Gestalt: Steam & Cinder is the perfect Metroidvania for the weekend

The red hair swirls, a fiery blade swishes and the revolver pops. Aletheia is a living fireball that elegantly ploughs through hordes of enemies. The beautiful pixel graphics and animations put me in a kind of gaming trance to the rhythm of the soundtrack. Gestalt: Steam & Cinder looks and plays really nice.

What’s it about?

Gestalt: Steam & Cinder is the debut game from developer studio Metamorphosis Games. You play Aletheia, a lonely mercenary who takes on jobs in and around the city of Irkalla. The steampunk-like world of Canaan has been devastated by a centuries-long war between the humans and the Arkhaians. Somehow, Aletheia gets caught up in this conflict, which she would like to stay away from.

I don’t want to reveal any more about the content of the story. It’s nothing out of the ordinary. The twists become apparent early on and there are no surprises. What’s more, the way the story is told doesn’t suit me at all. Everything is told to me straight, nothing akin to «show, don’t tell». I have to read a lot to keep up with what’s going on, more than usual in Metroidvanias.

Small but neat

There’s enough to explore in the game to keep things interesting. Compared to industry leader Hollow Knight, the world of Gestalt: Steam & Cinder is small. The game’s rather short anyway. I saw the credits for the first time after seven hours, but I hadn’t yet explored the map 100 per cent. There are still a few chests for me to discover.

Exploration is fun, and the world feels well thought out. It feels great to steer Aletheia through the world. The controls respond excellently, as does the combat system. In contrast to Nine Sols, however, Gestalt: Steam & Cinder doesn’t have a block function and also lacks souls-like elements. In other words, if I die, I won’t be punished for it.

Some options don’t make sense

Two different shots with the revolver as well as a strong and weak attack with the sword are available in the game. I can also dodge with a roll or a quick step back. Both abilities are assigned to different buttons. In the end, I only used the roll, the other abilities seemed superfluous to me.

Gestalt: Steam & Cinder has me level up over time. In a skill tree, I spend points on more health, a stronger attack or skills. The system itself is superfluous – I can’t really experiment with builds. I level up enough in the course of the story to max out my skills anyway. So why not just get the skills and status improvements automatically when I level up?

The equipment situation is very similar, allowing me to equip accessories. I did this initially, but forgot that I could change things later. It only occurred to me before the final boss. The ability to equip items doesn’t really help – I can get through the game fine without it.

Wonderful world

The highlight of Gestalt: Steam & Cinder is undoubtedly its presentation. The hand-drawn pixel world is simply beautiful, with a style strongly reminiscent of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, just much more colourful.

Then there’s the wonderful soundtrack. The tracks are catchy, and I really get into a flow while slaughtering hordes of enemies.