Of the a whole lot of variations of A Christmas Carol that we’re all bombarded with within the lead-up to the Holidays, only a few give any thought to what comes after Scrooge is visited by the Ghosts of Christmas Previous, Current, and Future. The main focus is firmly on how he turns into a modified man and never what he really does along with his newfound pleasure and Christmas spirit. Ebenezer and the Invisible World makes the daring proposition that Scrooge would turn into a ghost-thrashing, high-jumping champion of the widespread individuals and we’re right here for it.

Set a number of years after the occasions of Dickens’ novel, Ebenezer and The Invisible World sees the miser-turned-saint as one thing of a bridge between the spirit and the fabric worlds. His encounter with the Ghosts of Christmas left him in a position to see the souls of those that couldn’t solid off their chains of distress and cruelty as he has, leaving him the one one able to aiding them on their quest for peace. It’s a enjoyable play on the unique story we all know so effectively and it instantly drew us in.

The plot unfolds on Christmas Eve, as ought to be anticipated contemplating the supply materials. Caspar Malthus, the pinnacle of an extended line of rich industrialists with a deep-seated hatred for the poor and dealing class, was beforehand visited by the identical Ghosts who modified Scrooge for the higher. As a substitute of discovering the thrill of Christmas and humanity, Malthus was as an alternative provided a glimpse of a tool he would in the future develop that will permit him to rid London of the undesirable commoners. It’s as much as Scrooge to cease him, with a bit of assist from his ghost friends.

Ebenezer and The Invisible World is as near the Metroidvania method as you may get with out placing your character in an influence swimsuit on Planet Zebes and giving them a whip. Scrooge jumps across the metropolis on platforms, swinging his cane to break each ghosts and the foot troopers of the Malthus household who’ve been despatched to squash unrest within the streets. Alongside the best way, he befriends ghosts who will give him new talents. A few of these permit him to traverse to new areas of London and advance the plot whereas others give him new assault powers to guard himself.

There may be nothing right here you received’t have seen earlier than, however we didn’t thoughts as a lot as we thought we’d. Regardless of feeling very formulaic, Ebenezer and The Invisible World manages to be a number of enjoyable once you aren’t hindered by critical, game-breaking bugs. The artwork is crisp and vibrant, with well-designed characters and ranges that make you are feeling such as you’re taking part in in Dickensian London. There are many references to A Christmas Carol sprinkled all through, simply to be sure you remember what you are taking part in. The concept of Scrooge violently wielding his new-found advantage by beating the ectoplasm out of ghosts throughout London and defending the working class is delightfully absurd.

For essentially the most half, the gameplay is strong – fight feels difficult however nonetheless truthful. The platforming controls are tight sufficient that you realize which jumps it is best to have the ability to make and which of them you want a brand new means for. There are some management quirks, akin to Scrooge’s backward sprint which we saved forgetting about and used to inadvertently hurl the outdated man into the jaws of dying a number of occasions. We might have appreciated extra save factors all through the degrees, as we misplaced massive chunks of progress to dying or all-too-frequent recreation crashes.

The truth that the sport crashed a number of occasions in our 15 hours with it is just one of many critical flaws in the best way it runs, at the very least on Swap. Throughout our playthrough, we had been unable to broaden Scrooge’s heath bar past its default because of the recreation freezing once we approached the character chargeable for that function. This situation continued in each docked and handheld modes, successfully barring our means to improve our character and progress by way of the story. It felt like being locked into a better problem mode in opposition to our will.

There are different, smaller issues with the construct high quality and polish of Ebenezer and The Invisible World. The identical button used to exit menus additionally equips gadgets, which meant we needed to exit out of the tools menu each time we needed to vary something with our loadout. One NPC’s dialogue modified to a clean field after we accomplished a part of their quest. Our tools menu additionally bought bugged at one level and confirmed us having two of the identical heirlooms outfitted. These bugs weren’t as catastrophic to our playthrough because the crashes or the lack to improve our well being, however they made the sport really feel messier than it wanted to. We perceive that the developer intends to launch a Day One patch to handle at the very least a few of these issues, however we are able to solely assessment the sport we’ve and this one, at occasions, was practically unplayable.

We ended our time with this recreation feeling annoyed and, finally, let down by the expertise. Regardless of some odd selections with the best way Scrooge strikes, the fight is enjoyable and gives the sort of problem followers of the Metroidvania style have come to count on. The core idea of the setting and story are each nice, as is the artwork fashion. This recreation has all of the makings of greatness, however it’s so severely let down by the technical flaws that we are able to’t advocate it. A patch may repair these issues and make this right into a strong entry within the style, however, for now, we are saying “Bah, humbug!” to Ebenezer and The Invisible World.

Conclusion

We needed to take pleasure in Ebenezer and The Invisible World way over we did. The fight is strong and the platforming is tight, with the correct stability of accessibility and problem. Mix that with a enjoyable idea and artwork that does a fantastic job of recreating Dickens’ iconic novel and it ought to be a recipe for greatness. Sadly, a bunch of bugs starting from barely annoying to game-breaking sucked the Christmas cheer proper out of us. Future patches may repair these points and provides us the sport we all know is hiding simply beneath the floor right here, however that recreation isn’t right here at launch.