Feudal Alloy Review – Humble ambitions sadly unplugged

Attu Games’ Feudal Alloy follows a humble little robot with a fish in its head named ‘Attu’. It lives a simple life as a village farmer, tending to the veteran-aquatic-robot folk and learning about their war stories.  As the player and Attu quickly learn, the indie-platformer is not much more than an average game full of imaginative art and ideas.

A group of bandits attack the otherwise quiet town, stealing valuable oil and harming the village foundations. Attu decides to take up the mantle and recover the stolen goods. The bandits escape to the unforgiving wilderness, where Attu’s mission begins. A worn sword in one hand and a whole lot of ambition in the other, the journey is tough and hostile for the ‘robot that could’.

The art style is immediately striking. Hand drawn aesthetic of the medieval junk-bots and environments are charming and inventive.  Even the user interface has a delicate storybook look, akin to a Dr Seuss picture book.

Regardless, environments and enemies end up feeling quite repetitive. A simple colour palette swap or diverse features seems like a simple fix. Attu’s appearance changes as the player finds new equipment, something that may make each adversary feel individual, too. Regardless, there isn’t really another indie-title that looks as quirky as Feudal Alloy.

Initially, the player is thrown straight into the game following the prologue. A fair bit of playing around is required to fully understand the mechanics. Slowly more is understood about the Attu’s nuances and foes. Be aware, this Metroidvania doesn’t hand-hold. It can be devilishly hard and the lack of guidance leaves it feeling unpleasantly difficult at times.

Attu consumes oil and liquid nitrogen to refill health and maximise stamina, respectively. These pickups are abundant across the world and are critical to success. The annoying nitrogen mechanic is vital, restricting Attu from hacking-and-slashing endlessly. Some players will find overwhelming gangs of angry bandit robots require a lot of these aids on hand. When locked in an arena or fighting a powerful foe, overheating after three or four swings of a sword is cumbersome and frustrating.

After death, Attu returns to the previous save point, with no replenishment of supplies. Similarly, the items don’t respawn in the world. It becomes harder and harder to proceed as a player dies multiple times and consumes all their oil and nitrogen. It’s a detrimental design flaw that will most likely turn off players looking for a fun experience rather than a challenge.