Apotheon Review

Apotheon, at first glance, is a game that appears to rely heavily on its aesthetics. With an art style lifted directly from ancient Greek pottery, the game unsurprisingly takes its direction from that period in nearly every aspect, from story and level design, to soundtrack and weapon choices. But despite its dominant artistic direction, Apotheon avoids being a case of style over substance, and makes for a unique new entry in the decidedly over-saturated platformer genre.

The game opens with a cutscene establishing that the gods have inexplicably abandoned the mortal world, and in typical ancient Greek fashion, are in need of some convincing to intervene again. After defending your town from pirates-slash-slavers, the goddess Hera appears and explains that, also in typical ancient Greek fashion, everything is Zeus’ fault, as he’s called all the gods to Mount Olympus. Permanently.

You’re then given the choice of winning back the favour of the Olympians or...dying slowly and painfully in the barren wasteland that was once your home. Which is not much of choice, so one trip to Mount Olympus later and Apotheon begins in earnest. The game is an action platformer, emphasis on the action, and uses its pottery art style to its advantage in its level designs, which give each god or goddess’ realm a distinct aesthetic that sets it apart.

Apotheon’s maps are also surprisingly roomy, given its platformer nature, and encourage exploration of each area. Completing tasks is more often than not made easier by some item found in a wayward corner of the map, along with the application of some good old-fashioned strategy.

Where the game begins to hit roadbumps, however, is its combat system. Apotheon is largely driven by combat, but the game’s controls feel almost unnecessarily clunky; switching between weapons, aiming, and even using a shield can feel like they require an extra pair of hands or five. Added to the fact that enemies are already on the challenging side, it makes for at times frustrating gameplay. More often than not, I knew how to beat a particular monster, I just didn’t seem to have the dexterity to scroll to the appropriate item quick enough.

Personally, that frustration was where I turned sour on Apotheon--I’m not ashamed to admit I’ve ragequitted more than once over a particularly antagonistic section. But simultaneously, I’ve never considered platformers my forte, nor do I consider it among my favourite genres, and Apotheon did do an impressive job of holding my interest despite its challenging nature. The developers committed to their idea in both design and storytelling, and it’s paid off.

Players with more experience with, and love for, the platformer genre are likely to appreciate Apotheon’s polished visuals and clever design--many of the game’s puzzles don’t have obvious solutions, and even combat requires more than a little brainpower. It manages to pull off that rare thing that, while it wasn’t to my taste, I’d have trouble finding much in the way of fault with it. In short, it’s the sort of thing I’d happily recommend to a friend, and I’m excited to see what Alientrap does next.