Embers of Mirrim Review

Embers of Mirrim is an Adventure-Platformer developed and published by Creative Bytes Studios, the player can take control of a mystical creature that have both light and dark sides, these can be utilised later in gameplay for unique gameplay. Embers of Mirrim has many various gameplay elements which include traditional platforming, boss battles at the end of each level and many different puzzles that need to be solved such as mazes for example. The aim of the story is for the player to save the world from the corruption that has taken over, the player must complete levels and drain this corruption to create a new balance on the planet.

The adventure begins with the player taking control of two separate creatures that have differing abilities, the first side of the character you interact is Rim who represents the darkness and introduces the character to the basic of what to expect in such a platformer, whilst reinforcing classic mechanics that can be found in platformers, such as being able to traverse larger gaps using sprint jumps etc. The second character that the player interacts with is Mir who represents the light and can glide and traverse larger gaps using that mechanic. The player is also introduced to a chase sequence that players will quickly learn happen often in this game. The whole game took myself roughly around five hours to complete and that was to simply get one of the endings. As this game has two different endings that the player can unlock, and this is dependent on whether the player aims to do all the collectible sections throughout the game.

Creative Bytes Studios do a great job throughout the game of introducing mechanics slowly and giving the player basic tasks to reinforce how to use them, before quickly increasing the difficulty. I found the gameplay experience very enjoyable and unique to other platformers because of the many different mechanics that the player can use to create many different solutions to puzzles. These mechanics also often provide chances for fast passed action-packed battles with the many bosses that can be found throughout. One of the main mechanics throughout, the ability to split into two different entities and then being able to control these with separate joysticks at first, was very frustrating.

However, once this new experience had become second nature it made for even more unique puzzling experiences that the developer could utilise. Throughout this game I encountered no issues with lag or any glitches that break the game which is always a bonus from an independent developer releasing their debut game.

The environments that are created for this game are breath takingly beautiful and are very well created, I must credit Creative Bytes Studios with creating such a gorgeous game. Whilst playing my way through the story I never found myself being bored with the backgrounds or the assets that were created for the game. The music that has been created also accompanies the game very well and adds on to the mysterious immersion of the game. One downside is that I often found this music becoming repetitive when trying to complete certain puzzles or boss fights for example, however this could be down to me not being able to work out the solution quickly enough (So take that comment with a pinch of salt).

With the game, currently being sold for £17.99 (as of the date of this review) I would pick it up if you’re are looking for a unique narrative and different style of platformer that can keep you occupied for many hours. The main storyline alone was enough to keep me occupied, with many of the collectables also being left during my playthrough, going back, and finding these would add on more time and make this game better value for money. The trophy list that also accompanies this game is very realistic to achieve the platinum trophy with no drastically difficult challenges other than searching for the collectables throughout.

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary Sony Playstation 4 code was provided to Bonus Stage for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to press@4gn.co.uk.