Test Zoo Craig: Memories of the Assyrian – Nintendo Switch – Endeavor

With Creek: Memories of Azure, small Mexican development studio Nouakchond Entertainment has brought its first project to Nintendo Switch. The action platform with elements of MetroDuvania revolves around three characters with different abilities in both the plot and the game, on which you alternately take control. The developers used the SNES Classic as inspiration The Lost Vikings Since 1993. We will tell you in our game test whether the platform was able to convince us.

The land of the Assyrians, the home of the Corinthians, was occupied by the militant Urlox. For a long time they were able to resist their attacks, but now their civilization is coming to an end. The only way in the sky: with the help of aircraft carriers they try to escape from their enemies and end the siege. In the midst of these wars, three siblings, Craig, Adara and Raidel, find each other, and they break up with each other and are now trying to find each other again. They are sheltered in a small scout village and supported by its citizens to build their own aircraft carrier as an escape route.

You start the game in the footsteps of young swordsman Greek, who is separated from his two siblings. After escaping from a deep fall and being brought to their village by one or two scouts, he responded for help by doing some work for them. In the surrounding areas he hits crawling figures to get supplies or construction materials for the plane. However, at the same time, he is looking for clues as to where his siblings are, without which he would not want to leave Assyria. Using arcane symbols, he eventually tracks down his sister Adara, who supports him with her magical abilities. Together they carry out additional tasks for the villagers to find a lead that will lead to their big brother Rydell.

Craig was initially alone to eliminate weak enemies and solve simple puzzles, and the game really unfolds in the presence of your sister. Both – or later three characters are under your control at the same time, and because they each have different abilities, they are repeatedly tested in puzzles and platform columns. Craig fights with a short sword, has a crossbow for wide range combat and can avoid side-rolling attacks. In addition, he is very small and fearless, he can easily crawl in narrow tunnels. Atara attacks with magical projectiles, which require a special energy, but they recharge on their own. Instead of a roll, she can move quickly backwards to avoid an attack. Unlike her brothers, she can not double jump, but instead floats in the air for a while using her magical powers. She can swim and dive faster than her brother Greek. As a true knight, Raidel carries not only a long sword, but also a shield that can block attacks and energy beams. With the grapple hook he could pull himself to some point, but he could not swim, and immediately loses vitality when it comes in contact with water. This creates fantastic opportunities for successful puzzle platform breaks.

You will initially get side searches from the villagers, this policy pops up quickly and you are mainly following the main mission. As a result, the game, which initially seemed very obvious, quickly gained surprisingly linear character. For example, only small bonus items that increase the life points of three siblings or allow them to carry out a charge attack can be found on the scoring track. Otherwise you still have a chance to store useful healing ingredients. You can buy these or find the ingredients and cook them yourself and throw them in one of the many pots available to watch them come out. Some items can be eaten raw, but at least it only fills your life points.

Often your main task is to reach the given target point with all the letters. There are two different approaches to this. You determine which character you control by pressing a button. However, the siblings have not changed, but will always be the same in the game world. You have the option to move the characters alternately, which means you have to think carefully about who to put where so that this character is not constantly attacked by echoing enemies. Alternatively, you can move all the characters at once. If you have ZR, passive characters will move to your active one. If you have a ZL, passive characters follow your movements if they are next to you. Not only does it seem too complicated, but as already described the characters have different abilities, so the idea behind it doesn’t really work in the operating system segments either. After all, Adara’s lack of a double jump puts her behind the other two and inadvertently puts her in danger. So you have to choose between two equally geeky situations: either you walk the same path multiple times with each character individually or you get annoyed by complex controls and multiple characters at once.

Vision, Craig: Memories of the Azure draws with 2D environments and characters with the most beautiful hand-drawn style that gives life. In addition, the game will always have a coherent soundtrack, which creates a nice atmosphere when exploring parts and during a heated boss fight. In terms of performance this title can be convincing and is optimized for the Nintendo Switch. All sports texts have been translated into German, which should amuse many players in this country.