Continuing my journey through WayForward games, I now begin to step out to staff solo projects and alumni.
Andrew Bado has contributed art and animation to several WayForward games among others, and Mystik Belle really shows off his pixel skills. It’s got huge character sprites on screen, making it feel like a souped-up GBA game. In gameplay it calls back to old British computer games that mixed platforming and exploration with inventory puzzles.
Belle is a tiny witch at a magic school, who has to find special ingredients for a powerful ritual. This mostly involves long sequences of traversing the warren of a castle and its grounds, swapping items until you can open the next path. Your basic fireball shot improves as you level up by busting ghoulies, but it’s supplemented by a contextual close-range broom swipe that’s satisfyingly powerful. Belle starts slow, with floaty jumps, but over the course of the game you get a dash and double-jump that make movement much more fun, along with other contextual powers.
Inventory management also requires patience. Belle has limited pocket size, and the game is riddled with red herrings (I recommend attempting to throw stuff in the bin if it seems useless; it won’t let you discard essential items). Thankfully magic trunks to swap out items are common. Unlike the “action” portion of the game, where Belle becomes much more powerful in the best tradition of Metroid-esque games, the “adventure” part remains obtuse the whole way through.
On top of the inventory juggling, I had other niggles. You’re rarely in danger of dying, but when you need to refill health there’s no easy way to do it besides grinding on swarm enemies. The final boss in the true ending is also a strange change of mechanics that’s unfairly hard and poorly explained. These aren’t deal breakers though, and understandable from a solo effort. It’s still worth playing: very charming, and satisfying to improve Belle’s abilities and your own mastery of the map. Don’t miss the secret area populated by early assets unused in the main game!
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