from an elder, which will send him on a quest to acquire the six elemental energies that will give the wings the strength they need to beat Zurah. But Veera will have to defeat some formidable bosses in order to obtain that power, so it won't be simple. And they're not going to give up their powers easily.
The controls in Krut are pretty basic; you have your light and heavy attacks that you can string into a series of combos. Next, you have a jump/double jump and a roll to evade. Finally, if you press the L1/R1 buttons together, you’ll activate Veera’s wings, which gives him limited flight, and a ranged attack. Rolling is one of your best moves in the game as it allows you to sneak up on an enemy and attack them from behind (repeat). It's also helpful against bosses (one mid and one main for each stage). You can also use the double jump option for an air sprint that also works.
After an enemy is defeated, one of three energy balls will drop from them; you have green, a form of currency used to buy upgrades or open checkpoints (more on this later).Then there’s blue to fill up your wing charge meter. Finally, there’s orange, used to replenish your health. It’s unfortunate that you have to use the green energy to unlock checkpoints. However, once you die, you get to keep all the energy gems you’ve gained. You can also walk back and face enemies again or you can skip checkpoints until you feel it is necessary to upgrade. Then you’ll have to spend the energy to upgrade.
Before we get into the breakdown, I have to say that if ever I wanted to see a game turned into an animated series (limited), it would be Krut. I love the journey to get this power to save his village. The bosses are wicked cool and would be fun to see in animated form. And if the music were to carry over, I wouldn’t even be mad. I'm just throwing that information out there because I think it has potential. And now on with the TOV Breakdown!
The Good:
The graphics in Krut: the Mythic Wings, are what I love most about this game; they’re so gorgeous! My favorite is the final stage as so much is going on! You have this background battle with a giant Zurah battling winged warriors while rocks are tossed in your direction–insane! But most stages look amazing. And it’s easy to lose a life just because you got caught up with the backdrops. The tricky controls are next. And rolling is once more your best option. However, when you come out of a roll, you can’t immediately jump. So, I got tagged when an enemy did a quick reversal. But pulling off most moves can be done with ease. And tackling the mid/last bosses is a breeze once you figure out their patterns. In addition, I love the boss battles even though I'm crazy about the graphics. While the fights are predictable, they are more enjoyable than clearing the stages. Ultimately, Krut: The Mythic Wings have their shining moments. But the next section might turn some away.
The Bad:
My first objection with the game is that there aren’t enough baddies between boss battles. You start off facing one monster, walk a stretch, then another repeat. Sometimes you’ll walk a long distance and face nothing! But once you confront an enemy, you roll/attack/repeat until its defeated. I should point out that flying enemies are like the Medusas from Castlevania-annoying! And they’re not easy to hit. Thankfully, there aren't too many of them. Next are the combos you can pull off, if you can pull them off. I say “if” because if you roll behind an enemy and start the combo, they’ll turn around and attack before you can finish the move. I completed a combo once. It looked flashy, but I wasn't able to use it as often as I'd like. Next, there was no need for a heavy attack button; Sure, you can use it as a charged move. But again, most enemies will be all over you before you can release the attack. To finish the game, I mostly cheezed the light attack button. Finally, why do I have to pay to save at a checkpoint? It does make things more challenging because you have to decide whether to move on to the next checkpoint or save your location. However, imagine you have 6000 gems; you need that much to upgrade your attack. You get to the checkpoint, now you have to pay 1k before you can do anything. So, you have to double back and fight more enemies to make up the difference. And let’s not forget, you only face ONE enemy per section. So going back to raise 1k, then heading back to the checkpoint to update-tedious! Ultimately, Krut needed more time in the oven as there should have been more enemies to fight, more secrets to find (I didn’t find any, if there were any), levels could have gone on longer, especially if there were more enemies to fight. And there should be no pay options at checkpoints!
The Ugly:
N/A
Krut: The Mythic Wings is available now on multiple systems; the version we reviewed was for the PS5. Even though I have my objections, the game was a fun frolic. However, is it worth the investment? Not really, as there isn’t enough meat on this game’s bones to satisfy my gaming hunger. Still, out of TOV 5 stars, I’m going to meet Krut: The Mythic Wings halfway and give it a 2.5.
