Aztech Forgotten Gods A Good Story

 *Note: I received a game code for Aztech Forgotten Gods from Stride PR. Thank you to Stride PR for the code for honest and unbiased review. 

Right from the start Aztech Forgotten Gods is interesting. It shows an Aztec woman fighting what look like robots with a stone arm attachment. This gives a good tutorial into how the game mechanics work with the combat system and movement. Afterwards it shows a time skip showing a Tenochtitlan that wasn't invaded by European conquerors and is a beautiful mix of old and modern with a technologically advanced metropolis that blends Mesoamerican with cyberpunk Tron vibes beautifully. It's here where we meet the main character Achtli, a young woman with a prosthetic arm that is struggling with her past. 

Meeting Acthli for the first time. 

The story is great at showing Achtli and her mother Nantsin and the love and support they have from each other. As the adventure progresses Achtli discovers that same artifact, a stone arm that she can wear as a gauntlet over her prosthetic arm. This stone arm allows Achtli to fly over the city streets, jump really high, and fight against a variety of awakened ancient gods that are threatening to destroy the world. It took a bit of time for me to get my bearings in the city and I was glad I could fly up above it to be able to look around and see where I needed to go. I loved the mix of ancient and modern because the city and its people were bright, colorful, and celebrated everything about who they are. 

Exploring the city. 

I really liked Achtli. When she spoke about certain things regarding her past, I understood that heartache of losing someone you love having experienced that myself. The writing for her shows that pain in a way that is gentle, but also shows that she is smart, brave, and strong through all of it even when she doubts herself at times. I liked her mother and her best friend Tepo because it showed quite well these close bonds she has with them while trying to figure out her place in the world and how to move forward from her past. I also liked Tez who in a way is the guide for Achtli as she fights the ancient gods and does everything she can to protect the people and city she loves. Their back and forth banter was great with moments of humor and thoughtful moments of mutual understanding. 

Achtli talks with Tez. 

There are some mini challenges in the game ranging from Achtli having to fly through an obstacle course, to fighting wave after wave of enemies during a timed fight. This would reward Achtli with coins which could be used to update her wardrobe with new outfits. I thought that was really cool and changed her outfit to something I liked. There's a nice variety to choose from. 

Choosing a new outfit. 

I also liked the skill tree for Achtli. This uses different coins that Achtli gets from fighting enemies and it was very easy to upgrade her skills ranging from stronger jumping abilities to increased HP. I appreciated that I could add those things to strengthen Achtli in order to make the big boss fights a little easier. 

Upgrade those skills! 

Now, let's get to what was not as strong in the game. I enjoyed the story, the characters, the art design, and for the most part the combat itself. However, there were definitely issues with some of the gameplay. The biggest one was shoddy camera angles. Nothing frustrates me more than terrible camera angles and a camera that refuses to behave. It made boss battles challenging often because the camera would turn and cause the environment itself to block my view and I would either have to fly up to readjust or try to move the camera so I could see. In a lot of boss battles that would be a make or break moment and I'd get slammed and in a couple of boss fights, I'd get a game over because I died. It made boss fights feel like a chore when that happened and I feel it detracted a lot from the fun and experience of the game. There were also some clipping issues with the graphics which could be a bit distracting, so the game could have used a bit more polish in order to avoid that. 

Ready to fight one of the ancient gods. 

Other than that, I had a blast with Aztech Forgotten Gods. It's not a long game, I was able to finish it in about eight hours. It's a good story with characters I really liked and when the camera was not messing me up, the boss battles were a lot of fun.  I appreciated the folklore and celebration of Mesoamerican history and culture. I could tell a lot of love and thought went into this game and the story they wanted to tell. They did a fantastic job with that and by the time I finished Achtli's adventure, I sat back and appreciated a story well told. Sure, it may be a little rough around the edges, but the heart and soul are there with beautiful storytelling and that is everything. We need more games like this and I look forward to what Lienzo MX comes up with next. 

A beautiful view! 

*Aztech Forgotten Gods is available to play on the following platforms: Nintendo Switch, Playstastion 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Steam 


*Join our community on Twitch as we play games and discuss mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer

What Lies In The Multiverse An Interesting Adventure Across Worlds

 Note: I received a game code for What Lies In The Multiverse for my review. Thank you to Untold Tales for the game code. 

What Lies In The Multiverse starts with something that I appreciate, a trigger warning about flashing light patterns and the fact that the story talks about death and loss. Not many games do that so that showed genuine care for people who want to play the game. I was able to adjust the volume and game settings on my Switch comfortably. After that, I was ready to begin the adventure. The story introduces us to the hero who we only know as Kid, sitting at his computer writing an algorithm that will let him travel and explore other universes. The computer glitches and sends him to a new universe. Kid doesn't know where he is and explores this new place and meets Everett, a laissez faire scientist who can switch through dimensions at will with his cane called The Voyager. 

Kid meets Everett. 

Kid finds Everett fascinating and asks to come with him. Everett says okay and the duo travel together across a charming and unique puzzle platformer that tells a fantastic story along the way. The main mechanic of the game is using The Voyager to swap dimensions. Kid can't jump very far and has pretty limited mobility. The whole point is to switch dimensions to solve those puzzles to help create a path that he can follow. I found myself enjoying figuring out to get across a vast chasm I had to quickly jump to a dimension that reversed gravity so I could walk upside down on a platform to cross and then switch back to the previous dimension. If I didn't switch back quickly enough, I could fall upwards into the air and die. Honestly, that led to some hilarious results and game deaths before I got the hang of it, but all of it was fun. 

Reverse gravity dimension was fun! 

The pixel artwork for What Lies In The Multiverse is charming and the music for the game really fits each chapter and setting. What really stood out for me was the story. Initially, Everett isn't really keen on Kid being his assistant and briefly alludes to the fact that he had an assistant before, but something happened to him. Exploring everywhere, I would find journals and notes about the various dimensions and frankly, some of them were dark and disturbing. However, it added beautiful layers and nuance to the story and as Kid and Everett continued their adventure, I got to see them start to get closer until eventually they considered each other friends. There are humorous moments with what can only be described as a group of dimension time cops, ZENITH who know Everett and while they're the "villains" they're not so bad and a few of them seem to genuinely care about Everett and want to save him from himself. Those moments made me laugh with some of the silliness and comedy of errors that happened followed by Everett telling Kid to run. I wanted to know more about ZENITH, but the story only gives you a few crumbs here and there about each one so it never felt like you were getting the whole story which is a shame because there were a couple among them that were my favorites. 

This was really silly and hilarious at the same time. 

As the adventure continued, the puzzles got a little more complicated and sometimes it would really make me rack my brain for the solution. This could be a little frustrating at times, but it wasn't too bad. I felt that some puzzle dimensions were better than others. I loved the reverse gravity dimension and the one with climbing vines and interferences, a cool way to switch dimensions for half a second and then back. I really didn't like the ice dimension or the puzzles where the boxes were so fragile they broke the moment you dropped them. 

Climbing across some vines and ready to dimension jump. 

The game itself is not very long; I was able to finish it in about six hours. I didn't know what to expect when I started What Lies In The Multiverse, but by the time I arrived at the end of the journey I realized that I had a wonderful time with it. The story and game mechanics created an interesting adventure across worlds and gave us moments of drama, humor, and understanding about how we process loss and how we hold onto the relationships we hold dear. What Lies In The Multiverse told a beautiful story while having a good time along the way. That makes it a delightful indie gem. 

A beautiful setting in the game.

*What Lies In The Multiverse is now available on: Steam, Epic, PS4, PS5, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch

*Join our community on Twitch as we enjoy games and discuss mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer