Video Game Review - The Guise

Rob reviews The Guise on Nintendo Switch…

The Guise is one of those games that’s art style will instantly grab you. A curious mix between a Tim Burton movie, and Studio Gibli, The Guise is as beautiful as it is haunting. It’s a dark fairy tale who’s focus is on wrathful gods, dark atmosphere, and monsters. 

If any of this is your jam, then come with me as I journey into a strange - yet sparse world.

Across the narrative, you take on the role Ogden, an orphaned child living in a strange world. One stormy night, your sister leaves her bedroom door open, and due to it normally being off limits, Ogden and his fellow orphans get curious. Upon entry, the children find the room not like their own. Filled with sigils, and other dark delights, Ogden is drawn to a single white mask sitting on a shelf. Upon wearing the mask, Ogden is then cursed and transformed into a hideous monster. Realising the horror that he is in, he then rushes out of the orphanage and into the dark and stormy night. 

What then follows is a journey of discovery as Ogden attempts to recover his humanity and break the curse that’s been forced upon him. Across gloomy forests, decaying villages, and deadly dungeons, Ogden will uncover the secrets to breaking the curse, while dealing with vengeful gods of old. 

Away from its story and the best way to describe The Guise is as a lite Metroidvania. While it has some aspect of unlocking new abilities and backtracking across the map, it’s not an integral part of its gameplay loop. Instead what we get is a game that’s much like Hollow Knight in that it’s an action adventure with an emphasis on platforming, combat, and boss battles. In attempting to flesh out the gameplay loop, there are various NPC characters who’ll dish out side-quests, and the odd task does require revisiting previous locations. But the reality is it all feels tacked on and not fully explored. The dark atmosphere really builds the picture of a world that’s begging to be discoverd, yet we’re kept to a tiny part of it.

Come the start of the game, Ogden doesn’t have much in the way of skills at his disposal. Beginning with a simple attack, combat starts off in a relatively straightforward fashion of hitting the monsters before they hit you. Upon defeating an enemy and you’ll start to collect eyeballs that act as a form of currency that can be spent on upgrades and unlocking abilities. There then becomes quite the range of abilities available with each having their own uses. For example Ogden can learn to spit acid which gives him a ranged attack, while another ability summons a friendly bat to deal extra damage. While these abilities attempt to mix up the gameplay structure, it is quite a linear affair. New items are gained from defeated bosses, and there isn’t really any room for you to miss something on the journey. That being said, while the combat is a little simple, it still offers a decent challenge. 

To begin with the game has been developed by solo developer, Rasul Mono which means he’s not had a huge studio behind him, or the massive budget of many video games on the market. As such a few instances don’t play as smooth as they should do. For example movement is very stiff and doesn’t allow for much in the way of leeway when it comes to the plat forming side of the game. Quite often Ogden will fall to his death, or miss enemies outright just because you weren’t in the exact spot. This then becomes quite frustrating as death sends you back to the last save point, and some boss battles become a tedious chore. These small budget limitations can also be seen across the games boss encounters, and simple enemies too. Don’t get me wrong, Mono has crafted a wealth of different encounters, but they all fall into the same cliches. Bosses not only hit hard, but they also fall into the same patterns, and have a lot of health. What then happens is a game of cat and mouse as you attempt to chip away at the bosses health. Likewise, the standard enemies also look the part, but fall into the same cliches too. 

On the other hand, the games visuals are very pleasing. As a cross between Limbo and Coraline, The Guise offers plenty of gorgeous visuals with a haunting undertone. As mentioned above, enemies are both stunning and imaginative which really plays to the strengths of the worlds design. The only real downside to this is that the world itself could have done with a few more locations being incorporated into it. As come the games finale and you’ve certainly seen more that a fair share of haunted woods and cemeteries. 

Considering it’s development history, The Guise is a game that irradiates a certain degree of charm. While it doesn’t have the polish, or wow factor of a triple-a title, it does exactly what it sets out to do. What Rasul Mono has done is created a somewhat unique metroidvania on a shoe string budget. While combat and overall world design does suffer a little, The Guise is packed full of gorgeous visuals, and a simple fairy tale story. And with the foundation to build on, I’m interested to see what the developer does next. 

Rating: 6/10 

A code was kindly provided for this review. 

The Guise is available now and can be purchased via the Nintendo Switch Store. 

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