I am a huge fan of Inti Creates' work. Ever since I received Mega Man Zero as a gift on Christmas Day, their games have always been at the top of my list. Sure, Gal Gun isn't something that appeals to me, but Azure Striker, Dragon Marked for Death, and others — these were all games I thoroughly enjoyed. So when I first found out that Inti Creates dove into the Metroidvania genre, something they hadn't done since Mega Man ZX, I was pretty curious, to say the least. However, things didn't quite turn out as I'd imagined.
The original Gal Guardians: Demon Purge was a spinoff from Gal Gun, featuring two of its demon hunter characters. The game transferred them from the school setting of Gal Gun and placed them in a castle within the demon world. While it featured semi-open-ended areas, it didn't deliver the true Metroidvania experience I was initially led to believe. This isn't to say the game wasn't fun in its own right, but it was clear that they could do more. The sequel, Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark, delivers exactly that: the first full Metroidvania entry in this new sub-series. It's what I, as well as many other fans, wanted; however, things are a bit rough around the edges.
So, just how rough are we talking? Is it enough to ruin the game, or are these minor inconveniences that only slightly impede it? Well, after dozens of hours struggling through what the game has to offer, I can safely say... it will depend on your tolerance and understanding of hidden mechanics. There's a solid game in here, but not everyone will be willing to put up with the headaches.
The Story:
The story of Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark kicks off with a straightforward premise. Kirika and Masha, two demon siblings serving under Lord Maxim, return to their castle only to find it in disarray. The evil demon lord Lyzenorg has taken over, their own lord "killed" and scattered across the demon realm with only his floating skull remaining, and the castle's other servants have lost their souls. With everything in chaos, it's up to the sisters and Maxim to restore order.
Along their journey, they confront other demons allied with Lyzenorg, as well as the two demon hunters who were the protagonists of the original game. While there are some callbacks, this entry largely stands on its own within the existing series. As the game progresses, we learn more about the sisters and Maxim, and the castle itself slowly revitalizes as servant souls are recovered. These recovered characters also play a role, providing additional context to the overall narrative.
While the story isn't groundbreaking, it provides enough to keep you engaged from start to finish. Visiting the castle and interacting with the other servants creates a stronger connection to the sisters and their ongoing struggle, making their quest feel more personal.
The Gameplay:
The core gameplay of Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark aligns closely with other titles in the Metroidvania genre. It's a 2D action-platformer featuring an expansive, interconnected map where exploration is your primary objective. The game begins with a straightforward introductory area, but upon first entering the castle, the world truly opens up. While multiple paths appear accessible initially, there's typically one intended progression, and clearing it will unlock further exploration. Your journey revolves around discovering upgrades and abilities to access previously blocked locations, battling enemies, and ultimately defeating powerful bosses to expand your reach across the map.
While this describes the fundamental loop of most Metroidvanias, Gal Guardians diverges in key ways. Its progression is centered around collecting Maxim's scattered pieces and the random items dropped by defeated enemies, which directly feed into your power. Additionally, the game puts a strong focus on its two playable sisters, each wielding unique abilities.
Kirika is the first of the two sisters, serving as the team's ranged fighter. She wields a fast-firing, low-damage gun to dispatch her enemies. A key trade-off for her firepower is that she cannot move while shooting and must manually reload once her ammo is depleted. Her mechanics feel reminiscent of Inti Creates' other series, Gunvolt, making her excellent for engaging foes from a distance. She also possesses a close-range, shotgun-like blast, though its lengthy animation leaves her vulnerable to counter-attacks. While she takes some time to master, Kirika can ultimately make quick work of nearly anything standing in your way.
Masha, the second sister, is a dedicated melee attacker. She wields a whip, though its feel and attack patterns are more akin to a sword than a traditional whip. Her gameplay directly draws from the Mega Man Zero and Mega Man ZX series, favoring a much faster, aggressive playstyle. Masha features a quick step-back ability to evade harm, but her core strategy revolves around close-quarters combat. While her attacks hit harder than Kirika's, her slower melee strikes are inherently less safe to use, especially against enemies with abilities that prevent close engagement. Like Kirika, Masha requires practice to truly master, but she's the perfect choice for players who prefer getting up close and personal with their foes.
While either sister can, in practice, tackle most of the game solo, Gal Guardians strongly encourages players to switch between them as needed. Each sister has her own health bar, and a unique revival mechanic allows the active sister to push the fallen one's soul back into their body, effectively bringing them back to life. This process takes a moment, but it can be leveraged to stay in the fight almost indefinitely. Additionally, the game features a dedicated co-op mode where each player controls one sister. Regardless of whether you're playing solo or co-op, keep in mind that a fallen sister's body remains exactly where they died, requiring players to return to that precise spot for a revival.
Beyond the sisters' core abilities, enemies in Gal Guardians drop a variety of random sub-weapons. These can range from bombs and swords to summonable spiders. Using these requires energy, making them limited in use. These items also double as the game's equipment system, as they come with random passive skills that directly strengthen the sisters when equipped. These skills are diverse, offering anything from additional shots for Kirika's gun to boosts in health or attack power, or even elemental properties for characters. Elements are important in the game, as some objects need to be destroyed or frozen to progress, so these should always be kept in mind as well.
What truly defines this system is its fusion mechanic: you can transfer these passive abilities to other items, though doing so destroys the original item holding the skill. This means you can fuse an item with an Attack +1 bonus into another item, combining them to create an Attack +2 skill. You can then further upgrade these skills to +3 or even +4 versions. This item-based fusion is your primary method for gaining stats and securing an advantage in combat.
However, this reliance on random drops means your strength is heavily influenced by luck. Additionally, each item can only hold a limited number of equipped skills. This system demands careful consideration of your loadout, especially since the game occasionally forces you to use specific items to advance. For example, dark areas require equipping a lantern to see, which takes one of your item slot. This means there will be times you'll have to temporarily remove your upgraded gear, and then swap back when the situational need passes.
Beyond the item-based passive skills, Maxim's bones are another vital component for increasing your overall strength and abilities. While some bones are hidden throughout the map, a set number also drop from enemies within each area. The major drawback here is that there's no way to tell exactly how many bones will drop in a given area; you simply have to keep defeating enemies until they stop appearing. Once you go a significant period without a bone drop, you know it's time to move on to the next section and repeat the process. This system introduces a considerable grind, as these bones are absolutely essential for progression, and that’s where this game is quite a bit different from others in the genre as previously mentioned. Instead of finding direct abilities to advance, new skills and access are locked behind Maxim's level, which in turn means you can't afford to miss a single bone.
Once upgraded enough, Maxim will eventually allow you to use skills like double (or even triple) jump and gain the ability to smash blocks or pass through specific areas. Outside of the extra jumps, these abilities aren’t really explained that well within the game itself, and it is possible to not even realize you can do something without looking it up online. The ability to smash blocks wasn’t clear at all and required a button combo that is easy to forget once unlocked.
Maxim also has additional abilities that can be equipped to him, which can be found around the game, but others can only be purchased in the shops. This is actually where another issue lay, as money is quite hard to come by, and one part of the game was locked behind purchasing a high-priced item to continue. The game didn’t make it clear that purchasing this item was actually required to advance either, so once again, I ran into the issue of spending hours exploring the map for nothing. Overall, these shops aren’t really that big of a part of the gameplay, but they are there and will block your progress if you run short on money. Shops also sell keys to unlock specific doors, so there’s that as well.
As for the castle, it serves as the game’s main hub and is where found servants reside. They offer different services and perks, with some side quests being given out for additional rewards. This is also the only place where you can upgrade Maxim, so every save point in the game allows you to quickly get back when needed. The only downside is the fact that there is no true fast travel in the game, with only a select few points allowing you to take a boat back to them. They are all placed in pretty annoying locations, however, so typically walking back to where you need to be is the better option. It is time-consuming, yes, but at least most of the paths are straightforward. Of course, when you warp back to the castle for Maxim’s upgrades, you can then warp back to your previous location, but it is also possible to slip up and overwrite that “previous” location with the castle itself. This means you’re walking back if you want to keep making progress.
Unfortunately, navigation is the game’s biggest issue and the lack of basic direction. There is an “easy mode” that can be toggled on to help point you where to go while also giving you additional health, but even that only goes so far. It doesn’t show you where or how to find Maxim’s bones if they are blocking your progress, and sometimes it seems to lead you to a weird location because of that. This mode can also be toggled on and off within the castle itself, so players who want a “hint” on where to go can quickly use it and shut it off to remove the health bonus it provides.
However, the game is quite difficult, so new players might want the additional help. This is pretty common for Inti Creates titles, but those who have played previous games by them shouldn’t have too many issues getting through it. Learning boss patterns is key, however, and even some of the smallest and simplest enemies can still prove to be deadly.
It isn’t the easiest game out there, but a lot of the difficulty and frustration actually comes from the sheer amount of trial and error the game throws at you, with a lack of fast travel and mechanics you have to stumble upon yourself, as areas lock you out simply because you didn’t purchase an item at a specific shop.
This is unlike nearly every other Metroidvania out there, and that isn’t really a good thing. It is where it becomes clear that this is their first title to fully embrace the genre (Mega Man ZX wasn’t the same), and it is these rough edges that really hold it back from becoming great. Despite these hang-ups, the game does feel really great to play, and both sisters are a lot of fun to use. Inti Creates still makes some of the best 2D side-scrollers to date, and that core gameplay of theirs continues to shine here.
Should you play it?
Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark is a very unique game, to say the least. It takes the 2D action gameplay Inti Creates is known for and mixes it with that of a Metroidvania. The gameplay itself is fast and fluid, and the two main characters cover both ranged and melee-based playstyles. It can be played solo by switching between characters on the fly, or in co-op with a friend. Bosses are unique and challenging, but even the normal enemies can easily take you out if you aren’t careful. Transferring perks between picked-up items lets you customize your character’s stats to your liking, and unlocking new abilities is a lot of fun as well. Everything about this core gameplay is spot on and makes Servants of the Dark a joy to play; it is pretty much everything a fan of 2D action games could ask for! However, the rough edges are what makes playing the game a challenge at times.
The lack of true fast travel with large areas to backtrack through gets pretty old pretty fast. Progress being locked behind getting Maxim’s bones also really holds the game back, as it means players have to farm enemies in each area until they stop dropping bones if they want to advance. Low cash gain when progression-blocking items sell for thousands in the shop is also an annoyance players will encounter, and not explaining button combos and mechanics to pass blocked-off areas is a very strange design choice. It goes a little beyond having to figure out where to go and what to do, as it is simply something you can do but will not even realize is an option. There is also an annoying boss that must be fought over and over and over and over again, but thankfully it is only one section of the game. By the time you fight the final form, you’re used to it, but the fight itself is even harder. It’s needlessly repetitive in a game that already likes to waste time on pointless things. If you can get past these inconveniences, though, it really is a very fun game!
Overall, Servant of the Dark is an okay first attempt at adapting Inti Creates’ 2D action gameplay into a full-on Metroidvania, and I still had a lot of fun playing it. Those looking for a new game to dive into should at least consider checking it out, but be aware of the drawbacks as well. Don’t be afraid to use the “easy mode” to help point you in the right direction, and always feel free to ask for help from the fan base. This is a game where you’ll most likely need that help, which in a way makes it feel like the early days of the genre.
VERDICT: Recommended
Reviewed on PlayStation 5
Review Copy was Provided
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