One of the few bosses you’ll encounter in Journey to the Savage Planet. Boss fights are also few and far between-there are only three. That is disappointing, especially when there’s not much variety in the enemy design either. There’s only a couple of notable combat-related upgrades you’ll unlock, but they don’t do much to vary up the combat encounters. It’s your standard run-and-gun gameplay where you have to keep an eye on your ammo and grab health pickups when they’re available. That’s where the game’s combat comes in and it’s … fine. You’ll constantly run into various forms of wildlife during your travels that, for the most part, really want to kill you. And while that’s an element of most modern adventure titles, games like Journey to the Savage Planet take that idea to the extreme.

The frozen-over starting area in Journey to the Savage Planet.īut what does being a Metroidvania actually mean for gameplay? Basically, while you’re exploring the titular “Savage Planet” (called ARY-26 in-game), you’ll hit various roadblocks that require special items or upgrades to continue through. Instead, Journey to the Savage Planet takes some clear inspiration from the Metroid Prime trilogy of games released for Nintendo Gamecube and Wii. You may have heard of some of the recent 2D hits in this genre like Hollow Knightor Ori and the Will of the Wisps, but by being one of the few 3D entries in the genre, Journey to the Savage Planet is pretty different from both of those. What’s the Game Like?Īt its core, Journey to the Savage Planet is a first-person “Metroidvania”-a genre of games defined by a focus on exploration and item-based progression. I expected a fairly standard first-person shooter, but it wound up being a lot more than that. I was aware of it, and it pulled my interest thanks to its great presentation, but now I’ve finally gotten to play it it’s not what I expected.

Released early this year, Journey to the Savage Planet didn’t make too much of a splash on launch.

Journey to the savage planet bosses