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Video Game Review - Cathedral

Rob Lake reviews Cathedral on Nintendo Switch...



Cathedral is an 8-bit Metroidvania that's been developed by Decemberborn Interactive. Catherdral sees you take on the role of a nameless amnesiac Knight from another world. To get back to his reality the Knight has to defeat the demi-god Ardur.

Much like the games of old, Cathedral throws you headfirst into the deep end. If you're expecting a tutorial then you won't find that here. If anything the game is 'old-school' through and through. Everything from its 8-bit presentation to its chiptune soundtrack is drenched in nostalgia. Even the instant difficulty curve is reminiscent of the Metroidvania's of old. Of course, Cathedral isn't going to be to everyone's tastes. Metroidvania's are a bit of a niche market at the best of times, but is Catherdral worth your time? Come with me as I find out...

Cathedral is one of those games that's going to fly under a lot of people's radars. It's got mystery, suspense, punishing - yet simple combat, and heaps of nostalgia that's all wrapped up in an 8-bit style. Of course, there are many other titles available on the Switch that also fit this category. Thankfully Catherdral stands out from the crowd by being a decent well rounded game.


In a much retro-inspired manner, the game drops you into its world with no objective markers or any indication on which way to start. The main quest is to eventually defeat the demi-god Ardur, but how you go about doing this is left to you to find out. The exploration aspect has a lot of depth to it considering the main objective is fairly linear. You're able to traverse through various dungeon-like environments on your quest to Ardur. These dungeons can be fairly simple to complete and in doing so gives you a tool or ability to progress further into the world. What sets Cathedral apart from other Metroidvania titles is that you're always being pushed forwards, rather than having to revisit previous locations. While backtracking isn't a requirement you can open up various secrets and shortcuts if you do. There are many hidden rooms throughout Catherdral and it's quite rewarding to discover these new areas to explore. 


Much like other Metroidvania games, there are plenty of puzzles to solve too. Whilst some are fairly simple to solve, others aren't so straight forward. There's a lot of map reading and looking for patches of the map you haven't discovered yet, and then heading there to hopefully discover the correct path. Occasionally this doesn't work and you'll discover a dead-end or come to a standpoint, but all this means is you've potentially missed a dungeon, so it's back to the map. 

Each dungeon you visit has its theme with puzzles based around it. For example one of the earlier ones see you hitting glowing orbs with arrows to then activate certain blocks and platforms, whilst another has you traversing platforms as dragon statues hurl fireballs in your direction. None of these 'gimmicks' is tough but they can be frustrating on occasions. There's enough variation in the puzzles in that they don't repeat constantly. There's a lot of platforming to the game, which thankfully is fairly easy due to the Knights controls. You move at the same pace throughout which makes jumping incredibly easy. Naturally, as we progress further the game will have enemies hurling toward you as your jumping off several different platforms which can lead to many video worthy moments. 

The final part of the Cathedral triangle is, of course, the combat. Combat is incredibly simple and follows that classic Castlevania/Mega-Man style. You have various moves at your disposal such as a basic sword attack, a ranged arrow attack and a shield. Utilising all three are needed to survive the game, but you're never forced into a single play style. Combat mainly consists of waiting for an opening to then rush in and spam attacks for as long as possible, to then retreat to try again. This is helped by the enemies following the traditional Mega-Man style of sticking to a set pattern. This is especially true for the games many bosses who all stick to a pattern-based mode of attack. Much like Mega-Man, if you fail first time the repetition in movement does make learning a bosses movements fairly simple and ultimately quite rewarding.

If the inevitable does happen and you die, death isn't the end of the adventure. You'll respawn at the nearest checkpoint statue with a slight reduction in gold. Checkpoints are also in plentiful supply, which gets you back into the fight incredibly quick. 

From a visual point of view Cathedral nails, it's 8-bit look perfectly. The game is very reminiscent of the early Castlevania titles and you can be mistaken for thinking that this is an offshoot of the long-running series. Each room has a sense of grandeur within its 8-bit environment and there are thousands of rooms and halls fo explore. The soundtrack is also catchy and very retro-inspired. Again it's very much like the old Metroidvania titles of old, sprinkled with a little modern touch. 


Controls are incredibly tight and you have great overall control of the Knight. It's so precise that it goes right down to the individual pixel. This of course makes both combat and platforming both easy to perform, and stops the game from becoming a chore. When it comes to the Nintendo Switch playing handheld is the optimal way to play. Much like other 8-bit, 16-bit or 32-bit inspired titles, playing on a larger screen doesn't do it any justice. These games weren't originally made for a large screen, and no matter how modern a game gets, you can make 8-bits look great on a 55" screen. 

All in all, Cathedral is a very good Metroidvania title. It's got everything that makes the genre appealing to many people. Plenty of rooms to explore, boss battles, simple yet interesting story and various quirky characters. However the genre has a very niche player base which could see this one slipping under the radar, but if you do stumble across Cathedral it's a retro delight. 

Rating 8/10

Cathedral is out now for Nintendo Switch and PC. You can purchase Cathedral via the Nintendo eShop by clicking here

A review code was kindly provided by the publisher for this review. 

Rob Lake - For more comic book and video game chat why not follow Geek Culture Reviews on Twitter and Facebook @GeekCultureRev



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