Worldless Review

2D Platforming and Turn Based Combat

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Platform: PS4/5 Xbox 1/X|S Switch PC

Reviewed on: PC

Developer: Noname Studios

Publisher: Caotsink

Release: November 20, 2023

Time Played: 6 hours

Genre: Action-Adventure RPG

ESRB: E

Worldless is a small, yet gorgeous indie game following a light as they traverse a battleground full of opposites locked in combat. The gameplay was a fun mix of turn-based combat and platforming. The story was convoluted but the gameplay and music more than made up for that. I played through the whole main “story” in about six hours, you can see it all from the playlist in the description, but first let’s talk about the various mechanics and figure out if this is a game for you.

Where it begins

The game starts with what looks like a big bang, filling a void with blue and orange lights. Soon after they begin to pull toward one another in what looks like vicious combat. Shortly after you wake up as a blue light being, just starting to explore and learn more about this strange life you’ve been created for. You’ll fight your way through different enemies and find lost treasures increasing your own strengths and abilities.

Can the kids watch?

It was a fascinating world with bright colors and combat. The fighting scenes weren’t graphic and may be kind of hard to tell what exactly is going on. There are a couple spots of dialogue, but it all has to be read. I don’t think it would be a problem for the kids to watch, but it feels like a game that would be more enjoyed alone, where you can really take in everything going on.

Environments

The world is made up of a few areas with differing colors and obstacles. When starting out your traversal abilities are limited. As you explore and discover new locations, you’ll unlock skills that will help you go farther. Some areas will hide special collectibles needed to increase health or stamina, behind a problem only solved by special abilities, forcing you to remember where it is and coming back later.

Turn Based Combat

A big part of the game will be spent in combat pitting you against other light monsters of various sizes and color. Worldless is a turn based game, allowing you to unleash a wave of attacks during your time limit, or trying to block and dodge incoming attacks. When an enemy is attacking a line will flash across the screen notifying you of what type of attack is coming so you’ll know how to deal with it. When you’re attacking you’ll have access to physical and magic attacks for a short period. Some enemies are weak to specific attacks so you’ll need to try them all until you dial it in.

Absorbing Enemies

Worldless is unique in the fact that you don’t want to eliminate your enemies as fast as possible. Most enemies have a health bar and an absorption meter. Now you could just beat them up until there is no health left, but there will be no rewards and the enemy will still be there. You need to play around with all of your skills to find the best way to build up the absorb meter so you can suck them up. When attempting to absorb, a random four button combination will appear, depending on how much absorb damage you have done more buttons will be shown. You can guess and get lucky for the questionable buttons, or do enough absorb damage for everything to show up. Absorbed enemies become points for the skill tree.

Skill Tree

The skill tree is broken up into the different skills available like certain attacks or block abilities. More branches can be uncovered as you find new weapons throughout the game. There was a small description about what the next node will provide before you purchase so you’ll know what your getting. The different nodes will require a blue or orange point to unlock, the points are taken from enemies or can be found lying around.

Personal Thoughts

I didn’t expect much going into Worldless, and it really surprised me between the visuals and gameplay. From the start the use of colors in the environment and characters was very pleasing, and the combat animations were very cool, albeit fast. There was that mechanic I loath with items hidden behind skill blocks, but the game was so small it didn’t really impede my progress. The design would bring me through areas I’d already explored to progress the story so I could pick things up without having to backtrack constantly.

I loved the unique mechanics involved with combat, where you are basically punished if you start using the same moves over and over again. They force you to think about the different moves that are available and to figure out the perfect combination to take down some enemies. Just using whatever they were weak to would diminish the hp bar and not allow you to absorb, meaning you have to start the fight all over again if you want to get that oh so precious skill point.

I believe the story is laid out to be more interpretive than anything. With little dialogue from mysterious large figures being the only words to go by I was forced to guess what was happening. I don’t really care for stories told in such a way, I like a more clear cut story about what is happening. There can be some enjoyment in making up your own ideas about what’s going on and can make for some nice discussions with the right people. Or can cause ridiculous arguments.

I beat the game in about six hours with a little bit left to obtain. There were some enemies I just couldn’t wrap my head around. I enjoyed my time with the game but I don’t really see a reason to come back after beating it once, unless there is a fond memory and you’d like to challenge yourself once again on a boring evening. I might be a little annoyed I couldn’t figure out an enemy and want to try again later with some newfound knowledge or gaming experience. It’s so hard to tell the future.

Conclusion

So without further ado, let’s give Worldless a final grade and place it on the shelf.

The visuals are definitely worthy of a five out of five.

A convoluted interpretive story can be hard to figure out and go through, forcing me to focus more on gameplay than anything, I’m giving it a two

The gameplay was very fun to figure out and I didn’t experience any odd bugs, that’s a five

Replayability comes out with a two

There was a small portion of my gameplay where I got lost and annoyed, but the majority was a blast, I’m giving it a four.

Making for an overall score of three point six. An excellent score for an indie game earning a spot right there on the top shelf.

If your into a decent turn based combat that involves a little more thought than button mashing and quite a bit of 2-d platforming this game is worth checking out. You can beat it in one long evening or complete the entire thing in a few short days.