Story goes that magical weapons (swords, axes, lances, hammers, etc etc) are falling from the sky creating havoc and destruction. Flame, a female android, decides to do something with the help of Grit, a sentient robot she can pilot.
Panzer Paladin is a scrolling platformer with an emphasis on weapon management. Weapons are used to attack enemies, activate checkpoints, use special attacks, and as upgrade materials for Grit's lifebar. Grit can carry and switch between up to four weapons, with the rest stashed away for you to carry between stages or use as upgrade materials.
Weapons have different reach, attack power, damage type, durability, and special attack. Using the special attack will break the weapon.
You can select the stage you want to tackle from locations all around the world, each with enemies graphically tailored to the location; bosses are, of course, inspired by the location: an Aztec mummy for Mexico, Anubis for Egypt, a dragon for Scotland, the Yeti for Switzerland (uhm...), a succubus for New York. Well, better than a giant rat, I guess.
Stages are on the longish side, with only two possible checkpoints: midway and before the boss. About half the enemies drop a weapon, so you never really run out of offensive tools despite most not being not very long-lasting. However, you can very well run out of weapons against bosses: checkpoints are activated by placing a weapon on them, and picking that up will deactivate the checkpoint. You might reach a boss with a full weapon complement but you have to sacrifice one for the checkpoint, and some of the remaining might be halfway consumed; you will go through most, if not all, your weapons durign the first try, and that will force to deactivate the checkpoint by picking up a weapon in an effort to defeat the boss. If you don't clear the stage, it's back to the midway checkpoint. This might sound bad, but I have defeated all three bosses I faced at my second try: against one I found a way to cheese it out, the second I simply stood in front of it hammering the attack button, and the third required a bit more work but wasn't particularly troublesome.
Grit's controls are somewhat stiff, an awkward middle ground between lumbering giant robot and nimble platform protagonist. They don't feel bad and all pits can be crossed with a standard jump, but you need to be very close to the border or you will fall, losing a life. There's no double jump, but you can use the dragon punch (jump, up+attack) to get some more air time. Donw+attack while jumping will have Grit perform a downthrust that can bounce off enemies.
There are no health pickups, the only way to replenish Grit's health is to either sacrifice a weapon with a heal special attack, or disembark Grit and direct Flame towards the rare energy tanks hidden in the stages. A single health tank is able to heal about a fourth of Grit's starting lifebar, which is not that much. Flame is not as durable or powerful as Grit, but she can defend herself with an energy whip and is small enough to enter crevices in which Grit can't fit; some stages have entire sections dedicated to Flame where you have to leave Grit behind, with a teleport point for Grit at the end of the portion so you can continue.
Attacking feels good no matter the weapon you are using: small knives don't have much reach or power but are fast, relatively durable, and common, while other weapons sacrifice durability and powerful special attacks for reach and damage. You will never feel underpowered with a weapon in hand, though having to rely on Grit's unarmed fists will.
Graphics are, of course, 8-bit style. And it's a real shame, because there are some great animations and I would have loved to see this done with a richer colour palette. It would have surely helped in making stages less monotonous, there are a lot of blacks and dark tones used everywhere, and at times it takes a second or an attack to check if you can cross a tile.
Music is cool, but right now I think the only outstanding track is the main theme.
Before getting Panzer Paladin, I read many a good things about the title, so I had pretty high expectations. Unfortunately these weren't met: Panzer Paladin seems a competent platformer, but doesn't quite reach other games like Blaster Master Zero or Shovel Knight (it's easy to draw comparisons to those two due to game mechanics and graphics style). It's not bad, but its drawbacks weight down heavily on it. I'll report back when I finish it.
Panzer Paladin is a scrolling platformer with an emphasis on weapon management. Weapons are used to attack enemies, activate checkpoints, use special attacks, and as upgrade materials for Grit's lifebar. Grit can carry and switch between up to four weapons, with the rest stashed away for you to carry between stages or use as upgrade materials.
Weapons have different reach, attack power, damage type, durability, and special attack. Using the special attack will break the weapon.
You can select the stage you want to tackle from locations all around the world, each with enemies graphically tailored to the location; bosses are, of course, inspired by the location: an Aztec mummy for Mexico, Anubis for Egypt, a dragon for Scotland, the Yeti for Switzerland (uhm...), a succubus for New York. Well, better than a giant rat, I guess.
Stages are on the longish side, with only two possible checkpoints: midway and before the boss. About half the enemies drop a weapon, so you never really run out of offensive tools despite most not being not very long-lasting. However, you can very well run out of weapons against bosses: checkpoints are activated by placing a weapon on them, and picking that up will deactivate the checkpoint. You might reach a boss with a full weapon complement but you have to sacrifice one for the checkpoint, and some of the remaining might be halfway consumed; you will go through most, if not all, your weapons durign the first try, and that will force to deactivate the checkpoint by picking up a weapon in an effort to defeat the boss. If you don't clear the stage, it's back to the midway checkpoint. This might sound bad, but I have defeated all three bosses I faced at my second try: against one I found a way to cheese it out, the second I simply stood in front of it hammering the attack button, and the third required a bit more work but wasn't particularly troublesome.
Grit's controls are somewhat stiff, an awkward middle ground between lumbering giant robot and nimble platform protagonist. They don't feel bad and all pits can be crossed with a standard jump, but you need to be very close to the border or you will fall, losing a life. There's no double jump, but you can use the dragon punch (jump, up+attack) to get some more air time. Donw+attack while jumping will have Grit perform a downthrust that can bounce off enemies.
There are no health pickups, the only way to replenish Grit's health is to either sacrifice a weapon with a heal special attack, or disembark Grit and direct Flame towards the rare energy tanks hidden in the stages. A single health tank is able to heal about a fourth of Grit's starting lifebar, which is not that much. Flame is not as durable or powerful as Grit, but she can defend herself with an energy whip and is small enough to enter crevices in which Grit can't fit; some stages have entire sections dedicated to Flame where you have to leave Grit behind, with a teleport point for Grit at the end of the portion so you can continue.
Attacking feels good no matter the weapon you are using: small knives don't have much reach or power but are fast, relatively durable, and common, while other weapons sacrifice durability and powerful special attacks for reach and damage. You will never feel underpowered with a weapon in hand, though having to rely on Grit's unarmed fists will.
Graphics are, of course, 8-bit style. And it's a real shame, because there are some great animations and I would have loved to see this done with a richer colour palette. It would have surely helped in making stages less monotonous, there are a lot of blacks and dark tones used everywhere, and at times it takes a second or an attack to check if you can cross a tile.
Music is cool, but right now I think the only outstanding track is the main theme.
Before getting Panzer Paladin, I read many a good things about the title, so I had pretty high expectations. Unfortunately these weren't met: Panzer Paladin seems a competent platformer, but doesn't quite reach other games like Blaster Master Zero or Shovel Knight (it's easy to draw comparisons to those two due to game mechanics and graphics style). It's not bad, but its drawbacks weight down heavily on it. I'll report back when I finish it.
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