Metroid-likes used to be a pure, common form of indie game. You know, back in “The Before Time.” You’d explore a map, have fun, and collect new abilities while using them to hunt down secrets in earlier areas. But then “The Dark Times” came: the Dark Souls Times. Now, a great many of those Metroid-likes have Souls elements jammed in them, even if they don’t really make sense. HunterX, a game with a name so generic that it’s almost comical, is yet another 2D Souls-like that does what pretty much every one of these games does. But the question stands: is HunterX worth it?
When I first looked into this game, I had to add extra keywords while searching online. Somebody decided to pick a title that is obviously associated with an extremely popular Shounen manga franchise. Therefore, if you search for the game’s name, you’ll just see results about Hunter X Hunter.
Monster X Hunter
In this game, you play as a demon/monster hunter named Tsuki. There are portals to monster places around, and it’s her job to kill things with her questionable two-hit combo while losing all of her currency when she dies.
Despite all my playful mockery, HunterX is far from a bad game. Sure, everything it does has been done before and better, but it’s completely competent. You control Tsuki through a bunch of extremely familiar dark fantasy locales while she fights monsters. Everything reeks of Castlevania, but in the most generic way possible. This game has absolutely no identity of its own, and I have little idea or interest in what the plot is. The game doesn’t drop you in a giant overworld, so you’ll be warping to different sections via portal. But each section is decently sized with secrets to find.
Where am I going?
The level design is passable, although many screens are clearly intended to just be navigated from one side. Going the other way in HunterX may lead to some embarrassing game issues and mishaps. Maybe it’ll be impossible to stop from colliding with a kamikaze enemy due to placement, or perhaps you’ll contend with a bunch of skulls rolling to the left after you enter from the right.
Tsuki herself is a generic anime girl and I can’t remember what she looks like off the top of my head. Bizarrely, she initially only has a two-hit combo, which makes the early combat feel overly rigid and limited. However, she’s got the full suite of 2D Souls-like abilities. She can block, parry (even if the window is so tiny), dash, use a limited number of magical attacks per spawn, etc.
Déjà vu
Alongside, you also contend with the typical Souls design formula. Currency drops upon death, alongside health potions that function like flasks, and you’re whisked away to your last checkpoint. You use the currency to upgrade a single stat point. Skill points are offered when you level up, and they let you purchase new passives and active abilities. The gameplay is fine, if wholly unremarkable. Enemies that kill you with a quick two-hit combo are damned annoying but, hey, Souls-like.
There’s nothing wrong with HunterX. If you want a 2.5D Souls-like that ticks off all the boxes, it gets the job done in a purely bland, inoffensive way. It’s not boring, and there are some puzzles and the like to spice things up. But there’s also absolutely nothing special or particularly interesting here. It’s a competent entry in an overcrowded subgenre that already has more than enough games of similar quality. Is HunterX worth it? If you’re really itching to play any 2D Souls-like, then you’ll have a decent time.
