Review: X-YZE

While another game has stolen the bump-combat limelight this week, one game – released earlier this fall – has positioned itself as an equally worthy successor of the old legacy popularized by Ys I &II.

X-YZE (pronounced like “Excise”) is an indie bump-combat game developed by Chris on Itch.io for Windows, Mac, and Linux. It strips away the RPG elements of our favorite franchise and instead focuses on wringing as much as possible from an otherwise very simple mechanic.

After rolling credits, I’m more than happy to recommend this game to Ys faithful as a compelling bump-combat alternative that will push your skills to the limit.

Let’s dig into why.

Obvious Inspirations

X-YZE wears its inspirations on its sleeve – so much so that you can even find them referenced on the game’s Itch page.

Obviously, Ys is chief among them – the bump-combat system is really the star of this game, and it builds on the control and difficulty of early Ys games in really interesting ways.

More than that, though, I got hints of CrossCode, Undertale, and Mega Man Battle Network through the level and boss designs.

If any of those things perk your ears up, let me strongly encourage you to try this game out.

Mechanical Excellence

And of course if you love bump combat, you will likely love this game’s extreme focus on it. It reminds me of how a game like One Step from Eden can take inspiration from Mega Man Battle Network, streamline it, and kick it up several notches. So too did X-YZE build on a very simple bump and dash foundation to create some really cool mechanics.

The enemy variety feels great for the roughly 2-3 hour playtime, and I particularly liked the sections that forced you to abuse the dash’s ability to curve around corners.

At each turn, X-YZE feels slick as hell and just as fun to play.

Accessibility Meets Difficulty

I made it about halfway through this game on its native difficulty before rage quitting. It’s comparable in terms of frustration to Nightmare-level Ys games.

Fortunately, Chris had the foresight to add a ton of accessibility options which let you tinker with your character’s health and damage, as well as how often the game saves.

Truly, I would not have beaten the game without these features. I am glad that they are in the game. Because I assure you, it will still push you in the final dungeons to be your best.

Something I found in my own playthrough, however – and echoed in the game’s Itch comment section – is the need for more save points beyond just the minimum per-room save. Some of the later rooms can feel punishingly long, and being killed near the end of one of those gauntlets made me feel more like closing out of the window than picking up where I left off.

Polish and Panache

In almost all other respects, though, X-YZE is a confident game that has an excellent sense of pace. Chris clearly knew what to keep and what to cut away to streamline the experience.

There are small things you love to see an indie creator tackle, like boss encounters which automatically skip over the intro cutscene after your first attempt. Figuring out a clever way to abuse the dash mechanic and its added damage boost was extremely rewarding, and it always felt like I was catching up to the designer’s expectation of me, not circumventing them.

More than that, I found that the actual level design was done with obvious care and consideration. New mechanics or enemies were always presented in such a way that the player can learn what they need to know naturally, without obstructive text boxes or explainers.

The bosses, too, were absolutely killer. Each one felt unique and well-thought-out. They represented a real reward after slogging through some truly punishing levels. I can’t say much without spoiling, but the penultimate boss fight was an all-timer. It reminded me a lot of fighting Ys I’s Dark Fact but with a ton of added sauce.

Story

Essentially the only area I felt X-YZE fell a little short was in the narrative.

I find it difficult to be critical of a story that is so obviously a personal, highly charged one. And so I want to be clear that my criticism here lies not in the content or emotionality of the story, which reaches a true fever pitch in the last twenty or so minutes of the game, but in its delivery.

For most of the game, you’re given out-of-context tidbits at each save point. You can begin to piece together the game’s narrative about self worth through these bits of text, but it won’t be easy. I would have liked to see the overarching story come through more earlier in the game to give context to what we were doing. I think this would have made the final dungeon set hit even harder.

In Conclusion

X-YZE really shines through its mechanical nuances and adjustable difficulty, not to mention just excellent vibes. And as a bite-sized exploration of how far bump-combat can really be pushed, it’s a total winner.

You can snag X-YZE on Itch.io for free.