Saviorless is just the right mix of rage and reward. On the one hand, there are the rage elements of insta-deaths, floaty jumping, or user error from sloppiness, irritation, and/or incompetance. On the other hand, there is the wave of satisfaction—that level of self-gratification where you feel like you could beat any game.
You’re in control of the protagonist. Oooh, that’s fancy – protagonist. That’s not me being flashy with four syllables to increase the audience level for this site—that’s the premise of Saviorless, for ’tis told by a triage of raconteurs who sit in the clouds with their tales of protagonists, antagonists, and one’s lack of control when Lady Fate comes knocking at the door. Ambiguous and mildly pretentious? Sure. Marinated with a keg of allegory? Definitely.
Empty Head Games have kept the narrative quite ominous here, scattered with a few answers to the many questions that arise, such as, ‘What’s with that bloody heron?’ and ‘Am I… Jesus?’ The latter is for you to deconstruct in your own time, you weirdo. However, running around with long hair, an even longer robe, and an illuminating halo does spell out one such saviour, or at least the frontman of a Christian metal band.
Saviorlss PS5 Review: Insert Savoury Heron Puns
That frontman is Antar, seeking the Smiling Islands to become a Savior. Alas, some dickbag hunter named Nento has been running havoc in the lands with his Post-it notes – his ‘do this’ and ‘do that’ pasted everywhere. On top of that, a bunch of worms have infected the people, forcing explosive, juicy pops of claret, usually induced by a spike to the face – part of Antar’s master plan to kill everything. That’s what saviors do.
Every protagonist needs an antagonist
In Saviorless, there are no health bars or move sets for Antar to manage. His job is often to get through a succession of sharp, pointy things, hang from chains, see the light and then direct it, becoming a savior and getting to the bottom of all this lore. What that means is a lot of platform action and puzzle sequences—the latter being very intuitive, though the execution is the challenge.
The challenge comes from timing jumps and avoiding enemies. As stated, there are no move sets and should Antar come into contact with anything remotely sharp, he’ll die and respawn to a prior screen. This can be rage-inducing, where you might complete multiple tasks such as collecting a quest item, avoiding enemies, and locating missing pages, which you’re likely to ignore once you’ve repeated a section a couple of times. Eff it – I’m not going for 100% completion – give me some narrative closure.
Ledge-end
Saviorless is a tough game, though reasonable. The first few steps involve getting acquainted with gravity and learning about timing. It’s not precision platforming per se; however, when an enemy darts at you, you’ll have to be two steps ahead and jumping or ducking out of their way. Just as that muscle memory kicks in, another protagonist enters the fray.
Every protagonist needs an antagonist, yet in this tale, each character vies to win the crown of the protagonist and give the bird to Lady Fate—not the heron. Any more information might spoil the plot. Suffice to say, the second character does have attack powers, so what better way to showcase those than with a boss battle?
…the elegant artwork and animations make this platformer very alluring
Antar also gets powers, specifically as a Savior. An overpowered role, it’s time-restricted, where slashing at stuff will refill the gauge until Antar can cross a finish line. This adds variety to Saviorless gameplay, though to be fair, there’s never a dull moment – even with the platforming sections.
The early Saviorless trailer didn’t do it enough justice. This hand-drawn adventure is beautiful—its Creepy Tale meets a modern reworking of Prince of Persia minus the combat, though with plenty of traps to keep you on your toes—or off them. Some areas made my blood boil, such as repeating parts or dealing with seemingly impossible gameplay. However, in hindsight, that spike in difficulty made it all the more satisfying.
Saviorless PS5 Review Summary
Saviorless has the potential to fly under the radar as a relatively low-key indie, but the enigmatic storytelling paired with the elegant artwork and animations make this platformer very alluring. While this shouldn’t be deemed a difficult game for the sake of it, do play within proximity of a fluffy pillow to take the impact of a thrown controller, laptop or fist, as some sections are tricky, yet hugely rewarding if you put in the time.
