Flynn: Son of Crimson Review

When you first see the title Flynn: Son of Crimson, you may be thinking that this game is related to the Tron movies because of the character name Flynn. I can confirm that this game has nothing to do with those films, but is a great-looking platforming game that will get your attention.

Flynn: Son of Crimson starts with our titular character having a snooze when he hears a voice pleading for his help as a great threat is approaching. Bohrin, the blacksmith of the village, has noticed how lazy and unhelpful Flynn has been as of late. He needs to step up and make himself more useful and his first task is to take Dex the huge wolf dog for a walk. Just because she is a guardian doesn’t mean she doesn’t need her walkies. Bohrin tells you to take his old wooden sword out of the shed and do some sword training while walking in the forest. By trimming the thorns and pesky vines Flynn is not only practising his sword handling skills, but also taking tasks off of Bohrin’s to-do list giving him more time to work on making weapons for the villagers.

Once you grab the huge wooden sword you head to Wildedge Grove. Like a good dog, Dex follows Flynn wherever he goes. Since Dex can’t climb ladders or wall jump up large platforms, you will need to solve small puzzles to open barriers that block her path. To open the barriers you will need to collect large red gems. The amount required is shown by the number of red diamonds on the barrier doors. Once the required gems are collected the door will open allowing passage. Some of these are time-sensitive so as soon as you grab the gem run as fast as you can to make sure you get through before it closes again. If you are too slow you will need to recollect the large gems again. 

Flynn: Son of Crimson makes it incredibly easy for you to spot your enemies. When you approach them a red health bar appears over their head. If the enemy is stunned by your attack, the bar will turn yellow. In the beginning, you will only be able to hit the enemy directly with the sword. As you progress and become more powerful you will be able to train and learn more advanced techniques. Using magic attacks to fire projectiles at your enemies and to freeze platforms made of liquid adds variety and challenge to the stages. Or if you are feeling evil, you can throw a fireball at an ice platform an enemy is standing on and watch them fall when the ice melts.  

The soundtrack for Flynn: Son of Crimson is great. At times it reminded me of the music you would hear in Chrono Trigger. It fits perfectly with the beautiful pixel-like graphics of the game. The backgrounds are brightly coloured, and there are animated elements layered on top of the back layer like leaves and birds. Having the birds fly away when you get too close was a great addition. That really brings the environment to life. 

The character design shows a huge variety of enemies and other villagers from your home. Dex looks like a strong yet incredibly adorable doggie-wolf character. Flynn, our main hero, starts off very non-threatening with a wooden sword. You know it's bad when the enemy is making fun of him for looking so weak and puny. But as time passes and he gains the ability to use the crimson power, like his father before him, he becomes the hero that the village and world desperately need.

Saving your game does not happen automatically. Flynn needs to reach the required monument that appears at the end of some stages. Finding this will depend on which route you take in that stage. Many of the stages have multiple paths, changing what route will become open to you upon completion. So if you can be sure to save before you quit your game so you don't lose any of your progress.

Flynn: Son of Crimson is a great game that fans of 2D platforming games will love. With a great story, beautiful visuals and epic soundtrack this is a must-play title. Plus, any game that gives you an animal companion automatically wins brownie points from me. I loved having Dex accompany me on my journey. For the parts when Dex wasn’t there, I felt lonely not having my buddy, so I was looking forward to when we would be able to team up again.