Game Review: S. Prysm Destroyer

By Al

Players: 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, XBox One, XBox Series XS, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5

It's not too often that the name of a game developer is more intriguing than the game itself, but that's the case with that's the case today. S. Prysm Destroyer is an arcade-style shooter developed by MaidsWithGuns, and published on consoles by EastAsiaSoft. It's a quirky little title that we looked at on the Nintendo Switch, but it's also available on every other major platform as well. This is going to be a quick one, so let's just dive right in.

I was shocked when I learned that S. Prysm Destroyer actually had a story, as I literally learned about it minutes before starting this review. The game places you into the shoes of a girl named Armor, whose boyfriend was a wiz at creating robots. One day he tragically died, and left behind his mech in Armor's care. Meanwhile, an army of mechanized enemies known as the Primordial control life as we know it, and have nearly destroyed all of human civilization. Armor then decides to pilot her boyfriend's mech herself, and thus she sets out as humanity's savior. There's a bit more regarding energy from things called "prysmals", but that's really all you need to know. You actually don't need to know any of it, because not a single word I just mentioned is told to you in the game itself. The entire story only exists on the game's eShop description, and I find it hard to judge a game's plot if you can't even find it without extra digging. I'm going to leave it out of the actual final review, though I felt it was worth bringing up for the sake of thoroughness.

I guess now it's time to turn towards gameplay. S. Prysm Destroyer is your standard run 'n gun game, but you're a cute anime girl inside a robot. You only control the mech, and Armor's presence is indicated only by a small icon in the corner of the screen. There is a radar display in the corner opposite of Armor, but Armor's... bounciness will likely distract you from seeing it. Besides that, the radar display is rarely all that helpful beyond letting you know if a wall of enemies is around the next corner. Your mech can run, jump, and attack with a standard gun. You can fire your gun in the air, while crouching, and even in just all directions if you hold down a button that locks you in place. There are also several power-ups scattered throughout each level, but they all are time-limited. These mostly increase your firepower, though you can also pick up shields that keep enemy attacks from causing you damage. Your mech has a standard life bar that you can recover via health pickups, but dying means an instant Game Over. Your robot does gain a powered-up form around halfway into the level, though it honestly looks more impressive than it truly is in practice. There are no boss characters, and the same four levels will loop continuously, getting harder each time, until you die. There are local and online leaderboards to place your scores into, and you can also unlock several outfits once you've met specific conditions like defeating a certain number of enemies in a specific time, or getting through a stage without taking damage. Though it may seem like I just started this review, I basically laid out the entire game already. It's short, it's simple, but it has a certain charm all its own.

One aspect of S. Prysm Destroyer that I particularly liked is how quickly the player is able to get in and out of action. Calling a game "fast-paced" might seem boring, but it describes this game perfect. Most online sources compare the game to Contra, but it far outpaces that arcade/console classic. Most runs will only last a few minutes, and the magic lies in replaying the game until you get better. There's also no lives system here, so it feels like you're playing on a constant hardcore mode. This can come with its own problems, but they're easy enough to get over. There was a point early on where I thought I'd never beat the first level, but it only took a couple more tries before I was looping the entire game. The enemies themselves can be quite random, but mowing down waves of them is always entertaining. The Game Overs rack up quickly, but it's hard for them to feel unfair when the only thing you're losing out on is a higher score. I guess that does mean that there are some outfits with near impossible goals attached to them, but I was never planning on getting them all anyway. It also helps that the graphics have a grain-y PSOne-style look to them that is somehow perfectly retro, while not being a detriment to the gameplay. The soundtrack is really upbeat too, and it does a good job driving the action forward. Neither will do much to sway you towards the game if you don't like the core gameplay loop, but they were more than adequate as far as I was concerned. Now is also a good time to mention that the game ran fine on the Nintendo Switch, even when the action got intense.

Even though I had a blast playing S. Prysm Destroyer, there are a few negative points I feel are worth mentioning. Most important of all would be the game's punishing difficulty. I know I said that I was able to get passed that hurdle after a while, but it never made it feel as balanced as it should've been. If the game were simply hard for the sake of being hard, that would be one thing, but there are times when things felt unfair. I very often would get hit from enemies that were off-screen, and taking out gun turrets usually meant tanking a hit or two thanks to their awkward placement. Not to bring up that Contra comparison again, but that game has tight gameplay where the deaths rarely felt cheap. Here? It's a wonder that anyone can beat that second loop. Pro players might contest what I just said, but it truly felt as if most of the damage I was taking was not through any fault of my own. Also, the powered-up mode just made the game feel even harder somehow. In that mode you have a big fire attack that can take out enemies quickly, but it feels very imprecise when compared to the standard gun. More often than not I'd simply try to run to the end of the stage whenever I was in that form, and I hated that you couldn't just simply skip picking up the crystal that changes you in the first place.

The other big negative with S. Prysm Destroyer has to do with its overall longevity, or lack thereof. I played the game for about two hours, and that was only because I felt I needed to put in more time if I was to write this review. I'm not exaggerating one bit when I say that I saw everything the game had to offer in the first 30 minutes, and I had seen every level about ten times by the end of the first hour. Focusing on unlocking some of the costumes isn't all that fun either, since getting the rarer ones requires a level of precision I'm not sure the game has. It doesn’t help that the costumes are barely visible to begin with. You only ever see them fully in the title screen, and they're cropped in the corner display during the actual game. They're an afterthought at best, and I'm never one too care too much about things like leaderboards. I'm sure there's a lot of replayability for those who live for high scores, but that's just not my cup of tea.

S. Prysm Destroyer is a pretty fun game, but it's a hard sell at its current $7.99 price point. I know that some gamers don't care about pricing all that much, but it really does feel a bit high for the amount of content you get. If this was priced at five dollars or less I'd be all for recommending it, but it barely feels worth it as things stand now. If you're a fan of fast-paced, arcade-style shooters, and love anime girls, then this is the game for you. There's still plenty of fun to be had if you don't fall into that very specific niche, but I still might have to suggest picking up something else. I guess maybe go the middle route, and get it when it's on sale. Either way, that's all I have to say for now. See you in the next one.

Check Out S. Prysm Destroyer on Nintendo Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/s-prysm-destroyer-switch/

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Story: N/A
Gameplay: B
Graphics: B
Music/Sound: B
Value: B

Overall: B

Pros:
+ A fast-paced, arcade-style shooter that gets you in and out of the action quickly.
+ The PSOne-styled graphics are pleasantly retro.
+ Very challenging for those looking for that sort of thing. There are also local and online leaderboards for players to work their way onto.
+ Unlocking some of the costumes might be more trouble than they're worth, but they can serve as a long-term goal to keep players invested.

+/- I just love that the devloper is named MaidsWithGuns

Cons:
- The game leaves a lot to be desired as far as presentation goes. I literally didn't even know it had a plot until I started to write this review.
- The difficulty can feel very unfair at times. Getting hit from off-screen is never fun.
- Even though I had a blast playing this one, it gets old rather quickly. There are only four short levels, and they loop until you die. That's literally it.

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.

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I love how empty the leaderboards were pre-launch!