The left analogue stick controls movement whilst the D-Pad selects which of your three special powers you will be spamming throughout the proceeding level. Sure there is a legend you can look at in the game options, but it's no use there, you need to have an example and give the player a chance to feel out what the game is about and how it should work going forward.Ĭontrolling the game is pretty standard fare too with Cross to jump or double jump, Square to dodge, Circle to block, R1 to Melee, and L2 to shoot. The tutorial level gave me Ghouls 'n Ghosts vibes which was initially compelling but it failed to really teach me much or prepare me for the proceeding levels. It is gorgeous in itself, with zero slowdowns no matter the number of sprites on screen, and plenty of animated projectiles and mindless enemies trying to prevent your progress. Jumping in, the game's animation is nothing short of silky smooth with a definite nod to the Disney cartoons of yesteryear and the more modern games it wants to emulate. But, when the small but oh so important own identity is missing and the game is not at all entertaining, I can't recommend this at all, unfortunately.Slick Animation, Interesting (in-game) Visuals I might not want to go so far as to accuse them of making a shameless copy of it, I rather think that role model and inspiration can be something nice. And despite the fact that it seems to be developed by only two people (which of course is a feat worth mentioning), I can't help but agree with the numerous threads and posts online about how a bit too much inspired and like Cuphead this is. It's very rare that I search for information or read other people's impressions about a game I'm going to review, but I was curious to see who was behind the game. It's pretty much the only identity the game has.Įnchanted Portals has some superficial features that make you raise your eyebrows but what really counts what's there under the surface, it doesn't measure up at all. After the game's dull beginning, however, there is a bit more speed in the form of, for example, air travel on a broom (instead of Cuphead's variant with aeroplanes) and I will also take the opportunity to mention that the theme with wizards and magic feels fitting. So, while it is lacking in speed, it becomes a sweaty and fun challenge in learning movement patterns and how to avoid everything that is sent towards you. Instead, one of the strengths is the music, which you're happy to bop along to, and the game's bosses are quite fun. It feels too identical to what Cuphead gave us six years ago and that game felt more unique. Sure, the cartoony graphics style is fun and pretty but well, it's not actually one of them.

However, there are two definite highlights.

You often have to walk a few steps to stop and clear the screen, and the controls don't feel particularly nimble or responsive. When the flow is missing, the nerve that can be linked to the fun also disappears. The worst part is how the game does itself a disservice by lacking speed. The third negative thing is the sum of these design decisions, and that is that the game's flow suffers from the two previously mentioned areas. Furthermore, only one of these weapons (wind) shoots multiple projectiles, something all of them would have benefitted from. If an enemy stands outside any of these directions, you simply do not hit it. The other negative thing is that the aiming angle is locked in fixed positions, so there are no 180-degree free movement when aiming, instead you shoot sideways, diagonally or straight up. This has to be done very frequently and the problem is that you can only switch when the character is completely stationary. So in other words, you have to take your thumb off the joystick you control the character with to switch between these three. You switch between red (fire), yellow (wind) and blue (ice) colours and you do this on the D-pad. In order to kill certain enemies, you have to have the right colour weapon to match the colour around or on the enemy. Two of these things deal with the game's weapons. There are mainly three things that are disturbing and these are the whole basis for how I experience the entertainment in this game. However, they don't manage to achieve the speed and finesse of their inspiration and the problem lies mainly in how Enchanted Portals works mechanically. In Enchanted Portals, it feels like the developers at Xixo Game Studio played Cuphead until the day they decided to make their own game with, basically, all the inspiration taken from that game. Today, it seems almost impossible for a game not to draw inspiration from other games.

Enchanted portals gameplay