Twin Breaker: A Sacred Symbols Adventure Review — Breaking New Ground

Twin Breaker: A Sacred Symbols Adventure Review — Breaking New Ground

Oct 10, 2020 0
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A review copy of Twin Breaker: A Sacred Symbols Adventure was provided by EastAsiaSoft. Earlier this year, Lillymo Games (Habroxia and Perils of Baking) and Colin Moriarty (Colin’s Last Stand) released their first collaborative title, Twin Breaker: A Sacred Symbols Adventure. Since then the duo have announced a merger, with Moriarty purchasing the developer and announcing a slew of new titles to come in the following years. At the time of its original release, however, Twin Breaker was a PlayStation Exclusive, only present on the PS4 and PS Vita systems. Now with the help of publisher EastAsiaSoft, the title has found its way over to Nintendo Switch, PC and Xbox One. As a story-driven brick breaking experience, Twin Breaker draws upon its 80s influences heavily when seeking to define its existence. The title features a style that is reminiscent of older games, such as Arkanoid and Breakout, which is sure to scratch the brick breaking itch of those who are longtime fans of that style. Twin Breaker’s secret sauce comes in the form of evolving gameplay that will keep players engaged throughout everything it has to offer. From a story mode that consists of 40 levels and a new game plus mode, to six additional game modes that change up the formula of how Twin Breaker’s mechanics are utilized, there is no denying that this title is worth the small asking price.  Speaking of difficulty, this title challenges the player in a variety of ways. Completing any level requires little skill, however achieving an S rank on each is a different story. Due to the RNG nature of the game, players will find a healthy, albeit sometimes frustrating challenge when aiming for the highest rank in each level. There would not be a reason to shoot for high ranks unless there was an incentive behind it. In Twin Breaker, players will unlock codex files for each level by reaching a certain score, providing more lore and backstory to the world, which was written by Moriarty himself.
Greetings and Salutations

Greetings and Salutations

In every level, the main challenge players will face is in the form of the space flies. These enemies will rain down from the top of the screen, either honing in on the twin paddles or falling in a straight line. While not difficult to avoid, the challenge comes in the limited surface area the paddles can move, along with the possibility of a space fly falling alongside a power up, making it difficult to snag. Getting hit by one of these flies will hurt your score by ten points, and, more importantly, shrink and slow the paddle, making it more difficult to maneuver along the axis.  Another way Twin Breaker implements difficulty throughout the game is by altering the gameplay mechanics every ten levels. The title starts off with a traditional, top-down style of brick breaking, before transitioning into a ‘Pong’ style in the later levels. This shift is a welcome change to the gameplay as it alters the mechanics just before things start to feel stale. Towards the end of the game, the shift occurs once more, albeit with 4 paddles this time: two on the bottom and one on each side. All four paddles can be controlled with either analogue, or the face buttons if one prefers.  When compared to the original release on PS4, the Switch and Xbox versions benefit from the post-launch patches that the game received. With all of the bugs now ironed out, the only issues remaining are those provided by good ‘ol RNG. Due to the randomized nature of the ball, players can sometimes experience upwards of a minute without it ever touching a brick. This can feel frustrating, to say the least, as nothing was adjusted from the original to help alleviate some of the randomness.
Pickups

Power-ups

Aside from the ball randomness, the remainder of the issues found within these ports are dependent on the platform of choice rather than the game itself. The Xbox One controller’s deadzone is more noticeable than the PS4’s, as constantly moving side to side along each axis feels less responsive. It is possible to feel like some failures and lost lives are due to the inability to reach the other end of the screen fast enough.  The Switch version of the game misses out on a feature that the other versions wear with pride. Moriarty, a longtime PlayStation Trophy fan, personally crafted the trophy list of the game to satiate those who enjoy the hunt. On PlayStation, Xbox One and PC, fans can enjoy hunting Trophies/Achievements that are full of references and, frankly, a joy to get. The Nintendo ecosystem unfortunately lacks any achievement implementation, making it feel like those who purchase the title on Switch are missing out on one of the game’s best features.  All-in-all, Twin Breaker: A Sacred Symbols Adventure on Nintendo Switch and Xbox One is a joy to play and a worthy purchase. It’s good knowing that a game made for PlayStation audiences by a PlayStation fan can find its way onto other consoles in the future. Although there are some setbacks of this port, most of them can be attributed to the platform being played on. Nonetheless, the quality of this title should make any fan excited for whatever comes next from these two. Habroxia 2, hurry up already! Twin Breaker: A Sacred Symbols Adventure was reviewed on Nintendo Switch and Xbox One. For more reviews, check out our latest on WWE 2K Battlegrounds!
Colin Moriarty1 Habroxia2 Nintendo Switch59 Perils of Baking1 playstation53 PS4224 Sacred Symbols1 Twin Breaker1 Xbox ONE424
About author

Daniel Pereira

From a young age I've loved video games and the power they possess in bringing different kinds of people together. I have forged many good friendships through this medium that would not exist without it. I love experiencing a new genre for the first time and finding out it resonates with me. Also, Conker's Bad Fur Day is one of the greatest games of all time. Fight me.

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