Review: RELIC HUNTERS: ZERO REMIX Sticks the Twin Stick Landing

Ready to test your skills? Relic Hunter: Zero Remix gives players a great challenge with various modes while never destroying hope for victory. I have played a number of Roguelike games in recent months, but this game stands out for a number of reasons as a great way to introduce the genre to new players and also give veterans lots to do and hunt.

When hopping into the Switch version of the game, it was a little finicky to play. The dashes, aiming, locking, and quick camera movements are all supposed to help players, but they felt jarring and unreliable at first. After a bit, I was able to handle the controls better, but some of the quick camera movements intended to help players see and deal with enemies just got in the way. That being said, this and a somewhat slow progression are the only things about the game that aren’t amazing. I wish that unlocking characters and other things would be a little more based on time spent in the game or just other benchmarks made to reward players a little more at the beginning. The slightly slower progression isn’t game breaking, but it would be really nice to reward players a little earlier in order to encourage coming back and playing a lot more. Even with all that, the game is loads of fun.

There are plenty of guns, enemy types, and a really great balance of ammo, weapons, health, and enemies. I always felt the dangers of death, but not so much that I wasn't having fun. Even when I was mostly dead, I would normally find the right gun, ammo type, or health pack to get me back in to fight. These well-balanced variables all stack nicely and make for a smooth and engaging experience. It would also be nice to have a map or a greater sense of where you were while playing. This especially applies in the new Storm mode, which sits in a large area that has such little diversity it can become tedious to find out where to go next.

I know I laid down a lot of negative feedback, but it is only being brought up because the rest of the game is pretty amazing. Between boss battles, lots of different guns, various activities, items collected, and unlockables, players will have a blast playing this game. It just may take a little bit to get used to how the game works overall.