Veneficium is a 3D Platformer with some Action-Adventure Elements. You incorporate a little Witch, that is searching for all the grown-up witches, that went missing and the evil witch, who seems to terrorize them all.
The game is around 1-2 Hours long on your first playthrough. Exploration in the three levels is a very important aspect and additional playthroughs should therefore take maybe around half of it, since you already know where to go next. I was a bit disappointed, that the game ended so abruptly without any real warning or you ever encountering the actual antagonist of Veneficium's story. The story and dialogues in the game are nonetheless alright, even though clearly aimed at children as an audience.
The Platforming and Exploration gets some variety by the magic spells in the game. There are 3 of them in total. Fire burns objects (obviously), ice freezes objects and wind can transport you to higher places. Magic is exclusively being used on objects, there are no enemies or real fights in this game (sometimes you will get attacked by a cloud or a floating target). These spells and their implementation are kind of cool and help the game to stand out, but they do get used a bit too often in the same ways. After the 20th frozen tree for example you get a bit bored of the concept.
The two big problems of the game are imprecise controls and the armada of Bugs and Glitches in Veneficium. Movement and Jumping always feel really clunky and stiff. I have often gotten stuck on the environment or slipped off a platform due to the controls. You can get better used to it after some time, but platforming never gets truly comfortable and that is kind of a dealbreaker in a Platformer game. And than there is the unavoidable selection of Bugs in this game. I experienced more of them than I can count. Some of the worst were glitching through the ground, getting stuck in a platform or getting stuck in a wall, which meant I had to restart an entire level from scratch, since all the objectives disappeared and progress got impossible... Veneficium clearly lacks a lot of polish, which would have made the experience far more pleasant.
The Visuals of Veneficium are very simple in design (probably reminiscent of some N64/PS1 games), but don't necessarily hurt the eyes either. The only exception are the grotesque faces of all characters. All persons have no eyes or mouths in Veneficium, which is actually quite creepy. The soundtrack on the other hand is pretty decent. Every level has its own music and they all fit the mood of the game.
Pro:
- Levels encourage exploration
- Magic spells create variety
- Decent Soundtrack
Contra:
- Very imprecise movement controls
- Legions of Bugs and Glitches
- Simple Visuals
- Creepy Character Faces
Result:
Veneficium: A Witch's Tale desperately lacks polish. The magic system within a Platformer is kind of cool, but the many Glitches and the uncomfortable movement controls sadly take a lot of the enjoyment away. If the game was longer, had a real ending, a bit more variety, smoother movement and a lot more polish, than I would definitely recommend this game. At the moment however I can only recommend this game to fans of Witches and 3D Platformer enthusiasts with a high tolerance for frustration.
5/10
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