As loyal readers know by now, I love a good Metroidvania. Because of recent similarities between them and the typical Soulslike genre, I’ve been expanding my horizons a bit more these days. HunterX is more of a Metroidvania than a Soulslike, but there are elements of both sprinkled in. It is definitely a game that will probably dip under people’s radars, so let’s dive into what you can expect from it.

Admittedly, the premise and story for HunterX is the weakest part of it. This is usually a dealbreaker for me, but the gameplay was decent enough that I could ignore it. The premise is that you play Tsuki, a Devil Hunter who finds herself in a new world, which seems to be plagued by the same creatures that she hunts at home. Along the way, you meet a variety of characters, but their storylines are barely touched on, with only the bare minimum of exposition as to who they are.

In fact, the main villain/final boss character is briefly mentioned once, but you don’t know for certain that he is the big bad until you fight him. The rest of the bosses are basically nameless, other than the ones that wind up becoming your allies. The ending leaves things open for a sequel as well, but I can’t imagine why when there’s not much in terms of story to continue.

Imagine playing Castlevania, but you heard the Belmont name once, Dracula’s name was mentioned by an NPC, and then you fight him at the end. That is basically how HunterX handled its story. As far as gameplay goes, it is fairly standard. You can equip Tsuki with a weapon, two accessories, and two “occult” (magic) abilities, and then you can customize her quick-select items.

There are a variety of consumables, from things that restore your MP (for Mortal Blow abilities), to things that restore health or occult uses, and even offer elemental defense buffs. Accessories are largely the same, you can equip elemental defense buffs or things that raise your stats.

The platforming isn’t all that difficult, but combat does have a bit of a souls-like edge to it. You can attack regularly, use a mortal blow, cast an occult ability, dash, parry, and jump. I had a hard time getting the hang of Parrying, so I didn’t use it for most of the game. This isn’t a game that really requires it, though the endgame is a lot easier if you do learn to parry.

Elemental damage and status effects are important parts of the combat, so it is good to know how to deal with the status effects or avoid them entirely. Your health can be restored with your hunter’s potion, which refills at each save point. As you progress, you can unlock more charges for it, and as you level you can increase its effectiveness.

Killing enemies gives you Karma points, which let you upgrade Tsuki’s stats and unlock keystones for her skill tree. One playthrough isn’t enough to completely fill the tree, but there are multiple levels of New Game Plus if you’re a completionist. Overall, I didn’t mind the difficulty curve too much, but there were sections of the game that became difficult because I wasn’t given much guidance on where to go, or even how to progress further.

I feel like this issue became more prominent because of the lack of storyline, so I didn’t even have a story trail to follow like in other Metroidvanias. There weren’t really any bugs to speak of, but there also wasn’t much in the way of voice acting. The music and sound effects were inoffensive though, so they won’t make you want to mute the game or anything.

Overall, HunterX just feels somewhat average. It isn’t terrible, but the lack of story really causes issues with the game’s pacing and progression to show. If you like Metroidvanias, this is a good one, but I wouldn’t say it is on par with Ender Lilies, games like Bloodstained, or classic Castlevania games.

A Nintendo Switch review copy of HunterX was provided by Orange Popcorn for this review.

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$14.99

5

Score

5.0/10

Pros

• Smooth Controls
• Solid Combat and Gameplay
• New Game Plus
• Variable Difficulty

Cons

• Story is Almost Nonexistent
• No Character Development
• Environments Aren't Interesting
• Very Little Guidance