Xeodrifter

Xeodrifter is a godsend for fans of the Metroidvania genre of games. From the perfectly tuned difficulty to the charming visuals, developers Renegade Kid seem to have nailed what makes these types of games so great in the first place.

Exploration meets action in Xeodrifter, a love letter to games like Super Metroid and Castlevania Symphony of the Night. This might be the game that fans of the Metroid series have been waiting for, ever since 2004’s Metroid Zero Mission.

Space exploration done right

The plot of Xeodrifter begins when the ship of an interstellar drifter crash lands into a cluster of four planets. What begins as a simple exploration mission soon turns into a frantic fight for survival on an alien planet, where resources are scarce and weapon upgrades are your best friend.

Like many other Metroidvanias, the gameplay of Xeodrifter relies heavily on exploration. This 2D game retains many of the elements that Metroid fans will remember fondly, like armor and weapon upgrades to help you survive. That said, the weapon upgrade mechanic feels a bit over the top, especially since the DPS (damage per second) stat is the most important one and the most likely to help you succeed.

Unlike games like Hollow Knight, backtracking in Xeodrifter doesn’t feel like a chore, and it’s actually well implemented into the gameplay. The game map never feels like it’s too difficult to traverse, keeping things fresh and with a feeling of constant progression.

Been there, done that

Xeodrifter could be best described as a ‘Metroid-lite’ game, for better and for worse. There’s little in the way of originality in this game, but the gunplay and well-designed maps make it worth the playthrough.

As we mentioned before, there are four planets to explore in Xeodrifter. Although it seems at first like the game will let you explore these planets in any order, it’s clear that developers intended players to follow a “beginners” path first. Some planets might feel unfairly hard at first, but with enough grinding, beating these planets’ bosses becomes a non-issue.

Unhealthy mechanics

There’s something that Xeodrifter didn’t get from Metroid, and that is its peculiar health system. Unlike many other Metroidvanias that might refill your life gauge upon death, Xeodrifter forces you to keep the life you had when you passed the checkpoint. That means that if the boss kills you, and you only had a single health bar left before entering the boss room, you’ll have to face it again with only one health bar.

Although this added difficulty might seem interesting to some, we can’t help but feel like it’s a way to artificially ramp up the difficulty of an otherwise easy game. Also, on the subject of bosses, there’s a disappointing lack of variety in that department, as you’ll have to face the same boss in different encounters.

Luckily, the common enemies make up for this with their originality and concise designs. It’s easy to tell every type of enemy from each other, letting players adapt their tactics to the enemies at hand.

Pros:

• Charming visuals
• Well-designed maps
• Interesting weapon upgrade mechanics

Cons:

• Weird health regeneration
• Limited boss designs
• Odd jumping controls