Trials of Azra Reviews

Challenging and fun. Brings a lot of late 1980s early 1990s video game nostalgia back. The puzzles get progressively more complex and the game is a lot more fun with a second player. Imagine 2D portal, but with a lot more accidental death. Hilarity ensues. Maybe. Or frustration. Either way it's fun.

The core mechanic is very unique but the puzzles aren’t as clean as say, Portal, about conveying what the player can and can’t do to a degree where sometimes you are forced to manually restart the stage. The music is not amazing but it’s decent, the problem is that it’s looped so much that it gets annoying fast (or perhaps the music is samey). A big positive is that the game gives you either something new to toy with or some new way to approach things almost every stage so the gameplay never feels old throughout a playthrough.

I've caught a glimpse of the game, it caught my eye, and so I gave it a try. It seems my instincts were correct to see that the game kept my interest as I played through it. Keep in mind, I have not finished the game, but I have played through enough to give a good word for the game. This will be a first impressions, not a full review. The game delivers exactly what the developers put on the game's description, so I have no need to repeat it, but just for fun... This game features: - Unique, [strike]innocent[/strike] evil monsters to [strike]brutally murder[/strike] slay. - Challenging puzzles and fights, not frustratingly hard. - Iniquitous and vile wizards. - A corrupted, demented child you play as. - Completely legal practice of the dark arts of Necromancy. - Kidnapping. - A cute pug [spoiler]that you murder because you're an evil child, but its okay, it'll be your undead friend now.[/spoiler] - Spooky skeletons. - Completely friendly families of kobolds. - And more...! The general gist I get from this game is that it's an unique and charming take on the puzzle genre. The gameplay works exactly as intended, and each level brings different challenges so that it doesn't feel monotonous. The visuals and sound are fairly decent, they serve their purpose and don't sound and look terrible at all. Personally, however, while the menu music is amazing, the level music is a bit repetetive, but that can be easily turned off in the options menu. Speaking of the options menu, there's a slider for the master volume, the music, and the sound effects; video options for full screen, resolution, showing damage, and the language; and lastly controls, where you can enable keyboard and mouse with some rebindable keys. I'm not entirely sure how long the game will last you, but I've been at it for about two hours and still going. Lastly, the developers are very kind and has taken into consideration the bugs and suggestions that has been made. Overall, this is a nice little charming gem of a game, I do recommend giving it a try if it seems to pique your interest. I will edit or add anything to this review as I play through it accordingly. If I missed anything, or if you are curious about something, do point it out.

Un buen plataformas indie donde eres un chico con el poder de controlar los cadáveres de tus enemigos. El juego se basa en dos partes, la primera son las plataformas y el combate como el chico, y la segunda son los puzzles usando las diferentes abilidades de las criaturas que has matado. La primera parte deja que desear, ya que el combate es aburrido y se hace un poco tedioso cuando tienes que repetir un puzzle varias veces. La segunda es la parte divertida del juego, combinar las posesiones para poder abrirte paso por la mazmorra. Le doy una recomendación, buenos puzzles necrománticos, pero el combate anodino.

Azra is a switch-and-place in game the spirit of old-school PC platform puzzlers like The Lost Vikings. A competant game with some good atmosphere, but also perhaps in need of some polish and balance. The main mechanic is strong, but the level design is begging for someone like, well, Valve to refine it overall. The focus is on puzzles rather than combat and the slow, awkward attacks make that very clear. Each room has a set number of enemies and pretty specific order to do things with a restart mechanic to drive it home. Think of enemies as tools; this is a thinker, not a fighter. But then the action picks up or a platform segment is especially tricky and it turns into a Mario game which is a bit jarring. Azra is indie retro the way it should be, but it never quite finds a groove. It's basically excellent for its scale, but you may find yourself wanting more or noticing missed opportunities. However, if you're new to the puzzle-platform genre, or it happens to be a favorite, you'll be very pleased to give this one a go. ★☆☆

I can't believe that basically no one is playing this game! It's really, really, really unique and well done! Hard, but solvable, very nice enemys which you can control and everytime you think you're stuck you'll find a soluten through thinking. The only critic: coop mode isn't really nice to play. You have no better options playing with two people and you need a controller. I'm playing for like 6 hours now and I'm far from being bored! Play it!

I got quickly involved with this game. On the surface, it may seem like any other retro platformer out there, but at the very first 15-20 minutes of the game, you can already tell the really well thought puzzle aspect, mixed with the unique mechanic to possess your fallen enemies. It's very complete for an Early Access title, and definitely worth my while (still is, as I haven't finished it). Aside from the puzzle design (which I've fallen in love from the start), there's a sense of humor most noticeable on the dialogs and some of the environment that goes really well with the aesthetics. Recommended!

Trials of Azura is a nice idea, but with poor execution. As the trailer states you get to take over the dead bodies of monsters and use them to your own devices. In reality, you just use them to complete various button pushing and level flipping to proceed. Oddly, I found killing the enemies to be entirely pointless to the puzzle gameplay. Enemies offer no challange and just serve as pieces to the puzzle. Nothing more, nothing less. The devs could have just had dead bodies laying about and the gameplay would have remained the same. Many times the game forces you to restart levels because you dropped a body in the wrong place. Its more trial and error rather than "ah hah!" moments found in other puzzle-platformer games like Braid, DYO, Thomas Was Alone, and so on. If you're a sucker for novel concepts (like me), you may be tempted to buy Trials of Azra. But behind the veneer of a cool idea is a bland game.

This is an excellent puzzle game. The combat (including boss fights) and platforming aspects aren't really challenging at all, but quite a few of the levels will leave you turning your head sideways at the screen trying to work out a solution. I finished wanting more. I took about 5 hours to complete the game, although I didn't get all the items. $10 is a fair price in my opinion, but if you see it on sale for $5 or less, do yourself a favor and pick this up.

"Uniqueness" is an extremely rare adjective within the world of platform video games. Trials of Azra is a puzzle platform hybrid that accentuates the phrase "stands out among the crowd"... The story begins with a young lad named Sam playing "fetch" with his pet pug. It's a fantastic day for fun n' games until a storm front moves in... All of a sudden, lightning strikes and we find Sam and his beloved pet deceased on the ground. Somehow Sam recovers and is able to possess the body of his pug, using him to help out with the tutorial puzzle. Unfortunately, Sam is unable to make his way inside due to a vortex portal swallowing him and transporting the boy to an outer worldly realm. Upon arrival in this strange new world, Sam learns (from a cloaked individual no less) that he now has the ability to possess the corpse of dead creatures, which will prove useful in his travels through this strange domain. Trials of Azra's crowning jewel is it's core gameplay mechanic... Possessing the prowess of different creatures in order to safely navigate Sam through the many labyrinths in the game is essential to succeeding. At one point you may need to possess a human-like corpse; then find a way to turn said corpse into a skeleton in order to use it's ability to toss bones from it's body. Figuring out the advantages to each possession, and it's purpose for advancement, is one of the game's best feature. It's a tremendous brain teaser, from start to finish, with most stages having upgrades that provide Sam with a myriad of magic powers. Learning what power-ups effect each creature proficiently is all part of the wonderful gameplay experience that Onion Core has masterfully conjured up. There's even boss battles at the end of each stage that abandon the core mechanic for the more traditional platforming mechanic. I can't rave about the mechanics enough within this title. The controls are extremely responsive with no lag input issues at all. A very well crafted and designed title in my honest opinion. The art and sound is superbly charming, reminding me of those classic video games found on the NES way back in the late 1980's... I truly adore the soundtrack, with each stage boasting a unique melody that fits the mood and tone ideally. If you're a fan of retro pixel titles with top notch puzzle/platform elements, I suggest you try Trials of Azra... It's definitely worth your time and gaming effort!!!