The Crown Stones: Mirrah Demo

If you are under the impression that video games today are too easy, then you are not playing the right games. Obviously, it’s now customary for developers to include lengthy tutorials and scalable difficulty levels, but then again all of these can be tweaked to suit your hardcore skills. Games like Dark Souls take no prisoners, so you really have to improve your abilities in order to beat them.

The Crown Stones: Mirrah is a 2D action-platformer that takes its inspiration from the like of Castlevania and Dark Souls, which means that the story takes place in a creepy world and you really have to work in order to pass the levels. The combat can be quite tough as well, especially since you have to dodge enemy hits in order to survive, and the platforming is no cake walk either.

The story is set in the astral underworld, which is obviously full of monsters and villains that only want chaos and destruction. Your role is to accomplish a few missions down here, but in order to do so you have to make your way through wave after wave of abominations. Thankfully, your character is well-equipped to deal with them, and he can even use a few special items to help him along.

You can punch your way through encounters, but it’s also important to use rolls and dodges in order to avoid getting hit. In fact, good reaction times are required to keep up with certain enemies, otherwise you will quickly find yourself staring at the game over screen. It gets easier later on, but only if you put some effort into figuring out how to approach every type of encounter.

The dark environments can be a tad repetitive sometimes, but the actual graphics are really enjoyable and nicely done, because they truly feel like they belong on a SNES. You can even use a gamepad, which is a mandatory feature in fast-paced action games such as this one. The game is still in an early stage at the moment, however, so it needs more work in the level design department and a few other areas.

When it’s all said and done, The Crown Stones: Mirrah has real potential when it comes to the gameplay, but the world itself appears pretty polished as well. Hence, we can only hope that the full version is going to improve on these elements and be an altogether memorable experience.