Gestalt: Steam and Cinder [PC] | REVIEW

With its gorgeous visuals and slick combat, Gestalt: Steam and Cinder instantly caught my attention when I played its demo during the recent Steam Next Fest. Now, with its full release, I’ve finally been able to see Aletheia’s journey through to its conclusion, and whilst it does have a few missteps with its difficulty balancing, I had a really fun time playing.

Check out some screenshots down below:

Gestalt: Steam and Cinder puts players in the role of Aletheia, a Soldner (best described as an elite mercenary) who works within the underground steam city of Canaan. Canaan actually has a dark history, with its foundations built following a war between humanity and a vicious foe known as the Akhaians, and it’s something Aletheia soon uncovers as she gets caught up in the dark secrets that the city holds and how they lead into potentially apocalyptic events.

I’ve put the tale into a bit of a nutshell there, but it is worth noting that there’s a LOT of story to be found in Gestalt: Steam and Cinder, with plenty of lengthy interactions shared with characters that explore the lore of the world in depth. You’ll even see how events are playing out from outside of Aletheia’s perspective, with the game offering plenty of exposition from all angles of the narrative to keep players in the loop. It’s not something that’s too common in the Metroidvania genre (and it might be a little too wordy for some), but I found myself appreciating it a lot, especially since the narrative of Gestalt: Steam and Cinder is genuinely intriguing. The characters are interesting, the world is mysterious, and it’s all very well-written, so the extra detail that the developers have gone into with the storytelling is easy to appreciate.

This storytelling is complemented by some exciting gameplay, with Gestalt: Steam and Cinder embracing the Metroidvania genre with its slick platforming and fast-and-fluid combat. Aletheia is equipped with both a sword and a gun to ensure she’s versatile in how she deals with enemies, whilst the responsive controls mean you can pull off combos of both with satisfying ease. It ensures that combat is engaging throughout, whilst the intuitive upgrade system means you can constantly strengthen your attacking repertoire to deal with the more vicious threats you find yourself facing off against as you progress.

“The pixel art is gorgeous throughout, whilst the design of the environments was eye-catching thanks to the creative steampunk aesthetic.”

Well… I say vicious, but I actually found Gestalt: Steam and Cinder to be a pretty easy game. The standard enemies go down with minimal fuss, and once you’ve unlocked a few upgrades that suit your playstyle, it’s easy to find yourself over-powering the more souped-up foes that show up later in the story. The same applies to the bosses, who offered some creative encounters that looked fantastic, but were rarely capable of actually defeating me. They do have a LOT of health though, but with it easy to figure out their predictable attack patterns within the first minute of fighting them, the encounters themselves often felt more like an overly-long slog since they were unlikely to actually defeat me. It’s a shame because I really, really liked the combat of the game, but the difficulty balance needs a bit of fine-tuning to keep players on their toes.

It gets everything else right though, with the world wonderfully crafted to ensure it’s fun to explore and also bringing with it plenty of platforming challenges that’ll require every trick Alethia has up her sleeve to persevere through. And, of course, you’ll also unlock additional traversal skills as you progress, with Gestalt: Steam and Cinder playing into its Metroidvania-style setup nicely to see players backtracking in order to reach previously inaccessible areas. Again, the intuitive controls make progression through these areas feel great, with the versatile platforming working well with the game’s exciting combat.

It should be noted that Gestalt: Steam and Cinder does feel a bit more linear and compact than similar releases in the genre though, and whilst there is a bit of backtracking to be done, it’s rare that you’ll find yourself veering too far from your main objective. Honestly? I actually found myself preferring this, with the overwhelming scale of some recent Metroidvania-style releases seeing my interest wane. This more confined and direct approach here was more enjoyable for me, whilst the occasional side objective and collectible hunt kept things interesting. It only took me around eight-hours to beat too, which was the perfect length for the adventure.

Check out some screenshots down below:

I can’t end this review without mentioning the visuals, which I absolutely adored throughout. The pixel art is gorgeous throughout, whilst the design of the environments was eye-catching thanks to the creative steampunk aesthetic. There’s so much detail to be found across the world that its easy to find yourself constantly distracted by everything that’s going on in the background (I mean that in a good way), whilst the enemies looked fantastic – especially in the boss battles, which consistently looked gorgeous and were wonderfully animated. I think the thing I liked about the visuals the most was just how much they reminded me of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, which is one of the biggest compliments I could possibly give. It’s simply gorgeous.

Developer: Metamorphosis Games
Publisher: Fireshine Games
Platform(s): PC (Reviewed)
Website: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1231990/Gestalt_Steam__Cinder/