PEGBRJE: Mable and The Wood and Steam Marines 2
A tiny girl, and a steampunk space crew. I’m having a hard time finding cute similarities this time. We’ll get ’em next time.
Mable and The Wood is a Metroidvania adventure by Triplevision Games and published by Graffiti Games, who helped release Joggernauts and many other indie titles. Players are summoned to this bizarre and dying world by a strange cult to play as Mable, a small redheaded girl with a massive sword. While puzzled, they send her out to be the ‘Bringer of Dawn’ and destroy all of the forest monsters to bring balance. Or something. They’re not entirely clear on what exactly Mable is doing besides being the prophetic saviour of the world from a threat that they don’t really explain all that well. Nevertheless Mable begins her journey to save the world, armed with a sword she cannot swing. But she does have a certain power that defines the entirety of the game; her ability to commandeer boss powers.
See, Mable and The Wood is a movement-based Metroidvania, but not in just the sense that the world has a focus on verticality and level design that strives for an interconnectedness that makes players feel as if the world is real. Mable, due to her inability to swing the sword, has decided that she doesn’t need to; instead, she uses her powers of taking boss abilities to utilize the sword in movement-based ways in order to ‘swing’ it for her. The earliest and easiest example is her first power in ‘fairy flight’, where she turns into a fairy to fly for a certain duration. The sword cannot be taken with her, so it remains on the ground, but it can be recalled to her new location to slice through any enemies along the way. Each power has some similar utilization that solves Mable’s inability to move freely thanks to the sword while also granting her ways to destroy her enemies if she so chooses.
It’s this ability-based mobility that grants players the freedom to explore the world through different views and ways that may not have been completely obvious the first time they visited. I was reminded of Axiom Verge’s viewpoint on mobility and gameplay if I’m honest, the design of taking an area and manipulating how players view it based on how many items (in this case, bosses) one had collected. Unfortunately, the only thing holding it back is the inconsistent momentum and controls, which caused me numerous deaths thanks to my inability to understand how far Mable would fly after recollecting her sword or when exiting a tether of any sort. It felt awkward, and at times enraging, but didn’t ruin my gameplay feel.
Mable and The Wood is still a Metroidvania, which means there is one other staple of the genre; the open-ended storyline. Mable herself is unable to speak, as many protagonists are, so it is up to the players to figure out and understand just what is going on in this self-proclaimed dying world. Many things are attacking, and the cultists seem to be sure that Mable is destined to destroy all of the bad things and be their savior, but I’m not so certain. Mable experiences many different cutscenes that recount her previous life before she was summoned on a stone slab with a giant sword, recounting who she was originally. There are also dozens of NPCs in the world that shed light on the situation and what may actually be going on, but it is up to Mable to decide for herself which path she wishes to take. Will she follow the cult, for she feels she knows little else, and bring about the ‘Dawn’? Or will she go completely pacifist, exploring the worlds and discovering what exactly may be going on and avoid helping them at all? It’s a choice that isn’t made by dialogue, but by gameplay and actions just as intended, where paths taken and enemies killed all factor into how the world views Mable, and which ending she may end up stuck with.
Mable and The Wood is ambitious, to say the least. A Metroidvania focusing on mobility-based combat is one thing on its own, but to change how players view their own weapons and abilities to turn combat into a completely movement-centric playstyle is difficult. I won’t lie and say I was completely successful throughout, as I died to many things that felt either unfair or due to ‘janky’ controls. Yet at the same time, I couldn’t help but marvel at the ingenuity of the title to stray from the norm of combat mechanics for a genre that is already deemed to be usually difficult. Best I can say is that it will be polarizing for any fans of Metroidvanias and those of combat-oriented gameplay, as many will despise its take on combat and somewhat flimsy physics. There will be an equal amount, however, of those that adore this style and create some bombastic plays involving different boss abilities to find hidden locations that one wouldn’t even dream of locating normally. If you are up for the challenge and don’t mind some inconsistencies, definitely give it a try.
Steam Marines 2 is a turn-based space flying steampunk strategy gameby WorthlessBums, an American indie studio. Sequel to the previously 2D iteration of the same style of game, players control a squad aboard the I.S.S Delhi, where they will create their own commander and set out in this distant star system to find out where the ship has ended up and where to go from there. Players also find themselves stuck between two warring factions at the same time, and decisions may lead to certain endings favouring one or the other. Ultimately though, it’s up to players to decide their space faring fate.
Steam Marines 2 is a familiar game to those that enjoy the tactical turn-based shooting genre, with the famous title XCOM being the best example on the popular market with dozens of other titles included such as the previous title Depth of Extinction. Players have a squad of individual units, each within a class of some kind that can be levelled up after experiencing combat and can be customized based on the items that they receive to become stronger. With this squad, players then hop into an area sectioned off into tiles, and each unit moves throughout and shoots at the enemies using those action charges. There are even special actions that certain classes have to alter their approach to exploration or combat, my favourite being the scout’s ability to open doors and regain their action points, making exploration almost too easy.
It’s hard to not compare it to Depth of Extinction however, as it too feels like a love child fusion of XCOM and FTL, specifically the procedural generation of the planets and runs that players have. While DoE focused more on the randomness that was exploration in space, Steam Marines 2 prefers to have the encounters that involve combat to be the procedurally generated aspects, complete with different planet areas and ship interiors. Players may recognize the planets, but with multiple levels per planet to fight through there won’t be a level that operates the same twice. It gives some variety to the ‘dungeon crawling’ that players will be completing to acquire the planet’s bounty, although this does lead to some instances of levels on the same planet looking eerily familiar in some parts, leading to some mild confusion.
Since I haven’t played the first Steam Marines, I cannot reference it when discussing it as a sequel — I’ve seen some comments and opinions in different forums or areas, but without firsthand experience I cannot really comment on it without another article to reference. For fans of XCOM, Steam Marines 2 is a solid adaptation to add to the collection that focuses heavily on positioning to utilize many of the special abilities that the characters can utilize. The procedural generation is a nice touch to keep things fresh, but can also lead to some levels feeling a little too similar. Best advice I can give is to try it out yourself and see what you think, especially if you were a fan of the first Steam Marines and were looking forward to the 3D adaptation sequel.
