Afterimage is a beautifully hand-drawn Metroidvania-style game with satisfying melee combat and a satisfying array of options for overcoming many tough boss encounters. Fans of Hollow Knight and Blasphemous alike will love a lot here, as they share great visual aesthetics, tense platforming sections, challenging 2D combat, and a vast, interconnected world.
Developed by Aurogon Shanghai, Afterimage tells the story of Renee, an amnesiac girl who travels through the vibrant world of Engardin to track down and defeat the Goliath that haunts this world. Unfortunately, she helps this well, and her annoying sidekick, her Iffree, quickly exhausts the welcome with his raspy narration.
The RPG mechanics in play are very engaging, even if the massive skill tree is less flexible than first thought, and certain abilities are limited by level requirements. Still, you can build builds around the different weapons you come across, and each type has its own moveset. You can equip two weapons at once, and investing in the skill tree unlocks additional abilities for each weapon for even more customization.
Afterimage is a challenging game and also a very long game featuring over 30 boss encounters with a runtime of over 20 hours. Shattering may also be required for both XP and upgrade materials to power up your weapons. Thankfully, combat is fast and fluid, controls are finely tuned, and advantageous runs can be chained together later, so this aspect is no chore.
There is a veritable smorgasbord to overcome, and there are over 150 enemies in all, each lovingly designed to present a specific challenge to the player. Mixups can get very vicious later on, and boss encounters have multiple phases that require repetition and mastery to overcome.
With surprisingly deep combat and excellent visual design, Afterimage stands out enough in a genre that is rapidly becoming overcrowded. It won’t reinvent the wheel, but it will find a loving home in the hands of Metroidvania diehards.
