Wren’s Resurgence is a 2D action platformer where you play as Wren, an agile warrior on a mission to rescue her sister Swan from a land overrun by Yokai. The game combines fast-paced combat, platforming, and exploration, with a focus on Japanese folklore and mythology. While it has several strong points, such as the visuals and the story, it is limited by clumsy mechanics, repetitive enemies, and technical issues.
Wren’s journey to save her sister Swan is filled with emotional charge and intrigue. On her way, she meets various characters—some assist her, while others have hidden motives. The game world is inspired by Japanese folklore, with Yokai enemies and rich, Japanese landscapes that create a striking atmosphere. The narrative is engaging, and the concept of documenting the Yokai in Wren’s diary is a nice addition that deepens the game world.
Although the game has a solid story and a well-established setting, other aspects fail to meet expectations. The animations feel clumsy, and the cutscenes last too long. Even though you can skip them, that process itself takes unnecessarily long. Additionally, the text loads at a slow pace, and you cannot skip already read lines of dialogue. It is frustrating to wait five seconds for the text to appear when you could read it much faster.
The gameplay combines combat, platforming, and exploration, but this is where Wren’s Resurgence falters the most. The combat is fast, but it feels clumsy and unfinished. Wren uses a katana and can unlock additional weapons, but hit detection is inconsistent; attacks sometimes pass through enemies without dealing damage, which is extremely frustrating. The parry system is also awkward and difficult to time correctly, making defensive maneuvers feel unreliable. Although the combat is simple and easy to understand, it’s simply not fun.
Wren is agile and has abilities like a double jump, quick dash, and wall climbing. However, the controls often feel imprecise, especially during platforming sections. Countless times I tried to climb a wall only to fall for no reason, even though Wren should have reached the top without issue. The platforming requires near-perfect precision, which can be frustrating and inconsistent.
My biggest issue with the game is the poor level design. Nearly all areas feel the same: a multitude of buildings, endless climbing, mindless platforming, and repetitive enemy encounters. Although you can collect fragments to unlock occasional upgrades or exchange them with the Kitsune, this doesn’t feel particularly rewarding. The gameplay often boils down to aimless wandering with no clear sense of purpose or progression.
In addition, every area is cluttered with collectible items that don’t add much value, and they are scattered all over the map. The map system itself is also problematic; the local view works fine, showing your exact location and movement, but the global map doesn’t work correctly; it got stuck on the first major area and wouldn’t change. Save and rest points are useful, but backtracking is unnecessary unless you want to find hidden items. Unfortunately, these items are hard to spot, with no clear indicators, and the fixed, zoomed-in camera hinders exploration by limiting the field of view.
The game includes 36 Yokai inspired by Japanese folklore, but there is a lack of variety within individual levels. As mentioned earlier, many levels contain only two or three enemy types, which makes combat monotonous. Furthermore, the balancing is poor; some enemies are too powerful, while most are too weak. The boss fights are solid, but they also suffer because of the game’s clumsy mechanics.
Wren can upgrade her equipment and unlock new powers using currency acquired each time she defeats an enemy. However, opportunities to spend the currency are limited, and the upgrades do not feel significant enough to noticeably change the gameplay itself. The Omamori talisman, which provides protection and adds to the Yokai lore, is an interesting concept but does not contribute much to the overall game experience.
Visually, Wren’s Resurgence leaves a mixed impression. The Japan-inspired landscapes are lush and beautifully designed, creating a strong atmosphere. The character and enemy designs are also high quality; the Yokai look solid and are faithful to their folklore roots. However, the lighting in some levels, such as the sewers, is poorly implemented, making visibility and navigation difficult. The User Interface (UI) is functional but lacks polish, meaning it looks generic and could have a more stylized design to better fit the game’s aesthetic.
If you are a fan of action platformers and Japanese folklore, Wren’s Resurgence might be worth considering for its story and atmosphere. However, due to the frustrating combat and technical issues, it is difficult to recommend it in its current state. With certain updates and improvements, this could be a significantly better game, but for now, it remains a promising but imperfect experience.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Solid story. | Clunky combat. |
| Beautiful landscapes. | Repetitive enemies. |
| Boss fights. | Pointless platforming. |
| Technical issues. |
Review copy provided by the publisher
2.6
