Isbarah Review

I found myself ready to break; Isbarah is a game that consists of a combination of both bullet hell and fast paced platformer that’s bite is as bad as its bark. You follow the journey of God’s daughter Iria, the sword and shield of God, who punishes anyone or anything that breaks the rules. The game is broken down into several chapters which contain three fights against some very tough bosses.

Even though Iria is a goddess, she will die against these bosses even on the easiest game setting, as you are only given three hearts to beat each boss. While the objective of the game mainly revolves around staying within a spot for a certain amount of time, it is nowhere near as easy as it sounds. Most people will find this game maddening, however it’s not impossible and is definitely worth the pain.

The game follows the story of Iria as she goes through a world where dreams have become a reality filled with the Designed, evil beings that have manifested from the nightmares of humans. When these manifestations get out of control, Iria is responsible for retaking control and punishing them. She also learns that the Designed have a reason for their restlessness, which is a result of her father’s strict orders. At first the story may seem a bit dry; it gradually grows into a tale about a fantastic heroine who changes from the arbiter of justice to a hero of understanding.

Iria is not without a few life-saving abilities that she inherited from her father, which allow her to dash rapidly out of the way, create platforms to escape enemy projectiles and slow down time temporarily. In order to survive you are going to have to master all of Iria’s abilities and utilize them together to avoid the hell that is Isbarah. Her ability to create platforms allows her to move about the map when she otherwise couldn’t. These platforms also allow Iria to temporarily block incoming projectiles so that she can move out of the way. Her dash can be used two times consecutively before it must recharge and if chained properly can allow you to evade an insane amount of enemy fire.

The controls in this game are the usual WASD movement keys, however where the game truly shines in control is the precise use of the mouse in order to dash between enemy projectiles. The use of the mouse is extremely well done and while it may seem out of place in a platform game, Isbarah would be impossible without it.

Precision in this game is absolutely essential to beat the majority of the bosses after the first chapter. The name bullet hell almost seems too tame for what this game is, as not only do you have to dodge an insane number of projectiles but you also have to stand in place in order to activate rail guns that attack your enemies. You must stay within the gun’s radius to charge it and upon activating all three of the guns you have a chance to hit the boss while he is disabled and regain a heart upon hitting the boss with your dash.

While the bosses will have you pulling your hair out piece by piece, I found that I thoroughly appreciated the work that went into the creation of both the characters and levels. The looks of the Designed range from almost humanistic looking creatures to monsters from your worst nightmare. Some things are hit or miss with the art direction, such as the cutscenes which are shown in a comic book style with little to no animation in them. The in game effects are on a different level, especially when you get to the final stages of a boss’ attack when projectiles start flying around in patterns that are near impossible to predict.
Dodging these projectiles to the game’s music is extremely satisfying for some reason. The soundtrack is a mix of intense metal guitar riffs and thrash style music that makes every single moment of Isbarah feel intense. Overall the presentation of both visuals and audio are very appealing and because of the well-designed bosses and projectiles the game feels very crisp.

While having the ability to create platforms, dash, and slow time down may sound like it makes the game too easy, I can easily say that Isbarah is by far one of the most challenging games I have played to date. Even at the lowest difficulty setting I found myself being tested to my every limit as fast reflexes are an absolute must when it comes to dodging multitudes of projectiles that will surely ruin your day. It has very few faults other than causing you no end of grief and frustration, but all that grief does give the player a sense of achievement once they finish a level. There is plenty of content jammed into this game and with the true difficulty of each different level you will find yourself never being bored. This game will beat your confidence in platformer/bullet games into the ground but if you like a challenge, this game is for you. Isbarah is one of those rare gems you find that helps to bring hope back into a genre that has been done to death.