I’ll have to be honest, the part of me that got excited for this game was the part that grew up with ‘Kid Icarus’. The screen shots reminded me of that title for a lot of reasons.
NyxQuest is a side scrolling adventure game with a bit of puzzle solving as well. The story follows an angel who falls in love with a human and goes to Earth to save him. She makes her way through Greek ruins, flying around to dodge past baddies like harpies and other mythological creatures.
I found the storyline to be really interesting. That’s not something you’ll hear often from me, as I tend to ignore story lines when playing games. This one actually got my attention and held it well. The part that stood out the most was at the end of the first level where a giant statue of Zeus comes to life to tell you that while he doesn’t approve, he will support you on your quest. Everything is very well written.
Sadly, the part where the game is lacking, is the controls. You have a left and right button, and an action button for jumping, gliding and flying. With the action button, the first press jumps, then you can flap your wings five times before they get tired, and hold it to glide. You also have to solve puzzles like adjusting pillars with your finger (making sure the control buttons aren’t in the way when you go to move them). I found that they just didn’t feel accurate. There was more than one moment where I was trying to run from harpies while adjusting some pillars, only to not be able to hit any button accurately.
The aforementioned baddies are also a bit of a pain. They chase you when they can see you, and all you can do is run away. It becomes rather frustrating and a bit repetitive. I guess I was just hoping for a bit more variety. I did manage to finish the game, but it was very frustrating (another thing it shared in common with Kid Icarus!) and left me a bit unfulfilled.
In Conclusion
NyxQuest’s retina display graphics look quite impressive offering a visually engaging experience. The story that unfolds while playing NyxQuest is both interesting and captivating and is itself, quite worth it. If you’re willing to put up with dodgy controls and frustrating enemies, it can be worth the reward. The game is available in separate iPhone ($3.99) and iPad ($4.99) releases. I’d recommend checking out the lite version before making the full app purchase.
