Veritus Review

As soon as you begin playing Veritus, you are introduced to the characters you will interact with on your journey. We also get to see what their 16-bit sprite looks like while running around in the game, and they all look great. It instantly brought back nostalgia for great titles from the Super Nintendo era of games. I am curious to see how this action-puzzler title will compare to other similar titles that I have played in the past.

When Veritus begins, you are in a dark, black void. You walk to the glowing star on the screen and get a mysterious message from your brother saying that there isn't much time left. Follow the sparkling trail that leads you to Enetha. She tells you that you must fulfil your duty and remember only what drives you forward. Those who seek light will find it, as will those who seek shadow. You were in total darkness; it has now been wiped away, and you find yourself in a dungeon.

You are playing as Oran Graile, a miner who is the protagonist of our story. His weapon of choice is a pickaxe, and he can break grey rocks with it. While exploring the dungeon, you will solve puzzles in almost every room to progress; some are simple, while others require a special item to solve. There, you will find items as you explore the rooms of the dungeon that you can currently access. These weapons will also be used to defeat the boss that you will need to fight. Besides the loot that you find in chests, you can also buy other items that you can use to upgrade your armour and weapons. The most common enemies you see in the beginning are zombies that pop up from the ground and chase after you; they aren't very intimidating because they are incredibly cute!

As you explore the area, you will meet other characters who are your friends and will join your team. They don’t walk around with you, but they usually hang out at the camp and will help you out in other ways, like Yoru, who upgrades your weapons with the items you have found; Sonny, who cooks food for you; or Zaegul, the merchant who sells you random items. Scroon acts as your save point, recording your progress, restoring your health, and removing the bloodstains from your clothing before you set out to explore once again. You usually find him hanging out in the painting that looks like a beach. There is no voice acting here; instead, the characters only say “um hmm”.

Castle Veritus is where you have your camp and will start your exploration. This place is in a pocket that is totally separate from the outside world, and as such, you won’t die but instead be taken back to your last save point or to the entrance. The story of Veritus is told through books you find set up in all the different rooms. This was a nice way of doing it, as the story is quite long and detailed, and having to sit through it all at once would not be very enjoyable.

I will warn you that there is no map available to access as you explore the dungeons that you have been to before, but at least this is an option available to go back to the other locations so you can collect any items that you may have missed your first time through. I did spend a lot of time trying to figure out where I had to go next, and if there was a section in the wall I could break, that would take me to a new location. It was getting frustrating going through the same rooms over and over again and not being able to see what I needed to do to make progress in the story.

The controls are tight, whether you play on PC with a controller or on the Steam Deck. You also can play with a keyboard, but I found it harder to use since there isn’t a key binding option and using Enter and K for your primary and secondary weapons was a little tricky. If you die, you respawn back at your camp, which is usually located at the entrance of each dungeon, which isn’t the worst as you can return to the adventure and not lose the progress you gained before dying. Fortunately, the music is very catchy, so I never got sick of hearing it over and over again, as I had to start over a lot. Veritus can be quite challenging, as some of the enemies that you encounter can be quite strong, and if you aren’t careful, the multiple foes that keep respawning fill the room, making it easy to get overwhelmed. The boss battles didn’t feel unfair; they were actually a lot of fun trying to learn the pattern of the attacks and find the best time to go in for the hit.

One of the most useful items you will find is a lariat. This item works like the hook shot in The Legend of Zelda, it lets you cross gaps in the floor or water, and it also enables you to pull in weak enemies to attack. Be aware that if you fall into a hole or into water, you will lose the full heart of your health. Once your health is totally depleted, you will have to start back at the entrance or the last location that you saved at. So be sure to keep an eye out for heart ore that is spread around the dungeon. If you collect enough of these, it will increase your vitality and give you an extra heart of health.

I’ve had a satisfying, yet sometimes frustrating, time playing Veritus. The puzzles were fun and challenging, but the lack of a map made it more difficult than it should be. The boss fights were a lot of fun and required a bit of strategy, but I never felt that they were unfair or that I didn’t have the tools I needed to be victorious. Veritus is priced quite reasonably, it’s around £5 or $6.51 US so I feel it’s definitely worth trying it out for that price. Just be prepared to make your own map on some paper, or to wander around the same area multiple times.