Saviorless was first announced back in 2016 by Empty Head Games. It was billed as the first independent game to come from Cuba, and, with the help of a U.S.-based publisher, the team was able to raise $10,000 through Indiegogo. Over the years, the determined development team overcame numerous challenges. They had limited access to resources, including internet access. They faced trademark issues over the original title, Savior. They lost a key member of the development team. And fraught U.S. relationships with Cuba hindered their ability to raise more funding after the first fundraising campaign. The $10,000 had dried up long before they finished development, yet the team’s passion and drive kept the project moving forward.
Eight years later, Saviorless is now launching on PC, Switch, and PS5. Empty Head Games has created a dark fantasy action game that hearkens back to the SNES-era with its stunning 2D artwork and challenging side-scrolling action.
A Dreamlike Narrative
Saviorless tells the story of a young boy, named Antar, who is journeying to reach a mysterious land known only as the Smiling Islands. Antar hopes to become what is known as a Savior, a sacred protector of the Smiling Islands. A group of three narrators, two of whom are “narrators in training,” appear periodically throughout the story, their own actions weaving with that of Antar’s story. These narrators appear to be more like gods, watching over the inhabitants of the land and guiding their stories. And there are rules they must follow to keep their world in balance.
Early in the story, the narrators-in-training ignore these rules and introduce a second protagonist to the story. Antar’s journey takes an unexpected twist, and his fate becomes intertwined with a power hungry creature named Nento. The player will occasionally play as Nento but primarily controls Antar.
Antar meets all manner of twisted characters on his journey to the Smiling Islands, many of whom seem to know more about Antar than they should, creating a surreal and unsettling atmosphere. It is unclear who is friend and who is foe. The developers have done a wonderful job creating a world that feels like you’ve stepped into a fever dream. The narrative, writing, and world building all have a surrealistic disjointed feeling that largely works in its favor.
That being said, the dreamlike quality of the storytelling at many points left me confused as to what was happening in the narrative. From the very start of the game, it feels as if the player is dropped into the middle of a story and provided little context. By piecing together character’s conversations, notes left around the world, and details in the environmental design, you feel as if you are just on the outside of a much more developed story-line but not allowed to fully partake. I very much wanted to understand the overarching story and how the different characters fit together, but I found myself struggling.
The character of Antar and his motivations are underdeveloped. Why he wants to become a protector of the land, or even who he is, is never explored. I wanted to feel a connection to him and his motivations, yet I couldn’t.
The story has two possible endings depending on whether you find all the collectable notes or not. I played the game twice as I missed a few collectables the first time through and wanted to experience both endings. I was disappointed on my second playthrough as I hoped finding all the collectables would provide an ending that left me with a clearer understanding of what happened in the story. Not only did it not, but I think I preferred the ending where I missed collectables. The reward for taking the time to go back and replay levels a few times to find all collectables did not feel worth the time invested.
While I am sure others will enjoy unpacking and dissecting the abstract aspects of Saviorless, I did not. I found it confusing to a fault and see it as the weakest part of the game. I wanted to form a connection with Antar to better connect with his journey but wasn’t able to. I wanted to understand how Antar and Nento were connected but struggled to see it. Thankfully, its incredible artwork and dynamic gameplay makeup for where the story left me wanting.
Artistic Marvels, Immersive Atmosphere
The most striking thing about Saviorless is its stunning hand-drawn artwork and animations. The environments are incredibly detailed and varied. Throughout the player’s journey, they will encounter a number of different biomes that all feel suitably twisted and unique while introducing gameplay mechanics specific to each.
Many times the backdrops reminded me of a dark take on Super Mario World, with eerie faces decorating the background scenery. I enjoyed every level and found myself taking the time to savor the design. You can feel the care and detail the team put into illustrating the world, and it pays off in a big way. Woven throughout the levels and character designs are religious iconography. The creators have stated they were inspired by stained glass artwork, which shows and is appreciated.
I also appreciate how the team experimented with various color palettes throughout the game. I expected it would stick to the muted and dark palette you experience in the early game, but, thankfully, I was surprised by the variance in the aesthetic across levels. The team has done a great job introducing visual diversity in terms of color and environmental design so that each level is visually interesting and tells its own story.
I also loved the ways the characters would subtly interact with the environment, such as having candles blow out as a character passes or bugs jumping out of nests once you step on them. These little details made the world feel much more alive.
The enemy and character designs are equally appealing – with perhaps the main protagonist Antar being the exception. Antar seems intentionally bland in comparison to his fantastic surroundings. Each level introduces new types of enemies that are all widely imaginative in their design and fit the environment. From conal robots that deploy a lightning area-of-effect when you approach to tentacled monsters that live in giant bells strung from the ceiling of a chapel, you never know what nightmarish entity you will encounter next. There was enough variety amongst enemy design that they never felt overused or redundant.
The music and sound design also work very well. Minimalist piano melodies emerge from dark droning atmospheric textures, creating an evocatively mysterious mood. Music adapts and changes based on what is happening on screen, whether that be pulling a lever to unlock a door or happening upon a fearsome enemy. Ambient sound effects also help push the environmental storytelling to greater heights, such as a distant crow cawing in a dark forest, the sound of bugs squirming in an underground tunnel, or the ringing of bells in a bloodstained chapel.
Navigating Challenges
Saviorless does a great job keeping gameplay fresh throughout the six hour stretch. Each level has new mechanics and enemies. In total, there are six levels, and each takes about one hour to complete. For the first part of the game, most of the mechanics are based around controlling Antar to avoid danger or finding ways to use them to his benefit. Antar has no way to attack at the start of the game, so you’ll be utilizing the environment to find ways to dispatch enemies or avoid them entirely. You might need to lure enemies into a trap or take control of different aspects of the level to unleash damage onto your foes.
Later in the game, Antar will gain the ability to transform temporarily and can attack enemies. While transformed, Antar will slowly lose health. He regains health by dealing damage to enemies or destroying pieces of the environment. This means that you are constantly looking for ways to deal damage to keep yourself sustained until you are able to transform back. It creates a satisfying sense of tension as you slash away at enemies to keep yourself fueled.
The ability to transform into Antar’s secondary form is dictated by the level design and is not something the player decides freely. There are specific markers that the player uses to change. When you see one of these, you know you will need to transform in order to pass whatever challenge awaits, and staying in Antar’s base form is not an option. Once you transform you are racing to get to the next checkpoint which will transform you back, smashing through enemies along the way. Either that, or you are surviving a timed onslaught of enemies. Overall, these sections are fun and provide a nice change of pace from Antar’s weaker form.
It’s worth mentioning that at various points you will play the secondary character, Nento. Playing Nento feels very similar to Antar’s more powerful form. The sections in the game where you play Nento are few and far between, serving more for story-driven purpose than for providing meaningful gameplay experiences.
I really appreciated how the game found moments to surprise me with mechanics that felt unexpected and totally unlike anything I had experienced up until that point in the game, such as controlling an elevator to avoid obstacles or taking control of a machine to shoot at targets. These moments kept me engaged and interested to see what other surprises might be in store. Boss fights also always had a unique set of mechanics that were fun to learn and conquer. All of this provides a good challenge that isn’t too easy but also is not frustratingly hard. I found myself needing to replay key moments in the game a couple of times to figure out how to proceed through trial and error, but this always felt fun and rewarding to learn.
The game has one set of collectables the player is strongly encouraged to find. Each level has five scraps of paper to collect. If you collect all five scraps of paper, you are rewarded with a momento. The first five levels have momentos for you to collect, while the last level does not. If you reach the end of a level and have missed a piece of paper, the player is given the option of replaying the level from the start to try again.
It’s important to note that missing any of the collectables has an impact on the ending of the game, which I did not realize until too late, leading me to play the game a second time to see both endings. Most of the pages are fairly easy to find, with a couple of exceptions. But if you aren’t actively searching, it is very possible to miss one, which is very frustrating as you can’t backtrack levels. Your only option is to restart the whole level over.
Even on my second playthrough, I found myself having to replay levels because I had somehow overlooked one piece of the page. This was not a good feeling, and I didn’t find this to be a fun gameplay design. It would have been nice to have a more forgiving system in place for players who did want to find all the collectables without replaying levels over and over again from the start. Also there is no level select, so if you miss one scrap partway through your playthrough, you’ll have to start the entire game over if you want to find them all. This was the mistake I made.
Another small complaint is that sometimes when you die, it takes you before a set of dialogue or a small cut-scene. Usually this would occur during a boss battle, when you are very likely to die as you learn the patterns. The dialogue and scenes were unskippable, which was surprising given that it was clear these were moments in the game when the player would be expected to try multiple times before succeeding.
Overall, Saviorless is a beautiful and incredibly fun experience that I would not hesitate to recommend to anyone interested. Also, at $12.99 you will certainly be getting your money’s worth from this game. The passion from the creators at Empty Head Games is felt in every part of this game. Saviorless is clearly a labor of love, and the hard work and perseverance from this up-and-coming indie studio has paid off. In a market saturated with games intended to steal as much of your time as possible, I always treasure finding a well-crafted bite-sized experience that focuses on quality over quantity. I congratulate the team at Empty Head Games for their first game and look forward to seeing what they come up with next.
Thank you to Dear Villagers and Press Engine for providing a key for Saviorless. You can find Seasoned Gaming’s review policy here.
