Nelson Schneider's Game Review of Apotheon

Rating of
4.5/5

Apotheon

A Godlike Metroidvania Experience
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 03/04/16

“Apotheon” – whose title means ‘away from the gods’ or ‘godless’ in ancient Greek – is the fourth game developed by Toronto-based Canadian Indie developer, Alientrap. Having squandered my college experience studying the ancient world with a particular focus on Greece, I constantly find myself disappointed in entertainment media that use that particular culture for their basis. Movies, TV, videogames: regardless of format, it seems that nobody ever bothers to do their research and accurately portray either the historical or mythological aspects of an incredibly interesting culture that spanned centuries and at one point controlled the majority of the known world. Thankfully, Alientrap is the exception to the rule, as they did do their research and have created in “Apotheon” the single most compelling piece of ancient-Greece-based pop media I have ever experienced.

Presentation
“Apotheon” is a 2D sidescroller with an incredibly novel aesthetic. All of the graphics are stylized in the manner of ancient black-figure pottery, which was popular around the 6th Century B.C. Naturally, because it is modelled after black-figure pottery, the game’s color pallet is rather limited. However, each of the game’s many areas overlay a color filter on the basic pottery-colored graphics, changing the tone and warmth/coolness of the visuals in a striking way. Characters are well-animated for black-figure pottery brought to life, while the designs are incredibly true-to-form and don’t pull any punches. Yes, there are lots of satyrs with their giant erections sticking out. Yes, many other people are completely naked. This was the way of the world, and it is too often Bowdlerized to protect the innocent eyes of good Christians. The only minor flaw with “Apotheon’s” black-figure style graphics is that in black-figure pottery, men are represented in black and women are represented in a kind of off-white color. The title screen for the game gets this detail right, but in-game men and women are both represented in black.

The audio is likewise spectacular. The soundtrack is hauntingly beautiful and employs both vocals and period instruments. Also, while it is rare for an Indie game to have voice-acting of any sort, “Apotheon” is fully voiced by a cast of unknowns who did a fantastic job.

The only ding against “Apotheon’s” presentation is the number of small, non-game-breaking glitches that remain in the final product. I encountered issues with certain crafting recipes doubling-up in my inventory and behaving strangely and experienced a single crash during the climactic final battle. Other than those minor flaws, “Apotheon” is a very solid piece of software.

Story
Ripped from the pages of primary sources, like Hesiod, Apollodorus, and the Homerics, “Apotheon” provides a first-hand account of the end of an era of humanity. According to many versions of the Greek Mythological Cannon, Zeus, the father of gods and men, created – and eventually destroyed – a number of generations of mortals – the Golden, Silver, and Bronze ages – as well as a generation of demi-gods prior to the real-world-era Iron age in which the historical Greeks lived.

Extrapolating on this mythological basis, “Apotheon” takes place during an imagined end of the Iron age, in which Zeus decrees that all of the Olympian gods withdraw their gifts and powers from the world of mortals so that mankind might be wiped away one final time. Our hero, a man named Nikandreos (which translates to ‘manly victory’) refuses to accept the end of humanity, and takes up arms to defend his home village of Dion from desperate raiders. Hera, the perpetually-scheming queen of Olympus and wife of Zeus, takes note of Nikandreos’ determination and combat abilities and decides to use Nikandreos and the opportunity presented by the end of the world to take vengeance upon Zeus for his constant infidelity. Hera imbues Nikandreos with the power to harm gods and sends him to Mount Olympus where he must infiltrate and usurp the powers of the pantheon in order to eventually reach Zeus and lay him low.

As Nikandreos explores Olympus, which is crowded with dozens and dozens of minor divinities seeking refuge from the destruction below, he makes both friends and enemies among the gods, kills several of them outright, and must navigate the pettiness and treachery that saturated the Greek’s view of the gods, who weren’t all that different from the petty and treacherous mortals who occupied the aristocratic ranks of society.

I particularly like the fact that the Olympians are portrayed accurately and that snippets of text from primary sources are scattered throughout the game on monoliths. These quotes provide context for the gods’ behavior and tie the fictional events of the game closely to the body of actual mythology. The beauty of using primary sources as a guideline for the narrative is that the game’s plot is never allowed to go off the rails as so many other Greek-inspired stories do (I’m looking at you, “Clash of the Titans.”). It also goes to show that authentic mythology contains plenty of mindblowing stories, creatures, and characters, and thus doesn’t really need to deviate far from the original material.

Gameplay
“Apotheon” is a fairly non-linear Metroidvania-style Action/Adventure game with a focus on melee combat and exploration. Upon entering each of two main tiers of Mount Olympus, the player can guide Nikandreos through three mandatory and two optional encounters with that tier’s deities in any order. Unlike a traditional Metroidvania, there is not a whole lot of backtracking to do in “Apotheon” outside of tracking down secrets in already-cleared areas, simply because there aren’t any movement/exploration-based power-ups to be acquired. For the most part, the upgrades Nikandreos gets for claiming a god’s portfolio are all combat-based.

The combat is, of course, the core of the game, and accurately represents the sloppy, frantic combat of the ancient world. Nikandreos can carry a huge arsenal of period weapons ranging from spears to swords to hammers to bows, and can even pick-up and hurl boulders at enemies in a nod to the combat in the Iliad. Combat is a twin-stick affair using a standard Xinput controller, with character movement mapped to the right stick and character facing mapped to the left. Nikandreos can also use a shield to block blows or shield-bash enemies into submission. Overall, the combat can feel a bit clunky, and frantically trying to stab a backpedaling enemy will drain Nikandreos’ stamina, resulting in even slower, clunkier movements, but overall does work fairly well.

The one thing about “Apotheon’s” combat that I really should hate is the fact that all weapons have limited durability and cannot be repaired. Instead they must simply be replaced when they break (or pre-emptively, before they break). The only reason weapon breakage didn’t end up annoying me is the overwhelming plentitude of weapons and shields lying around for Nikandreos to pick-up. Constantly cycling through different weapons as they break also helped keep combat from stagnating, as did choosing the best weapons to engage specific enemies.

The exploration aspect of “Apotheon” is fairly streamlined, but well done. The game keeps an accurate auto-map, which always shows where hidden treasure chests are, but leaves it up to the player to figure out how to reach them. Most optional areas are hidden behind locked doors (which require a lockpick to open) or cracked walls (which require Greek Fire to blow up), while a number of side quests provide access to others.

Perhaps the most interesting part of “Apotheon’s” game design is the way in which puzzles and non-standard combat are threaded throughout the gods’ domains. Very few of the gods Nikandreos must usurp simply fight him to the death head-on, instead they tend to pose challenges, ranging from a uniquely bizarre hunting competition to navigating a rotating maze. If every boss fight was simply a deathmatch, “Apotheon” wouldn’t have been nearly as engaging.

Overall
“Apotheon” is a love letter to ancient Greek mythology. From the striking black-figure aesthetics to the meticulously researched mythology references, to the non-linear and engaging gameplay, “Apotheon” is a fantastic 10-hour experience. Everything about this Indie game screams quality and attention to detail in ways that big-budget mythology projects never do. Anyone who loves Greek mythology and Metroidvania-style Action/Adventure games needs to own this title, as it is likely to become a long-time favorite and one of the most memorable games of the 8th Generation.

Presentation: 4.5/5
Story: 4.5/5
Gameplay: 4.5/5
Overall (not an average): 4.5/5

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