Relic Hunters Legend Preview: Frenzied Bounty Hunters Lost in Time

The Latin American video game market may seem “non-existent” at times, but there are more and more proposals that try to raise their hands to be considered. Each studio does it in its own way, sometimes through the attachment to some local culture or tradition; but this is not the case with Relic Hunters Legend.

Before its early access, we played Relic Hunters Legend for a few weeks, a very colorful shooter-looter with endearing, charismatic characters and unique features that we would eventually identify with. These were our impressions.

Relic Hunters Legend has a varied and fluid dynamic for lovers of two-stick shooters, or those who don’t want to complicate their lives and just want to aim with some kind of automatic shooting. The game has single-player scenarios, but also opens the possibility to play with other players and see how chaos is unleashed in a colorful hail of bullets. Customize your character, level up your equipment, and understand the weaknesses of the enemies... At times, the difficulty curve - in terms of understanding - feels higher than expected, but nothing that won’t get out of hand if you pay attention. It is one of those games that are easy to learn, but difficult to master.

Each character is designed to tell an individual story, from Seven, our mysterious protagonist, to Raff, Jimmy, and Ace, the donkey who serves as comic relief for this group of people trying to save the world from tyranny. Each character represents an archetype that has become commonplace in video games. Some will focus on damage, some on support, some on tanking, and some will be a rare mix. If the single player experience was good with these characters, it certainly feels better with these archetypes when you play in multiplayer.

The maps are extremely varied and offer a number of different objectives. Some are familiar mechanics, such as pushing a load or gaining control of various points on the map. But there are others where we have to defend some treasures from hordes, where we have to eliminate small enemies first to be able to damage the larger enemy, or even an extremely fun one where you have to dedicate yourself to distracting the enemies while other rebels complete their missions. In general, we found extremely fast levels, ranging from 9 to 15 minutes in length.

The multiplayer options are not only limited to your friends, but there is also a kind of lobby where you can join other people to play the stages. During our test, we had the opportunity to play with other media that also participated in the Early Access. In general, and when there were other people playing, we had a smooth response from the servers, making the experience extremely fluid.

What is Relic Hunters Legend about?

The story puts us in the role of a group of characters called the Rebels (like the name of the title) who want to tell the world the truth about a tyrant named Duke Dukan who has been responsible for “erasing the memory” of everyone by stealing objects that hold precious memories of galactic civilization. In doing so, he has ensured that everyone has become his loyal followers, but there is also a resistance side that wants to restore history by recovering (or in this case, hunting down) the artifacts he has stolen.

The group of Relic Hunters dedicates their lives to this, although they also have to deal with those who have been blinded by the lies of the Ducan Empire. It is probably a story that can be seen as “ordinary”, but Rogue Snail manages to give it variety through subplots and small details hidden in each of the characters they present, as well as a series of “Easter eggs” that manage to connect well with a generation of players who have spent years in video games (and in famous pop culture in general).

A promising early access with room for improvement

Relic Hunters Legend is being presented with a fairly complete Early Access, albeit with the typical tweaks that a game in this state can have to make the experience more bearable.

With all the dynamics of combat, it’s easy to miss a lot of the details. Along the way, you’ll encounter enemies that have resistances or weaknesses to various attacks, but to really notice, you have to have the enemy pointed at you and be able to see the fine print. It’s certainly hard to read (or even notice) when you’re surrounded by multiple enemies and bullets are flying, but it also speaks to the level of strategy in the game.

Speaking of the strategy layer of the game, the preview also showed us the different skill trees for each of the characters. At times, the game will constantly remind you that you have new skills and skill points to choose from, and you have to pay special attention to what you choose, as many of these later skills depend on your own previous levels in the same skill tree.

Aside from the above and some minor glitches that are probably due to an early access build, Relic Hunters Legend is an interesting title to keep on your radar if you like to play with friends.