I love a good Roguelike, but it isn’t a shock to say that the market is a little over-saturated. Because of that, I’m always on the lookout for Roguelike games that stand out. Developer BenStar’s Revita stood out to me for various reasons, and I followed it carefully through its Early Access period. Now that it is on Switch, I wanted to share a review of the full version, so let’s get into it, shall we?

The premise of Revita is simple. You play as a nameless child who has lost their memories. You find yourself in a mysterious clocktower, traversing your way up through it in order to reclaim your lost memories and learn more about the tower and its inhabitants. As you progress through the tower, you’ll collect materials and soul coins, both of which can be used to unlock things to enhance your runs.

Materials are more used to unlock things such as new room types, cosmetic decorations, and other passive run-altering things. Soul Coins can be used to unlock new relic items, new weapons, and things that will show up during your runs like celestial weapons. I’m not going to go into too many details on specifics in terms of items and item types, but I can tell you that like Enter the Gungeon and The Binding of Isaac, there are a lot of item synergies to mess around with that make runs interesting.

The central concept of the game though is that everything uses your health as a currency. By killing enemies, you get soul energy, which refills a bar on your screen. For each segment of your bar that you use, you can either gain half a heart back or if you’re at full health you can gain half of a max-health upgrade. In exchange for this regular health restoration option, everything costs different amounts of HP.

For example, on each floor, there is a fountain that you can use to offer health in exchange for a specific relic. Depending on how much health you give, your reward is different. Luckily, you get to see what relic you’ll get before you sacrifice your health, so you can choose whether to take the risk. Even chests can sometimes cost health to open. This risk-vs-reward system is what makes Revita a fascinating twin-stick shooter.

If you play well and can avoid taking damage, you’ll have enough health to get a powerful run. Alternately, if you take damage, you can choose to skip out on risky ideas, and instead focus on surviving further up the clock tower. There are also a variety of difficulty options and accessibility options available to make the game more accessible for less experienced players or people who have a hard time with reflexes and reaction time.

The pixel art for Revita is gorgeous, and there is a clearly defined atmosphere that just feels good. The controls are smooth, and whether you are dashing, shooting, wall-jumping, or using your gun to get a little extra height on your jump, the mobility in-game is smooth and well-crafted. It is obvious that Revita’s time in Early Access has been to its benefit, with plenty of additions and tweaks that make the game a delight to play.

I would say though that Revita isn’t for everyone. It has a specific difficulty curve, and if you aren’t used to risk-vs-reward style approaches to gameplay, or you simply dislike that style, Revita isn’t your thing. However, if you are a Roguelike veteran who wants a challenge or something new to sink 100+ hours into, I think Revita fits the bill. Being able to play on the go on Switch helps too.

A Nintendo Switch review copy of Revita was provided by Dear Villagers for this review.

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Revita

$16.99

9.5

Score

9.5/10

Pros

• Smooth Controls
• Fun Roguelike Gameplay
• Lots of Content
• Accessibility Options to Adjust Difficulty
• Gorgeous Pixel Art

Cons

• Might be too Intense for Casual Players
• Risk Vs Reward isn't for Everyone