Remnants of Naezith Review

Tough-as-nails platformers are nothing new, but tough-as-nails platformers with a grappling hook? Those are few and far between. Tolga Ay’s Remnants of Naezith channels Super Meat Boy and Celeste with its challenging level design, but does it do enough to stand out in today’s saturated landscape?

Remnants of Naezith Review

Though there is not much exposition during the majority of the game, things kick off with a brief cinematic made up of some stills. After the thunder dragon Naezith was vanquished, his power was spread far and wide. As it turns out, our hero Kayra finds out that he can channel the power of this beast through his hooks. With this new power in hand, Kayra sets out to find treasure. The story is not an overly verbose tale, but it sets the stage quite well.

To make his way to the treasure, Kayra must navigate through a series of progressively more difficult levels, each centered around a certain theme. Some levels are straightforward affairs, with some spikes or water hazards to worry about. However, things quickly ramp up with rising water, saw blades, lasers, and even portals standing between you and victory. It can feel somewhat unfair at times, like the game wants to see how far it can test your patience. However, victory is possible, and he possesses a number of moves that can be utilized to get ahead.

The platforming in Remnants of Naezith is momentum-based, one that relies heavily on a grappling hook. With the press of a button, Kayra can launch a hook diagonally that can latch onto certain surfaces. He can then use that to swing along to the next spot. This might seem simple at first, but there are a number of intricacies. More momentum can be gained by dashing before latching on, and players can also rotate around to wind themselves up. Successfully mastering this system is a thrilling feeling, and though death is imminent at any given time, there are a number of checkpoints in each level to make things bearable.

There are some solid enough platforming mechanics outside of the hook too. Players can double jump, wall jump, and dash jump around, making traversal a speedy affair. Certain surfaces affect your trajectory as well, making each series of levels stand out from one another.

Though the game can be completed in a few hours if you know what you are doing, replayability is high. There is a “Mastery Time” for each level, along with Global Leaderboards – perfect for speedrunners. There is also a Level Editor in place, which means that the sky is the limit as far as custom levels are concerned.

Remnants of Naezith’s rock solid physics make for an enjoyable platforming experience. The grappling hook is a game changer, and though it can quickly become frustrating, it also plays fair.