Game Review | Severed (3DS)

If you are a fan of dungeon crawlers, and are looking for one on a portable system, Severed on 3DS is worth checking out. Severed hides a dark, grim story beneath its colorful exterior, and its engaging, quick combat make it a natural to play on the go.

Severed wastes no time getting right into the action. As Sasha stares at her reflection in the mirror, the player sees she is missing an arm. Through a quick flashback, you see that violence has not only severed her arm, but also separated Sasha from her family. Gathering a living sword from a mysterious being lurking behind her and putting on her mother’s armor, Sasha sets out to find her family.

The world Sasha searches is a lot like dungeon crawlers of old in one respect. Sasha advances square by square on a set path, turning left, right, back, or moving forward in each square. Each square may hold a monster to fight, or perhaps a switch to open a door, or maybe a secret entrance to a hidden path that must be opened by careful observation of the environment.

Although movement is similar to older fantasy games like Might and Magic, the art direction could not be more different. Typical dungeon crawling fantasy games tend to have muted earthy colors like grays and browns, and harsh, crisp lines. In contrast, even the underground dungeons in Severed feature vibrant, colorful scenery, and asymmetrical shapes are more common than rigid structures. Severed seems to draw from an Aztec aesthetic in both architecture and creature design , which is a refreshing  departure from typical fantasy tropes.

Severed also features a very nontraditional soundtrack from YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN featuring Pantayo. I have very mixed feelings on the soundtrack. On the one hand, the music evokes a marvelous sense of unease, and the feeling of being somewhere unfamiliar and strange. “Home” is a great example of this, if you want to check it out. On the other hand, some tracks (like this one)featured very repetitive beats, that while creating a sense of urgency or danger, became very grating to me, especially if in a long dungeon area where the track would be repeated many times. I ended up turning the music down at several points, because it became very distracting to me. It’s really too bad, because I absolutely loved the music at times, and perhaps it is a subjective experience. Listen for yourself if you have a second!

Severed looks and sounds unique, but how is the experience of playing it? Quite fun, actually. As you explore, you will run across many monsters barring your path. These monsters are often unlike any creatures I’ve seen before. Spinning wheels full of eyes and spikes, Eight-limbed apelike creatures with three faces, squat gnomes that grow spiky mushrooms to attack…these are a few of the monsters you’ll face, and that’s just in the first dungeon.

Combat is a lot of fun, and is probably the number one reason I would recommend the game. Using the stylus, the player swipes either long or short to inflict heavy or light damage. Each creature avoids damage differently, whether hunching into a ball, or spinning weak points away. Slashes must be timed correctly and in the right direction or they bounce off harmlessly. A small circular gauge fills up  beneath each monster, and when it fills up, the monster attacks. If the player doesn’t swipe in the opposite direction of the attack at the right moment, the player will suffer damage.

This timing based combat is great on its own, but then add multiple enemies and it gets very challenging. There can be up two 4 monsters attacking the player from each of the four compass directions, and only one monster can be faced at once. At the bottom of the screen, all of the monsters’ attack meters are visible, so the player has the opportunity to spin and block before getting hit. Strategy becomes important when facing multiple foes; do you take out the easiest one first to have less to worry about, or focus on the one that attacks hardest or most often?

The focus meter must also be taken into account during combat. Multiple attacks on the same monster builds up the player’s focus meter. Blocked attacks or switching attacks to a different monster will reset the focus meter. If the focus meter is filled up before the player defeats the enemy, there is a chance to slash off parts and bits of the monster.

Why would you want to collect nasty bits of tentacles, eyeballs, and claws? Well, two reasons. First of all, the game is called Severed, so why should the bad guys get to do all the severing? Second, all these gross bits are used in the games light RPG upgrade tree system. Stronger attacks, more health, and other perks are unlocked by grabbing as much gooey monster bits as possible. This upgrade system not only encourages better swiping to unlock bonuses, but gives the player just enough progression to feel involved with the character.

Let’s take a moment and focus on the 3DS version, now that Severed is no longer a Vita exclusive and available on multiple platforms. What are the advantages or disadvantages to playing on 3DS versus other systems? The 3DS’s unique hardware makes a few features possible not available elsewhere. The 3D effect was kind of neat on the top screen, but combat made the screen bounce around so much I ended up turning it off. The two screens on the 3DS allow a giant dungeon map to be displayed on the upper screen or it can be switched to mirror mode where you see the same image as the lower screen, but larger, and unobstructed by your hand over the touchscreen. I ended up just leaving the dungeon map up on the top screen, because if I focused on the top screen during combat, I felt like my reactions were slower than when I was watching the touch screen and slashing.

Speaking of slashing, while it is possible to slash with your finger on the 3DS’s resistive touch screen, it is far more effective to use the stylus. I found holding the stylus for slashing gave me a more precise feeling than slashing with my finger on the Vita, and I would consider this the main advantage for this version of the game. It is also worth noting that if you happen to own a 3DS and a Wii U, this game is a crossbuy title, meaning if you buy for one Nintendo system, you get the game for the other system for free.

Verdict

Should you play Severed?

Absolutely.

Breathing new life into the dungeon crawler genre with scenery bursting with color and a engaging combat system, Severed is a treat to play. You may wish as I did that the story was filled out a bit more with more dialogue, but what story is there is well suited for moving the action along and giving the player motivation for Sasha’s quest. You may find certain parts of the soundtrack repetitive and grating, but the volume control is right there on a portable device, and overall the soundtrack is unarguably unique.

But should you play Severed on the 3DS?

If that is the only system you have access to, absolutely. Having played both versions, I would give a slight edge to the original Vita version because its gorgeous OLED screen shows off Severed’s beautiful art design better. However, I did slightly prefer using the stylus in combat on the 3DS version, so take that into account.

I hope whatever version you choose, you pick up and enjoy this unique game from Drinkbox Studios. For additional thoughts on this game and many others, please check out my weekly podcast, Plug and Play, and be sure to check back daily to TheButtonSmashers.com for all your pop-culture news and reviews.