The game follows Emi, a young woman working for the mega corporation known as QoTech, but when the company turns out to be evil Emi must escape the building with her hacker skills. Things quickly become more complicated though, and Emi soon finds herself in a deeper web.
The gameplay in Yars Rising can be divided between the aforementioned Metroidvania format, and a second part that calls back to the original game. The Metroidvania aspect is the dominant part of the game and involves all the usual platforming tings, such as running, jumping, shooting, and various other movesets, but also includes a nice amount of stealth as well. You will unlock new power ups for Emi as the game goes on, but not as much backtracking as one might expect.
The other aspect of the game is the microgames that pop up throughout the game and call back to the original Yars Revenge title. These segments help provide needed breaks in the game and have a good challenge to them as well. It is a good way to bring back an aspect of the original game and if these shmup sections become too difficult, then the game will provide options to make things easier.
Both sections add a lot to the game, but as mentioned, the Metroidvania elements are the main part of the game.That said, the way Yars Rising blends the two sections is just so well done, by making them hacking sections. Emi will shift into one of these games when she finds hidden rooms with collectibles, needs to unlock a door or even just upgrade.
The combat in Yars Rising is well done and feels naturally better the more abilities you unlock. One neat touch is that Emi can equip badges for enhancing stats and abilities, but you cannot just equip them. No, here there is a Tetris-style system that lets you equip as many badges as you can fit in special spaces and they come in all sizes and shapes.
The story is okay, but as with many WayForward games, it is a case of love it or hate it. If you like WayForward’s style, then this is for you, but if you do not, then the writing and dialogue may come across as grating. It is not bad in my opinion, but I can acknowledge others may not like it, but I do find the voicework to be well done and the characterization in general to be handled well.
Yars Rising looks amazing and has a great art style that helps it pop out and the music is extremely well done, which is no surprise for WayForward. I do have to note that the game has a lot of loading screens that really interrupt the flow of the gameplay, but this is my only real complaint. It has been fixed via some updates to an extent, but is still a bit frustrating to deal with.
Yars Rising is an interesting revival of a classic IP and while I still question the idea behind it, I feel the game is overall well made. It manages to pay tribute to classic Atari in general and Yars Revenge specifically and does so in interesting ways. I would say to check this one out, just be aware that there are some elements that may be off putting such as the loading screens and WayForward’s writing.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided
