Video Game Review - The Skylia Prophecy

Rob reviews The Skylia Prophecy on Xbox One...

The Skylia Prophecy is an action-platformer that's been developed by 7 Raven Studios and published by Totalconsole. What it lacks in combat and controls. It more than makes up for in its storytelling and attempts at being unique. Considering that the action-platformer genre is awash with plenty of titles - being unique is not a bad thing...if it works.

The story of The Skylia Prophecy is told via an opening crawl that's very reminiscent of the Star Wars franchise. From what I could gather, you play as a warrior who's tasked with saving the world from various monsters. If you fail, then the world will be doomed to eternal suffering...it's nothing fantastic and is your typical action-platformer genre plot. In a random move, this is all ignored as the game abandons any form of plot expansion. The only semblance of a story is told from a character who randomly appears here and there, and even then it's nothing fancy, aside from a few lines of dialogue.

Combat is also incredibly basic in that it borders on being horrendous. Your only attack comes from a bizarre magic barrier that acts as a shield as well as a basic sword attack. Utilising the shield will root you to the spot in which you'll stand and pray that any enemy below waist height will lack any intelligence and walk into your flaming death barrier. You also can't use it in mid-air, which means you incredibly vulnerable when jumping - not good for a game that loves flying enemies. 

For flying enemies - and anyone over waist height - your basic sword will be of better use. This is again incredibly unwieldy in which you can't aim upwards. Attacking flying enemies becomes a game of chance as you jump and attempt to hit what's in front of you. As the game progresses you'll also have access to a few magical abilities. Much like your base moves, these are also limited and lack any weight to make their use worthwhile. 

The Skylia Prophecy isn't all bad, and it does do a few things "right". One thing I did enjoy was the games variety of boss characters and a variety of enemies. Each boss is well designed and there's an almost Dark Souls inspired way in which to defeat them. It's all about studying your opponent as you look for openings to chip away their health. This style of battle isn't going to suit those of us who prefer to 'Tank' or 'DPS', but it's very rewarding for using patience. 

Another success is the game's world. The Skylia Prophecy delivers its world through a variety of destroyed towns, dank swamps, and dark woods - and plenty more. Each location is littered with various optional dungeons that will grant you health and magic or even abilities if you choose to enter them. 

The game doesn't take too long to complete (it took me roughly 5-hours), and despite the flaws, I had a lot of fun. The pacing is fairly spot-on and new locations, enemies and bosses are introduced at a decent rate. There's plenty to like in amongst the rough, and 7 Raven Studios has touched upon some pretty unique ideas. However, the cumbersome combat, the less than desirable moves, and lack of story does dampen the experience.

Rating 5/10 

The Skylia Prophecy is available now on Xbox One, Xbox Series S|X, Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4.

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