Drifting Lands Review

This game was covered with a provided code from Alkemi in purposes of review for this game, a humble thank you to them!

I have played many games of old that felt like a fresh breath of a air to a steady genre. Drifting Lands is a hybrid, but is still at its core just a Shoot ’em Up with some stat advancement with some currency. The story starts off with a usual set of two characters of yourself the pilot, and a old man named Thor. It works it way into a bar or tavern called The Shaft 67. You take on a job, which conflicts with some of the many corporations which divide the communities in the games world. Which is deconstructed by shards of floating earth. The story itself while covering this was in development prior to its release, it felt like a pretty good aspect to the games backbone. Giving you a world around the game and its theme. Feeling a bit like a visual novel with its presentation. It provided some charming moments and sharp visuals.

The gameplay itself is a paced experience with plenty of loot to find. It is based off of RNG for drop rates. You can obtain the usual loot from enemies that come across your path. Bosses dropping a little extra better in terms of quality items. The concept of the game plays out pretty well where you get some decent weaponry, such as spread shots, or your usual endurance boosters. I began my first ship as the marauder. Which is a sort of jack of all trades(at least I sort out its stats), and more of a specialist in Speed/Navigation. I keep it heavily fast, but also hard hitting while having that sort of glass cannon style to its format. I found it over the moon charming that you can change the landscape of your playstyle or how you can approach the game with just a few new pieces of armor. Or a new Legendary piece of gear.

Levels spread from length some are quick, but pack a punch in terms of aggressive bullet spread from legions of enemies. Others spread it out with some enemy landmines all over the freaking place, making it a dodge course. It can at points pose as a big run on at points with the enemies. Stages felt the same with other ones. Light variation here and there to each one. By the time I got to a boss it self, it was exciting to see what their patterns are and how kinda loot I scored. The game it self in length is pretty well paced out.

The style of the game is you leap from area to area, in a sort of Mario Bros 3 style lay out for a over world. You see new areas over time as you progress with the games story ark, which for its own right is pretty good for a shoot em up. The games main hub breaks down to a few spots of interest.Then hubs that provide some comic book strip like dialog between characters and yourself. You get a good taste of everything gets to offer within a half a hour of the game, so your comfort level comes on in quickly. Keeping you drawn in, grinding out the loot.The chaos on screen at times adds to the tension. As well as the builds you can work with in the game itself. The horde of enemies are almost impossible to to bully clear out. It mostly buckles down to cleaning out as many as you can, and hoping for the best. The landscapes do not have a basis on each one of the enemies sadly. Most enemies you see, will be a repeat from time to time. Their AI improves, and become much more aggressive. With that mentioned, you see much more projectiles and this pretty light show before your eyes.

In Closing:

Drifting Lands applies it self in two different baskets, while still keeping that fun and challenging aspect that Shmups format. I spent hours just playing the hell out of the game to build a overpowered ship. The plot of the game, keeping me wanting to go through, to read more of the plot. If you love Shmups, ARPGs, and want to just hunt for loot for a few weekends, get a hold of this game!

– Recommended –