WHAT. A. DELIGHT! Trigger Witch by eastasiasoft stands out as an outstanding and fresh 16-bit adventure-shooter game with stellar writing, a rich and fulfilling open world, heaps of lore to sift through (if you choose to), unique puzzles and combat, and plenty of fun to be had. With the pandemic, gamers have been trapped in a place of stagnation with few games being released (or surviving more than a month after release) and so many games following big-money trends like the “battle royale” genre. Exhausted by the current market’s oversaturation of FPS and battle royale clones, Trigger Witch felt like a breath of fresh air; I found myself being sucked into the colorful and diverse realm of Ozryn, constantly ready with excitement for the next challenge or region that I would get to experience.
The basic premise of Trigger Witch is that it is a twin-stick, 16-bit, action-adventure game which plays jumprope with the line between childish nostalgia and modern ultra-violence. The player is thrust into the role of Colette, a talented and ambitious young witch, as she graduates from The Stock (witch academy, essentially) and must undertake a perilous journey in order to protect her homeland from a mysterious invader. I will say, however, to classify Trigger Witch along with other games in its genre would not do justice to the unique and fantastical adventure that awaits players with this game. While many 16-bit adventure games can sometimes feel monotonous with time (as, in my opinion, many fall into the issue of essentially every environment being exactly the same but with different colors or building styles), Trigger Witch maintained its momentum throughout the entire gameplay, never faltering to grasp my attention as I eagerly chugged through all of the wonderful challenges that the eastasiasoft developers had in store for me.
The land of Ozryn was one of the most wonderful aspects of this game, with a variety of unique and engaging biomes and trails that encouraged the player to put down their map, get a little lost, and explore the wonders that Trigger Witch’s universe has up its metaphorical sleeve. The map is doused in bright, beautiful colors that are ever pleasing to the eye, in addition to creating a true “personality” to accompany each region of the game’s rather sizeable map. Not only is the map outstanding, but the game’s encouragement of free choice also stood out to me as a positive in any semi open-world game. During most interactions, dilemmas, or challenges that Colette is faced with, the player generally has a variety of speech options to choose from regarding said interaction, meaning that the player can make Colette brash or cautious, sarcastic and sweet, individual or collectivist, etc. in a way that changes the course of events in the main plotline. Don’t want to go fight the dragon head-on by yourself? That’s alright, you can choose to go look for others to help you or give you resources to more easily take out said dragon… or you can run in guns blazing and take it out on your own, it’s completely your choice!
Much of the lore in Trigger Witch (without spoiling anything) revolves around old mysticism resulting in a new era of heavy arms and machinery where witches rely on more… contemporary… weapons than one may be used to seeing in fantasy games. As Colette, you have a veritable arsenal at your disposal to collect and utilize throughout your journey, blasting through countless monsters and eviscerating them into a gratuitously (and hilariously) large puddle of red mist. The combat in Trigger Witch packs some PUNCH with every shot of your revolver, machine gun, LMG, etc. carrying some serious weight, yet the fights remain challenging enough that the player really needs to focus on their movements and actions in order to solve puzzles while simultaneously gunning down a plethora of unique baddies.
The two-stick combat could feel a bit clunky sometimes (but what two-stick combat game isn’t) and some of the puzzles were a bit repetitive occasionally, but besides these two VERY minor grievances, I really thought that Trigger Witch was an outstanding game to save our fellow gamers from boredom in these dry times. The fact that Trigger Witch is also available on so many platforms for only $15 is honestly a steal as well, as you’ll be getting 9+ hours of superb gameplay with high replay value and a unique experience in the midst of so much homogeneity. I cannot recommend this game enough and for those of you who do yourselves the favor of buying Trigger Witch, good luck and good shooting.
Score: 9/10
Check Out the Trigger Witch Trailer:
For more information, please visit: https://www.eastasiasoft.com/games/Trigger-Witch
Xbox Review
I've been playing video games since I got a Playstation 2 when I was about 5 or 6 years old. The original Star Wars: Battlefront series and the Spyro series initially ignited my interest in gaming, but it wasn't until I got older that I truly appreciated the subtle details that make video games such a unique form of entertainment. My favorite type of video game would have to be any lengthy and plot-driven open world game, with my favorite games of all time being Batman: Arkham City, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Assassin's Creed: Revelations, and Firewatch.
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