REVIEW: RemiLore: Lost Girl in the Lands of Lore


Title	RemiLore: Lost Girl in the Lands of Lore
Developer	Nicalis, Inc
Publisher	Nicalis, Inc
Release Date	February 26th, 2019
Genre	Hack-n-Slash / Rogue-Like
Platform	Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Age Rating	E10
Official Website

RemiLore: Lost Girl in the Lands of Lore is a top down rogue-like adventure with lots of hack-n-slash action. It had been a good long while since I had played a game like this, but I usually enjoy them since they provide a decent challenge. Since this one is all about sweets, let’s see if it satisfied my sweet tooth for some action, or just gave me a cavity.

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The story follows a girl named Remi. She is a normal student, but one day in the library she awakens a strange book called Lore. They both are drawn into a strange world called Ragnoah. The two soon discover this world has been overrun with robot monsters. Then they encounter a strange android girl named Choux. She seems hell-bent on capturing Lore for some reason. The two must journey through this strange world to find their way home.

While this is a pretty basic tale, the banter between the characters is pure gold. Lore and Remi take a lot of shots at each other in fun, and these interactions are hilarious at times. This is certainly one of those times less was more. While the story isn’t deep or Earth shattering here, it is fun learning about this strange world and the origins of Lore and Choux. In the end, any shortcomings in this tale were made up for by these great characters. They kept me engaged from beginning to end.

Graphically RemiLore looks great. The character models are well detailed, and there are some really cute outfits to unlock as well. I mean if you can’t slay your foes with a sword, cuteness is the next best thing! The robotic monsters look great, and the bosses are as over the top as you would expect. The stages are nothing to write home about, but the lighting does change depending on which season the stage is located in. This was an interesting approach, and I have to say it worked really well. Weapon designs in this game are completely over the top and I love it. If you ever wanted to slay your enemies with Poop Hands or a Chocolate Banana, well here’s your chance!

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I have to say the soundtrack in RemiLore is one of its best features. It’s very light and upbeat. I found myself nodding along several times as I beat foes to a pulp with whatever weapon of destruction I was using at the time. This soundtrack honestly reminds me of something you would hear in a classic adventure game on the Saturn, and this is a wonderful thing! The characters are voiced in Japanese and for the most part I loved the voices. They really brought these characters to life. Lore’s voice does grate on my nerves at times, but it certainly fits the character.

The basic gameplay here is that of any normal hack-n-slash. You have two different types of attacks, a light and heavy attack. These can be used in tandem to form combos as usual. There are a few different types of weapons found in Ragnoah, these include short swords, hammers, gauntlets and more. Each weapon has a spell equipped that will aid the player on their journey. Some will bring forth powerful attacks such as lightning bolts or meteors, while others may give you strength buff or make enemies slower. What skill a weapon has is completely random, so you might get the exact same sword and it will have a different spell. This turns out to be both a blessing and a curse, since sometimes you may find a really awesome sword and it will have the crappiest spell in the game, or a poopy weapon with a great spell. This is where the rogue-like elements begin to creep in.

The stage layouts are randomly generated, so you’ll probably be playing a good while before you see the same layout twice. Each room will be filled with baddies you must dispatch. You will be graded on how well you do in each room based on time, damage and your biggest combo. The rank for each room will be tallied at the end of the stage and you will get some reward chests for your troubles. Another very rogue-like element is when defeating the mid boss of a level they will drop a question mark item. When you pick this up the effect here is completely random and it can be good or very bad. It can give a permanent health increase or decrease, change your weapon, change the spell equipped on the current weapon and more. I got screwed by this a couple of times really badly when I had a great weapon with an awesome spell and it changed it for something way less awesome.

The game contains 4 levels each with 4 stages, the last stage being just the boss battle. If you die on any of the stages you will have to start the level all over again no matter how far you progressed. This is kind of harsh, but given these stages aren’t huge it’s not too bad. This gives you time to gather more desserts to level up your skills. That’s right, Lore loves desserts, and each enemy slain or object you break will drop various treats. These will not only replenish your MP, but you can spend them to upgrade your skills as well. Death will not reset these skills, though you will lose some of the desserts you’ve collected. You can make your spells more powerful, make potions more effective and gain levels with the different weapon types. This will cause higher ranked weapons to appear from drops.

Now you may be thinking this game sounds really short, and you’re not wrong. You can beat story mode in about 3 or 4 hours easily, but after completing story mode is when things get really interesting. You get a second playable character and ton of new modes to play with. These modes include new difficulties, modes that make you faster but do less damage, boss rush mode and much more. These add a ton of spice to the mix and the replay value of this one is insanely high. Throw in some local co-op with a friend and I think this is well worth the $39.99 price tag.

I feel like RemiLore: Lost Girl in the Lands of Lore is a must buy title for fans of hack-n-slash and rogue-like games. This game combines both in one flawless package and plays just as good as it looks. The story and writing here are both very high quality and will have you laughing out loud at the character’s antics in no time. My only complaint is having to restart the entire level when dying on a stage but this is a very minor beef with such a great package. If you have a sweet tooth for a solid game on your Nintendo Switch, RemiLore will certainly satisfy your craving.