Saviorless Review
What is better than a great story? How about a great story about narrators telling a great story? For me, The NeverEnding Story is what to comes to mind. Related to my previous question, and for those not old enough to know the tale of Bastian and Atreyu, it is the story of a character reading a book but the plot is just as much about the reader of the book as it is the characters contained within the book. Surely, a video game could have a plot where not only the plot of the story changes but also the events surrounding the storytellers telling the plot of said story changes.
Developed by Empty Head Games, Saviorless is a narrative-driven platformer that stars three protagonists. As the narrators explain, their fates are already determined and the story has been set, or has it? Can this story actually be changed or does the same ending need to play out over and over? Saviorless is also the first-ever independent video game from Cuba to collaborate with an international publisher (Dear Villagers - Fort Solis, Nocturnal, The Forgotten City).
Players begin this tale in control of Antar, one of our three protagonists. Antar is on a journey to the Smiling Islands in hopes of becoming a Savior. Movements are limited to just walking, jumping, and some climbing but these are the only necessary tools required to complete the variety of platforming puzzles in Antar’s way. Enemies encountered are to be avoided as one hit will kill you but, with the help of the environment, one hit will also destroy them. Puzzles are never overly complicated but can provide enough of a challenge. Pro tip: be patient and try not to overthink anything. You will die but the game respawns you close to where you failed. The game also saves quite often so you do not have to worry about completing a particularly challenging area/puzzle once you cleared it the first time. For the completionists, there are also collectibles to find in each major area (6 pages to give to the Chronicler to tell YOUR story - yes, the game begins with narrators telling a story and you collect pages of your own story to give to a NPC so he can tell your story…).
At some point early on, the story takes a detour (not Antar’s story but the narrator’s who are telling Antar’s story, story) and you are introduced to the second protagonist, Nento. Nento’s story is told simultaneously with Antar’s story but plays out in a completely different fashion. Nento is a ruthless hunter so instead of the slow-paced platforming you have been doing, Nento employs vicious violence to reach his goals.
There is another protagonist introduced later on but in the words of River Song: “Spoilers!” That said, this portion of the game is a combination of what you have experienced with both Antar and Nento and contains some of the most frustrating yet enjoyable/satisfying chase sequences I have experienced in a game. I went from wanting to smash my controller because of repeated deaths (I did not take my aforementioned advice to be patient) to cheering aloud. There was equal parts breaths of relief and cursing throughout but memorable nonetheless.
Saviorless is a phenomenal gaming experience. Although on the shorter side (4-5 hours), it excels in all facets: art that is unique and uses a palette that highlights aspects of the story; haunting and beautiful music that not only changes with the environments but with the plot; a refreshing amount of puzzle variety; and a balanced difficulty that is welcoming to all. Empty Head Games has a hit on their hands here and if Saviorless is any indication, their future is very bright.
