From Classicvania to Metroidvania, developer INTI CREATES has given their latest 2D solo and cooperative platformer ‘Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark’ a great uplift. They’ve taken what worked with the original Gal Guardians release two years back, polished it up, and have given us a game with far more interesting level design, multiple weapon types in the form of skills, fun bosses, an expanded narrative and a bit of fan service, and much more!
The Gals at Work
Masha and Kirika are both sisters and maids-in-arms, coming back from an extended vacation back to their master’s castle, the Demon Lord Maxim, only to find that the place is in ruins. Everyone has been killed, the walls have crumbled, the rugs have been sullied—but even worse, Maxim has been rend unto two! It turns out that one of the haggier servants, Lysa, has gone rogue in the name of another demon lord Lyzenorg and both have pressed the advantage to get rid of a competing lord. Lysa and Lyzenorg make their exit and a tearful Kiriku and frustrated Masha mourn their dead master… Until Maxim comes back as a spirit. Turns out, there is a way to bring someone as powerful as him back to life: by collecting his bones that have been spread all across the demon world, he can put back together and in turn, take the fight back to Lyzenorg—powering up the maid sisters in return.
Ah, good old fashion revenge.
Players of the original Gal Guardians will note that the sequel has significantly changed level design and character progression. Like I said earlier, Servants of the Dark is a 2D Metroidvania title, meaning that players will progress by unlocking new abilities and using them to uncover other previously unattainable or locked-off areas of the map. This sequel works just a bit different in that your primary goal is to get your lord back in tip-top shape and that every area you approach is in that goal. Maxim’s bones will be dropped by enemies, bought for a premium from the shopkeep, found in treasure chests tucked away in every corner of the map, so on and so forth.
Kirika and Masha are both playable characters that a solo player can swap to at any point or are controllable by both players in cooperative mode. Kirika adopts a similar style to Shinobu from the first Gal Guardians game, donning a submachine gun that can be reloaded via a quick teabag. And like Shinobu’s sister, Maya, Masha is a melee-focused whiplasher. Both characters can be supplanted with multiple sub-weapons that are found via enemy drops and the like, which are essential as many of these subweapons will be needed to break certain walls or deal massive damage alongside the maids’ main weapon, all though certain weapons can only be equipped by one or the other.
Now most people might prefer playing as the sharpshooter, but I actually think Masha is the one that plays the best. Her whip has more attack methods than Kirika’s which plants her to the floor. Not only that, but she can also dash into an attack and hold down to charge up a special move that is influenced by the seeds she collects. Both characters generally play well, but Gal Guardians operates on a more fixed style of attack aiming, ergo you’ll need to give up on being able to shoot at particular angles or flailing the whip upward. Servants of the Dark plays best once you unlock your second jump and even better once you can do your first air dash. Unfortunately, just like plenty of Metroidvania titles, you’re stuck with your first jump for a bit—a sin that be a bit of a repellent to any first timer of the genre.
Though honestly, Servants of the Dark’s real sin is defaulting movement to the analog stick. Why?
Our maids aren’t alone in this adventure. Just as I mentioned, our demon lord will be accompanying both on their adventure. You can equip Maxim with multiple sigils that boost stats typically or atypically (such as enmity builds), plus he acts as a free heal source and later gets demonic abilities that can be used to break down walls and explore other parts of the demon world. He can even slow down time! All in all, we have a perfect kit here and as you collect more bones, your strength becomes obvious as your damage increases and your health sees big spikes. About the only issue you’ll run into with baddies down the line is that some enemies simply have insane damage output that even a thousand health points can be whittled down with the quickness if you’re not careful. Bosses can do the same, but they’re much more fun to fight besides the occasional annoying mechanic.
Now the best change INTI has brought with this sequel is that, if one of the Gals do go down, it does not force a stage reset! A big issue with the original game is that if a player got conked out, the surviving character would be taken all the way back to the beginning of a zone and are forced to complete the “run of shame” as they make their way back to their fallen mate to revive them. It broke the flow of the game and really felt cheap at times. Now, if either Kirika or Masha get bonked, players will be able to immediately take control of the surviving member to save their pal. It’s just done so much better here that Servants of the Dark is probably INTI CREATES’ best cooperative title yet. Plus there is online coop, all though I did not get to test that during my playthrough.
The Demon World’s Backyard
Level design is overall largely improved from the first game. There are multiple biomes, filled with baddies of all sorts occasionally recoloured and reconfigured to be annoying based on their moods (poison, ice, fire, etcetera). Each of the zones have far more places to explore, platforming challenges, and collectibles that influence the availability of services back at Maxim’s castle. For example, each spirit you collect out in the overworld can be used to revive one of the castle’s fellowship which in turn can offer item storage services, foods, special refills, and the like.
Plus, you get some amusing conversations out of everyone, fully voiced in Japanese. Banter between Maxim and the sisters is just as entertaining out in the overworld as they discuss the finer aspects of life. Just be careful not to switch zones too quickly as this can lead to skipped dialogue. Oh, and some cutscenes feature drawn CGs (“computer graphics”) with Gal Gun’s series artist in all its soft, boingey trademark style—as you can tell from this review, I have made extensive use of my screenshot button. Though truthfully, there’s not much of an improvement in the game’s graphics compared to the last title, but it does make extensive use of sprite-based blood splatter and light sources both as visual flair and as a level design mechanic. I did see some serious frame drops when objects were destroyed however, which is bizarre as I don’t think I’ve ever see a 2D INTI game do this before.
Anywho, as you explore the map, you’ll also run into Karon and her people—she is your fast travel servant who will ferry you across the points where you’ve found other Karons. This differs from other Metroidvania titles where you cannot fast travel to the save points scattered about (tables of tea suspiciously left sitting in stenches of death), forcing players to spend more time waltzing about the maps. This is a good way of getting players to take a look at places and secrets they may have otherwise missed the first time around—though admittedly it made me wonder if INTI’s level designers thought that ziggzaggs are the bee’s knees. No, INTI, they are not. Perish the thought.
With Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark, there’s a solid solo and fun cooperative campaign that offers a good 15 plus hours of action, depending on how often you get lost. Level design has improved since the last game, humour is on-brand with Gal Guardians’ preceding series of games, and movement feels great. Here’s another Metroidvania I can recommend to the newbie and veteran alike. ∎
Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark
Played on
Windows 11 PC
PROS
- Solid character controller.
- Plenty of biomes and zones with more puzzles and enemies to fight.
- Fun cooperative experience.
- Good visuals and a great art style.
CONS
- Odd performance issues.
- Level design does come off as a chore at times.
