Inayah - Life After Gods
Preview
Familiar Ground
EA SCOUT the last line of defense for buying on Steam's Early Access
by Samuel Corey
previewed on PC
Familiar Ground
The post-apocalyptic future continues to be a popular setting for new video games. However, the aesthetics have largely changed from barren wastelands to more colorful interpretations of the end of days (Far Cry: New Dawn, Horizon: Zero Dawn, etc). Inayah - Life After Gods is one of those fluorescent apocalypses, where you find yourself picking around the ruins of an advanced civilization that has slowly been consumed by wild beasts and lush jungles. It's an idea that may have been unique a decade or so ago, but now it tends to blur into the background as an almost generic setting.
Likewise, the 2D Metroidvania combat won't be unfamiliar to anyone who has played a couple of entries in the genre. It is the usual affair of dashing through enemies' attacks and retaliating when the bosses give you an opening. The experience is enhanced though by some really smooth and impressive 2D animations for both the main character and her enemies. The hand-drawn styles mesh nicely with the occasional cut scene done in the same style, but even these don't stand out in a genre with such gorgeous games as Hollow Knight and Afterimage.
Inayah isn't completely without a unique identity though. It is the first time in a long time that a Western video game asked me to play a hot chick in a slutty swimsuit. More games need to cram their leading ladies into gravure fetish costumes if you ask me.
Arsenal
Aside from the rather bodacious heroine, the chief draw here is the ability to quickly switch between a variety of weapons. Each weapon has a unique combat style, as well as some bonus traversal mechanics, giving you an incentive to rapidly alternate between them as you make your way through the levels. The blades for instance give you the ability to do an upper-cut slash to give yourself a little more height on tough jumps, while the flail offers the ability to teleport to certain nearby points and grab hold of them. My favorite is the fisticuffs that let you rappel off certain walls like you're Super Meat Boy.
Unfortunately, each weapon also has a very exhaustive upgrade tree, so you are incentivized to specialize in one, at least for combat anyway. This system is further hurt by the fact that it can be difficult to tell at a glance which weapon you have equipped. Indeed, switching weapons does not give you much feedback to let you know that you have switched or which weapon you have equipped. 9 Years of Shadows, an otherwise unremarkable Metroidvania from a couple of years did this same thing but much better, with both the character model and the the UI changing to indicate that you have switched weapons.
I didn't run into many cases in the preview where this would be a major issue. However, if Inayah wants to take advantage of this system with some insane platforming sections that require you to rapidly phase between the different weapons to make use of all their unique abilities in short succession, it will run into serious problems. It's a shame because it's exactly the kind of sequence that would make the best use of this system.
UI Woes
Indeed, the UI in general in the preview felt like it needed some work. Navigating through the menus to select upgrades was harder than it had any right to be. While equipping special items did not come with any sound effects or animations, I was confused for a moment if I had actually managed to equip them or not.
Looking into the developer a bit I was not surprised to see they were made up of veterans from Owlcat, makers of the Pathfinder games, and the excellent Rogue Trader RPG. Of course, as much as I love Rogue Trader, I can't find it in me to defend its obtuse and often confusing menu system. However, getting lost in a menu in an RPG with a million different states, buffs, penalties, skills, and gear is a forgivable sin. When you have the same issues in an action platformer, it is far less reasonable. None of Inayah's systems are complicated enough to justify this much clunk in the menu.
These are, of course, things that could be cleaned up for the game's final release, as menu optimization is usually pretty far down on the totem poll of development priorities. If these issues can be cleaned up, I think Inayah could be a fine game.
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Watch
The game has potential, but we're not ready to jump in with both feet. If the game interests you, look, but don't touch - yet.
