Stormind Games have brought us their latest title, Batora: Lost Haven, an interplanetary action RPG game where you play as a young female by the name of Avril. You have the choice to harness the ancient power of the Sun & Moon, and you choose how to take the story in this beautiful action-packed RPG.

Avril is the main protagonist you start with, and you begin running around with a friend of yours, finding the best way out, which can be a puzzle in itself. Once you have the controls more or less under control, you are thrown into a cutscene when you speak to the ancient beings, the Sun & the Moon, where you then get to harness the powers of both of them. The ease of control had me particularly interested, especially with how to switch between the powers known as the Nature Switch.

Physical is a hack and slack type of power that has you swinging a great sword, whereas Mental is a shooting form. I found myself swapping in between them frequently with the different enemies I was facing. There were some puzzles scattered around that broke up the combat a little, which was a good refresh to get your head back into the game.

The enemies have been developed so well in this title, really making sure you actively switch between both the powers, and some will need a combination to destroy them. This made the game even feel more action-packed as you needed to time everything perfectly to make sure you are using the right power. There was no lack of enemies either, which I loved. It kept me on my toes and wondering where to look next to hack and slash or shoot my way out.

Whilst the weapons are awesome to use and awesome to look at, there is more in the skills & combat system than just them. There have been special attacks and skills added that you can upgrade Avril with, and this is something that turns into a bit of fun.

The audio in this game is great even, without a soundtrack to back it. Sounds from the items you can collect, right through to when you are fighting the enemies come often enough that there really isn’t a need for it. The graphics had me so mesmerised with how beautiful and dark they were. It felt like I was playing Diablo or Darksiders, but if Disney made them. The developers did an amazing job on the art in this game and didn’t miss out on the fine details to make it feel complete.

I’m keen to see where this title leads, and for anyone that loves an action-packed RPG where you have the choice of how you want to play the game, and also have the mind where you love puzzles, Batora: Lost Haven is for you, and I’m excited to see where this title is taken.

Written by: Hayden Nelson