The advertising suggests it’s 25 hours if you follow the critical path, which may be massively underselling it. Part of the issue is that Phoenotopia Awakening is a staggeringly long game. I just wish the main thread was more engaging. It’s also consistent throughout, bringing chuckles straight through to the end. I found the writing to be extremely enjoyable, with a large degree of levity and a heaping helping of dry wit. With that said, I don’t have much issue with the overall narrative. Instead of directly dealing with the problem facing her, Gail is largely side-tracked by the problems of others. You don’t even glimpse the principal antagonists until much later in the game, and even then, it’s implied that they’re mere mercenaries working for the big bad guys. Honestly, the story plays in the distant background. You play as Gail, a girl whose entire village is abducted by aliens while she’s away rescuing children. Humanity has since emerged from their protective underground vaults and re-established a society that both lives off of and fears the technology of their ancestors. The story is set some countless centuries after a great war ravaged earth. I’d liken the difficulty to playing a Mega Man game with only the default buster: not impossible, but you’re going to have to focus and work at it.

I’d make it further, use fewer health items, until finally, I was able to topple the baddie. With every attempt I could feel myself getting better at anticipating and reacting to attacks. Fast and deadly, but not unpredictable, like something out of Punch-Out!!. Even the starter slime gave me a hard time until I managed to get its pattern down. It’s inadvisable to delve a dungeon without being adequately prepared, as save points are rather rare in dangerous areas, and the penalty for death is being unceremoniously dumped off at the last one you stopped at.Įvery boss in the game got its turn kicking my butt. However, all those side activities may be necessary if you’re going to cope with the brutal difficulty. If you’re not careful, the game can frequently become bogged down under the weight of all its side activities. You can find heart rubies to expand your health, stamina emeralds to extend your stamina bar, moonstones to open up teleportation routes, GEO tickets to spend at a special store, lunar artifacts to sell to a thrift store, and various other items to make your life easier. If you’re anything like me, you’ll spend an excessive amount of time plumbing those nooks and crannies. The world isn’t very large and it’s locked down to keep the player focused, but there’s a lot hidden in its nooks and crannies. The starkest difference is that, rather than have you simply choose your next destination using a standard node-based world map, you’re left to explore from a top-down perspective, similar to the previously discussed Zelda II. Many of the mechanics and the narrative have been incorporated into the remake, but everything has been lifted up and expanded on. Phoenotopia Awakening is technically a remake of a Newgrounds Flash game from 2014. The result is something that is markedly different than Zelda II, even if you can easily see its foundation, and I couldn’t be happier for that. It wears its Zelda influences on its sleeve, but also layers on its own fantastic personality. Phoenotopia Awakening seems to have latched onto that misunderstood title and squeezed it for all it was worth. Few games have followed its lead, with even the Zelda series neglecting its mechanics as the franchise widened. Despite this, the formula didn’t catch on to a wide extent.

On the contrary, it was an interesting mix of play styles. It wasn’t the game’s formula that left a bad taste in my mouth, however. I’m pretty sure that making disparaging comments about Zelda II is a fireable offense at Destructoid. It bore few similarities to its predecessor with its unique mix of top-down overworld exploration and side-scrolling action. More linear, carefully metered progress, and with more RPG elements. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link was a massive departure from the original title. I keep mistakenly calling it ‘Pheonotype’

Phoenotopia awakening walkthrough