NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits Review (WiiWare)

For many fans, Kid Icarus is a game that is remembered fondly, both for it's interesting characters and its unbelievable difficulty. There has been a call in the community lately for a return of the franchise. Sadly, nothing has materialized from that yet. Over The Top Games has come in and done what they can. NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits was formerly known as Icarian before it was given a name change to the current title. It is a platformer based on ancient Greek mythology, where you play as a character known as Nyx. She and Icarus have formed a friendship and he frequents her realm to be with her. Suddenly he no longer appears, she grows concerned and heads to Earth to find out what has happened. When she arrives she find the world has been devestated, and she takes on the task of finding him.

Nyx is controlled using the Wii Remote and nunchuk. By tapping the "A" button you can cause her to flap her wings and take flight. You can do this up to five times and this will allow her to reach higher areas. The "Z" button controls her glide which allows her to cover long distances without having to use one of her limited jumps. The "B" button controls a number of godly powers that are granted to Nyx during her journey; things like Zeus' lightning to shoot enemies or redirecting wind gusts to help reach far away platforms. You'll find yourself many times using multiple buttons to get through areas and some of the combinations can be tricky at first to get used to. At one point, I found myself moving with the analog stick, jumping with the "A" button and holding a platform up with "B". There are a number of different combinations that you will find yourself doing, but after some practice they all become second nature.

Visually the game is quite impressive. It has the same overall feel of Lost Winds which was a launch title for WiiWare. The big difference being the Greek mythology that permeates the landscape. Like many WiiWare titles before it NyxQuest uses many of the same objects multiple times and it can make the game feel repetitive. I would imagine that a full retail release or a higher cap on WiiWare titles would alleviate this problem. The backgrounds are stunning to look at. Sand is very fluid and appears very realistic, and fire effects cast shadows over a number of objects in the environment. The music in the game uses a lot of stringed instruments and has a slightly mid eastern feel to it. Many titles you'll find, though, that you've blocked it out only to have more exciting moments come back to life because of the music.

The platforming is very solid and the movement is extremely intuitive. After about five minutes you'll have to basics down and will have no trouble navigating platforms. There are many physics based areas to the environment and you'll have to properly manipulate these areas to progress. It's quite a lot of fun to hop onto a large block and pull it along the ground giving you the feeling that you are surfing over the desert. There is not a lot of combat in the game, and this is an area that Nyx does not actively participate. She has no combat skills herself. All the combat is done by manipulating the environment. When you encounter the first boss of the game you are tasked with avoiding dark clouds the monster shoots at you while grabbing the occasional fireball and hurling it back at the monster. It is a unique take on combat that is quite refreshing and a welcome break from typical platforming. While the environments all look similar they are used in a number of ways to create a different feel to each of them. One level will focus more on moving platforms around and the next will have you avoiding the gaze of an unfriendly god while traversing the level.

If you're looking for a great platforming experience that is a bit slower paced than most games of the genre you should look at NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits. The unique take on the Icarian myth, solid platforming and unique combat system are things that many gamers will enjoy. There are a number of collectible items in the world that will bring players back looking for the ones they missed. There is also a two player mode that is very similar to Super Mario Galaxy where one player will control Nyx and the other has control over the powers that help her in her quest. It makes for a great co-operative experiences, especially when both players have similar styles of play.

Final Score: 4/5