This time, the game focuses on the demon maids Kirika and Masha, who return to their master, Lord Maxim’s castle from vacation, only to find the castle under attack and their master betrayed. Now Kirika and Masha, must team with the disembodies skull of their master to restore things back to normal, recover lost bones and souls and get revenge. To do this, Kirika and Masha, must explore new regions and try and put a strop to the Demon Lord Lyzenorg, and our heroines are certainly up to the job.
Much like the first game, we have a character who focuses on melee and a ranged character with a gun, so those who played the original game will feel a bit at home. And once again, both have unique sub weapons, such as throwing weapons or melee weapons, although there are weapons both can share. There is also summoning magic and more the characters can discover throughout the journey, which is rather neat.
Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark maintains the humorous town of the original, and this comes off well in the dialogue. The characters will banter with each other and their master, and while it may seem grating to some, it came off very well here. Lest we forget, this is a spinoff of Gal Gun and the series risque themes and humor are still all present.
In terms of gameplay, Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark takes an interesting approach to things. The co-op mechanics have returned, but are expanded on, with the explanation of the protagonists demon abilities for why they are able to do things. These abilities include becoming a bat to follow the other character, which is extremely helpful, while you are once again able to carry the other character like before.
The combat in Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark is extremely well done, with both characters having their own uses, especially when playing solo and swapping between the two. Everything feels right and finding the right way to go about things is extremely satisfying, especially when finally beating a tough enemy. It has to be said that there is some goriness, but it is done in such a way that it comes off as cutesy and this is entirely intentional on the developer’s part.
Like with any Metroidvania, new abilities and items are gained as you progress, and one interesting approach the game takes is letting you find the souls of the castle inhabitants and restore them for more interaction and options. These new characters include ones who will store your items, more shops, new ways to get health and so on. There is also a blacksmith that you can invest time into for upgrading your weapons and sub weapons as well.
Another interesting change is that Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark does not use a traditional experience system that one might expect. Instead, characters will sometimes drop Lord Maxim’s bones, which are needed to restore him. After enough bones are collected and taken to the castle throne, it will level up Kirika and Masha, and while the stats will always improve with each level, there are milestone levels in which you will unlock new abilities like a double jump or a jump dash, which will help you explore. It gives a lot of incentive to level up the characters, but on the downside, the bones only sometimes drop, which means trying to farm experience is not as easy to do here, unless you risk things by playing on the highest difficulty setting where the bones will drop more.
The only real issue with Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark is that the fast travel system is not really well done here, and feels inconvenient in a number of ways. Karon will take you to other Karon locations but this costs and these locations are out of the way. You can fast travel return to the castle at any save point, but otherwise, the fast travel system feels like a pain to use.
One thing that stood out about Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark is its character designs, which were very inventive, while also maintaining the risque elements the overall franchise is known for. This may be upsetting to some who dislike fanservice games, but it really is not that big an issue. Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark even leans into the matter for self parody at times, so it is clear that Inti Creates does understand how people feel and are not afraid to poke fun and themselves for their choices.
Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark is overall a fantastic Metroidvania that puts a new spin on the traditional formula. Inti Creates has been trying to do something different with its take on Metroidvanias, and with excellent combat that feels satisfying, to go along with the wonderfully designed world and gameplay, Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark just works so well. It stands out in a crowded scene of Metroidvanias and helps raise the bar for other games going forward.
Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark is easily one of the best Metroidvania titles that Inti Creates has ever made, and one of its better games overall. If you want a 2D pixel art Metroidvania with extremely responsive controls, excellent co-op, and just generally tries something new, then this is for you. Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark is heavily recommended.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided.
