Traditional platforming side-scrollers have helped make up the foundation of gaming with over 40 years’ worth of entertainment. Growing up, the greatest adventures often came from games that had me bounding from one platform to another while racing the clock or meticulously avoiding enemies. Eastasiasoft and H-Room have tapped into the tried-and-true formula with their latest fantasy adventure, Sofiya and the Ancient Clan, with a voluptuous spin on Sofiya’s quest.

Our tale begins with a young and talented Witch who dared to do the unthinkable; question her superiors. Cast out into the abyss, Sofiya must learn to master her magical powers and tap into her seductive charm to outwit and out survive her former master, Zakan. Hell-bent on using her powers and body for good, can she overcome the hordes of ghosts, zombies, creepy crawlies, guards, and torturous environments to save her beloved kingdom?

Setting out on her 2D adventure, Sofiya will traverse castle walls during the daytime with multiple levels of verticality to explore. Hidden gemstones can be triggered to open previously unreachable platforms that are surrounded by environmental hazards such as deadly spikes or instant death pits if you don’t watch your step. While I can’t say the level designs themselves are wildly unique or challenging in design, there is a nice change of scenery that you will often experience. Diving into the caverns filled with ogres or romping through the graveyard illuminated by the full moon was some of their best work that came out of this game.

With a modern take on the pixel art style, the character sprites and backdrops were colourful and detailed enough able to showcase some fluid animations. Little globs were bouncing around on the ground with happy faces and would pop in a satisfying manner when blasted with a spell. The floating platforms would glide through the playing field with much more finesse than games of old would be able to manage.

The standout of the presentation was the skyboxes or background slides, they were multilayered, like shadow box artwork, and the trees would sway as if influenced by the wind. The Nintendo Switch version held a consistent framerate and performance in both handheld and docked mode, and it was able to highlight the rich colour pallet with ease.

A nice series of musical scores gave off a charming atmosphere that was grander than the story it was accompanying. Swelling to illustrious heights during the sorely needed boss fights and offering a whimsical tone while navigating the levels between. Pairing the ominous tones in the darker portions of the game gave the sound effects a chance to shine as spells blasted away, or the subtle moans of Sofiya as she got hit echoed through the room. While funny at first, I must say that the longer I play the more the moaning moved from laughing with it to laughing at it, but maybe someone else will enjoy it for other reasons.

Arguably the weakest portion of the game was the actual behaviour and mechanics themselves. While being able to double jump and blast a magical spell that would regenerate mana on its own or faster with potion pickups, there wasn’t much in the way of payoffs from the stale enemies and bland playing area. The majority of enemies didn’t even register that you were there and even less actually attacked.

The environments were the most challenging aspect I faced that usually came from not moving the screen down to check an area before I jumped. There are options to temporarily upgrade your magic to shoot out waves of energy, triple beam bursts, or orbs that would melt anything it landed on, but shooting fish in a barrel only garners so much entertainment.

The main draw that will keep players invested and are most likely the reason most even picked up the game – collectible lewd images. Keeping with the modern pixel art style, there will be collectible images that progress the story as Sofiya discovers herself and offers herself in increasingly more provocative poses. It was innocent enough for the most part and offered tongue-in-cheek humour at the same time. The overall play time meant that you could burn through the game quickly, and if you put in a bit of exploration, you would be able to fill the galley for your viewing pleasure with ease.

Sofiya and the Ancient Clan offers a stress-free game with some adult-themed payoffs. It may not be challenging, but the musical and visual art style is a pleasing experience with classical platforming gameplay to boot.

Written by: Shane Fletcher