Solateria is an Action, Adventure Metroidvania from the creative minds at Studio Doodal. With publishing assistance from Shinsegae Information. Solateria has the look and feel of Hollow Knight, but with a heavy lean into parrying. Yes, I know what you’re thinking. This is the second game in a row that has the Protag being fire based. With leaning hard on parrying being the main mechanic.
The game is actually a blazing time that would have you learn your enemy’s pattern and timing. Almost like a Souls like game since executing a perfect parry brings in more damage. So grab yourself the energy of your choice of energy drink and remember the golden rule when attempting Metroidvania bosses. Get some sleep and try again another day.
If I had a nickel
for how many games I’d review this that has fire based MCs with a parry mechanic. I’d have nickels. Which isn’t much, but weird that it happened twice in a row no less.
Gameplay
We play as Tott, a small fire warrior that has amnesia and continues on their journey to find the King of Solateria. During the journey, we come across some sentient enemies, but some actually well thought out NPCs as well. You do come across an odd thing where the same NPC is in two different locations at the same time. Yet, that’s not all. You have to remember that because for now, water is your biggest enemy and will slow you down.
Studio Doodal did something that I never saw which was grinding is essential. I honestly went through the most populated area, killing as many enemies to collect Inflare. Which I then invest into specific Core Stones until I max it out and need to pay for upgrades. Luckily with my farming Inflare, I was able to collect a lot of OHN and the fragments some enemies dropped. That and leveling up my Collect Core Stone was a brilliant idea in my opinion.
However, I never saw if leveling up my Core Stones to its highest level so early in the game had any negative effects. Unlike Hollow Knight and Silksong where leveling up your weapon secretly caused your enemies to be stronger. Solateria didn’t show any such hint, but be aware that anything can and will happen.
Finally I want to talking about the parrying mechanic. When it comes to some games and their parrying mechanic, it is sometimes very unforgiving. Yet, the higher you have certain Core Stones at, the more forgiving the game is when mistiming your parry. However, I stuck more to the shield parry for enemy, but kept offensive parries for small enemies. You’ll understand what I mean once you play it yourselves.
Graphics and Audio
Similar to Hollow Knight, everything you see is hand drawn and beautifully crafted. Every time I enter a new area, I take a brief moment to enjoy the view in the background. From the greenery in the Terradin Greenhouse, to the fiery volcanic view at Ashen Hills while at the library. I even love character designs for all the NPCs, enemies and even the items. I kept asking myself for a place known for fire, how do they read, and the answer is through orbs with different colored lines.
Now the sfx and OST to the game is quite impressively well done. The sounds of parrying the blades or shield can be slightly addicting, like the ping from an M1 Garand ejecting a clip. With a game that wants us to parry a lot, they did a great job with making my brain produce dopamine.
With the OST, it’s a rich calming effect when traversing the lands and discovering items and memories. And the mostly ramps up when handling different boss fights, which I wish a certain boss fight like a crazy vocals added. Something close to Yharon’s second phase OST from Terraria Calamity Mod.
Longevity
Solateria has two paths you can take that its for anyone in my opinion. The first path is the meme of the skeleton on your shoulder tell you “it can bleed, so it can die!”. While path two is grind, grind grind until everything under your feet is gravelling. Both paths are a war of attrition. However, if you do scale yourself properly, you will face someone that will either take one damage or none from you.
It took me 20 hours to bet, but I can see others betting it in 15 hours or less if they’re determined enough.
Final Thoughts
Solateria was honestly great game that actually can hold a mantel for itself with the plethora of metroidvania in the gaming market this year. It is a great distraction while we wait for the DLC for Silksong. From the amazing story and the rush of beating a boss after a nights rest is exhilarating . I highly recommend getting Solateria and get your parrying fix going.
I give Solateria the Thumb Culture Platinum Award.
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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