Each week at the least a few metroidvanias launch on Steam, and most stay obscure. Journey of Samsara, which launched on September 4, was extra fated to obscurity than most, regardless of being revealed by an ascendant Atari. As a result of September 4 was additionally the day Silksong launched. Few had been going to find time for a good-looking however orthodox pixel artwork metroidvania when the thrill and indignities of Pharloom beckon.
Besides me: I wanted a break from Silksong earlier this week, largely as a result of I used to be getting my ass kicked, but additionally as a result of a small element on the Journey of Samsara Steam web page piqued my curiosity. That is truly a non secular sequel of kinds to the 1980 sport Journey, which was in all probability probably the most cryptic and sprawling Atari 2600 cart available on the market.
Journey gave me nightmares as a baby. Whereas most Atari 2600 video games had been cheerfully simple one-screen arcade video games or scrolling shooters, Journey had designs on being a full-blown, effectively, journey, and it displayed some proto-metroidvania qualities to that finish.
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You discover a same-ish labyrinth as a dot, accumulating color-coded keys to unlock color-coded doorways, avoiding bats and dragons, and utilizing instruments—resembling a magnet and a bridge—to resolve issues. Its austere blocky graphics are to ASCII what Duplo is to Lego, however there is a quiet inscrutability to it that freaked me out as a child (as did Secret Quest, one other pretty bold Atari 2600 journey sport).
This is what the unique Journey seemed like (by way of Retro Video games Fan):
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After spending round seven hours in Journey of Samsara, I can affirm that it would not share a hell of loads in frequent with its 1980 supply materials. The closest call-back I can discover, the dragons, are coiled in the identical manner because the outdated sport and equally color-coded. In the event you favored Journey (I extremely doubt you ever beloved it), then you definately’re in all probability not going to really feel reduction or the frisson of familiarity with this 2025 sport. It positively looks like a case of getting a languishing IP fitted to a brand new sport, virtually as an afterthought. (Past the Ice Palace 2 involves thoughts.)
That is advantageous (that is enterprise) however how does Journey of Samsara stack up as a 2025 exploration platformer? Kinda effectively, however not brilliantly. As a “Photo voltaic Champion” it is my job to reactivate “a mysterious interdimensional fortress”, which implies exploring a giant interconnected underground labyrinth filled with monsters, traps and people dragons. Alongside the way in which I discover the same old array of exploration-gratifying power-ups whereas unlocking shortcuts, save factors and quick journey stations.
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My Photo voltaic Champion is a floaty lil’ fellow (“lil” as a result of Journey of Samsara feels extra zoomed out than most trendy platformers) and his actions cannot be canceled. These qualities don’t bode effectively at first, however I did get used to the stiffness of the controls, in all probability as a result of Samsara is not in any other case a really demanding sport. My Photo voltaic Champion ultimately has three weapons—a sword, a bow and a hammer—and the latter two double as traversal and exploration instruments, alongside the same old hard-won character upgrades. Sure, there’s a double leap.
I used to be stunned to seek out that this sport stored me up simply as late as Silksong has been this previous week.
What I like about Journey of Samsara is its ambiance. Sure, it blends fantasy and sci-fi in a reasonably acquainted manner, however the retro-futuristic synth soundtrack is evocatively delicate. It clearly has designs on channeling the Eighties, nevertheless it does so in a quiet, practically plaintive manner that is fairly at odds with the these days suffocating banality of synthwave.
The opposite factor I favored about Samsara, particularly in comparison with the 30-odd hours I’ve spent in Silksong, is how exploration-forward it’s. There are bosses, however they don’t seem to be particularly laborious, and as soon as you’ve got overwhelmed them you may sit up for large chunks of simply nosing round. At first this exploration is completed tentatively, because the fight is fairly rote and repetitive: assault, sprint again, assault, sprint again. However as soon as my Photo voltaic Champion has some crisper strikes and simpler weapons, the exploration turns into freewheeling and fascinating. I used to be stunned to seek out that this sport stored me up simply as late as Silksong has been this previous week.
I additionally got here to understand the pixel artwork, which was a little bit of an impediment for me at first. The world is coherent and thoroughly illustrated, however the enemy sprites kinda appear like one thing you’d see in uh, Siralim. They’re barely animated—they simply blob round. However this culminates in Samara having an fascinating primitive high quality that oddly jogged my memory of Barbuta from UFO 50.
Will Silksong sign the tip of the charming, humble indie metroidvania? Are these video games now doomed to be large finances affairs designed to sap mindshare for weeks happening months? What I really like in regards to the style is that the overwhelming majority of its video games—those you discover on Steam with lower than 50 evaluations—really feel just like the work of joyful hobbyists, a practice that runs from Cave Story via to stuff like Astalon.
Journey of Samsara positively belongs to that custom, regardless of having a 40-odd yr outdated IP connected to it. Sure, it has tough edges, however the subsequent time you need to slide right into a mysterious, enveloping metroidvania that does not need you to undergo mercilessly, I would suggest giving it a glance. Possibly additionally try Zexion.
