Renaine Demo

Platformers are designed to be quick and challenging most of the time, especially when they also feature combat mechanics. The term for action-platformers nowadays is Metroidvania, which means that the mechanics are a combination of Metroid platforming and Castlevania combat. Naturally, the genre has a lot of potential, at least if the developers get a few things right.

Renaine is a fast-paced platformer with a lot of action and a few roguelike elements, in which you control a knight on her quest to defeat her greatest nemesis: The Dragon. Most of your time is spent jumping over traps and using your weapons to defeat enemies, but there are a few puzzles to solve along the way too. The game world is very lively and interesting, even if the experience is pretty linear.

Renaine does not have too many special skills, but you really need good reflexes and coordination to get over some of the obstacles. The movement speed is quite high, which means that you may need a while to adjust to the fast pace of the game without falling into the nearest pit. As far as the combat is concerned, most of the time you just have to swing your sword at the right time to deal damage.

Since you have to move quickly and react even quicker, it’s important for the input to be as smooth as possible. Thankfully, Renaine gets things right in this regard, even if there’s a fair amount of slipping before your character comes to a full halt. The attacks always connect if you time them right, so you do not have to worry about faulty collision systems or anything of the sort.

To make things even more challenging, there’s a timer that keeps running as you go through the levels, which means that you can also test your speedrunning skills after you learn the ropes. In terms of graphics, the retro style is not particularly beautiful, given the fact that everything is a bit too dark and repetitive sometimes, but the game is not ugly either.

All things considered, Renaine is definitely on the right track in terms of gameplay and mechanics, which is what matters most in a platformer. Thus, you can help the developers with the project by participating in their Kickstarter campaign.