Game Review: Risky Chronicles and The Curse of Destiny

By Al

Players: 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC

Risky Chronicles and the Curse of Destiny is an action platformer that's inspired by similar games from the '90s, and maybe by a certain whip-wielding archeologist you may have seen in movies. It's out now on the Nintendo Switch and PC, and we're going to be taking a look at the Switch version today. There's lots to explore, so let's get right into it!

I'm not really sure how to tackle discussing the plot of Risky Chronicles, as I'm not totally sure that it has one. You take on the role of Risky, an Indiana Jones-like adventurer who is exploring exotic locales like an Aztec temple, a pyramid, a prehistoric cave, and so on. He's not so much collecting treasures in these areas, he's simply killing the wildlife and magical creatures that live within, and generally trespassing. He even has a motorcycle that you'll see in a few of the game's levels. Other than that implied premise, there's nothing more to the story as far as I can tell. We never learn what Risky's motivations are, nor are we ever really given clarification as to what is causing all these mystical areas to suddenly be filled with fantastical monsters and the occasional literal god. I'm going to assume that the story in this game is just an afterthought and move on with the review.

Gameplay is a much simpler topic to discuss, as there isn't a whole lot to it. You run, jump, and have various attacks at your disposal. You can shoot a gun that has limited ammo, throw bombs, and even use a knife when all else fails. None of these skills help you out much though, as it only takes a single hit to take out Risky. You're given a decent amount of lives, and you seem to get extra ones rather quickly, but half of this game's issues could've been fixed if it had something resembling a health bar mechanic. Things are made more annoying when you realize that there are enemies that are extremely hard to kill since they're too low to the ground. (I'm looking at you snakes!) They're are also lots of traps that have some of the worst hitboxes that I've ever seen. Checkpoints are frequent in the first stage, but you'll find that subsequent stages are marathons where you have to accurately remember every single movement required to not have to redo the entire section again. Each level also ends with a boss fight, but these are probably the worst part of the entire game as they all have big life bars that require dozens of hits to take out. Risky Chronicles claims to be inspired by action platform games of the 90s, and it does seem to be capturing vibes of Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure, but it has nowhere near the polish needed to make a game this hard anything other than frustrating.

While I'm willing to admit that there are some people who might find the game entertaining purely as a game that offers a high level of challenge, I have to think that there are better difficult games out there. There's no shortage of tough platformers, and just about all of them play better than Risky Chronicles. I mentioned the hitbox issues earlier, and there are several traps in the game that seem to have a square hit box even though they're round. This is a hard thing to explain in writing, but you'll quickly realize what I mean after you die several times from a circular saw blade that's nowhere near you. Then there's the weirdness of the jumping. Every platform in the game seems to be JUST far enough away that it'll take your full jumping arc to clear, and the controls are nowhere near precise enough for this kind of thing to be the norm. There wasn't a single time where I felt confident my jump would clear a gap in platforms, and that's not even taking into account the fact that you'll probably be blindsided once you hit the other side. If everything I said wasn't enough, there are traps and unseen enemies around every corner. Arrows and projectiles come from off-screen, enemies can fall from above, and Risky can barely outrun even the simplest of obstacles. If I wasn't writing a review, I would've given up without even completing the first stage. I very nearly gave up again in the second stage once I realized that checkpoints were suddenly in short supply. The entire level felt like a grueling endurance run, and I didn't have a single second of fun. I ultimately gave up once I reached the third stage, and I don't regret it one bit. Thanks to a rather generous continue system, I do think that the game can be beat if you have patience, but that's just not something I ever see myself doing.

I find it rather odd that I think that Risky Chronicles has some rather nice presentation in spite of its many gameplay issues. It doesn't have the best title screen or in-game options menu, but near everything else presentation-wise is fairly well done. The level select screen, the stage intros, and even the graphics and music themselves all look great, even if they have something of a mobile game look to them. Then there's the graphics themselves that DO remind me a lot of PC platformers I used to play in the late '90s. I don't want to make it sound like this game is a graphical powerhouse, but the designs are neat, and everything is suitably colorful and cartoony. Also, not that I was really expecting anything otherwise, the game runs perfectly fine on the Switch. Things get better once we talk about the game's soundtrack. Even though part of me wonders if the music in Risky Chronicles was made for the game, I have to admit that it's all pretty good. As a matter of fact, the soundtrack was the one aspect of the game that I truly enjoyed without much issue. While I do wish the same attention to detail was given to the sound effects, the death scream Risky and the human-like monsters make is silly enough that I'm willing to overlook that many actions have no sound at all attached to them. That's probably the only thing the game really gets right: its silly, but decently executed, presentation. Risky Chronicles never takes itself too seriously, and that's a good thing considering the state the rest of the game is in. The big question though is whether decent graphics and music can make up for an otherwise borderline unplayable game, and I'm not really sure they do.

I'll admit that I only put in about two hours of gameplay during my time with Risky Chronicles, but that two hours represented maybe 15-20 minutes if it weren't for the constant cheap deaths. Judging by the level select screen, there seem to be 9 stages, most of which I never saw outside of screenshots from the game's press kit. I'd normally give games like this a rather mid rating because I have to think that someone out there will enjoy them, but the game's $9.99 price tag feels just a bit too much for a game of this quality. I know that it might sound wild that I'm claiming a ten dollar price tag to be too expensive, but I've played several games of this caliber for half the price. At the very least, I can assure everyone that you'll more than likely be playing this game for hours and hours on end, even if those hours are spent trying to inch your way closer to the current level's end.

While there were a few parts of Risky Chronicles and the Curse of Destiny that I liked, I don't think I can give it much of a recommendation. If you're looking for a tough-as-nails platformer, this might be for you, but I also think that there are better games out there still. Everyone else is probably better off just staying away from this one, or only picking it up at a steep discount. I really wanted to like this game, but it made it hard to do so. As it stands, I can't see myself finishing it. Thankfully the same can't be said about this review. See you all in the next one!

Check Out Risky Chronicles and the Curse of Destiny on Nintendo Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/risky-chronicles-and-the-curse-of-destiny-switch/

---

Story: N/A (???)
Gameplay: D
Graphics: B
Music/Sound: B
Value: C

Overall: C

Pros:
+ A challenging action platformer for those looking for that kind of thing.
+ The character and enemy designs are well done, and the colorful and cartoony graphics look great.
+ The soundtrack is probably the single best part of the game.
+ There's a certain humor to everything that is rather enjoyable.

Cons:
- The one-hit kills ruin what could've otherwise been a fun game.
- Infrequent checkpoints mean that one mistake will have you redo long stretches of the game over and over again.
- Unfair boss fights, off-screen traps, and hard-to-kill enemies make the game near unplayable at times.
- The controls and hitboxes are way off for a game so reliant on platforming.
- Seems rather over-priced for the quality of the game.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

---

#RiskyChroniclesAndTheCurseOfDestiny