Review: ULTRA AGE Is Straightforward and Satisfying
As soon as you hop into Ultra Age, it’s hard not to compare it to things like Nier Automata, Devil May Cry, or Bloodborne. While comparing these games to Ultra Age might be a little unfair because of the clearly lower production value, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t a fairly entertaining game. While its visual and gameplay designs may be mostly unimaginative, the smooth and tough gameplay can be fairly rewarding and pretty fun overall.
Players take control of a generic guy with a big sword. You go on a variety of missions and battles in jungles, factories, and other generic locations. The game has good-looking environments, enemies, and effects, but they all just feel a bit flavorless. A bit more time and energy in creating wild enemies and a more unique aesthetic could have gone a long way.
But Ultra Age isn’t about a robust story, killer style, or engulfing ambiance, it is about swinging your sword as fast and effectively as possible. Luckily, this is where Ultra Age excels. Players will spend loads of time slashing creatures, dodging attacks, and obliterating enemies. Players can switch between different swords on the fly that have varying properties, different combos, and upgrade systems. This makes combat feel dynamic almost all the time. I was pleasantly surprised at the difficulty of the game. It isn’t as hard as Dark Souls or as easy as Kingdom Hearts; I would put it around a Devil May Cry difficulty with a dash of Nier Automata pacing.
Another major game mechanic is that each weapon has a limited amount of durability and players will pick up crystals through killing enemies or caches that fill up your weapons “durability.” You’ll never lose the weapons, they will just be unusable until more crystals can be found to replenish the weapon’s energy. Between the light scarcity of weapon usage, enemies being resistant to certain weapons and a moderate difficulty, I found every fight to be fairly engaging.
In modern gaming, we are used to automatic check points, multiple revives, and respawning relatively close to where we died. While the save points are relatively well-paced and placed throughout the game, backtracking to gain health at a point or dying and having to do the same fights again and again can put a real damper on the experience. If the game had a deeper story or unraveling mystery, then going through these fights again and again would serve some purpose, but they mostly feel like a chore after the third or fourth run through of a hallway.
All in all, Ultra Age is a fun enough experience for players who need a solid challenge. The combat and balance of resources keeps battles interesting for the most part. While the backtracking and long stretches between save points can feel unnecessary, the game is worth a try if you're a fan of the genre.
