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Keylocker is my personal indie game of the year for 2024 and effortlessly mixes elements from fan favourite games like Super Mario RPG & Undertale to create something brand new that far surpasses the current industry standard in my opinion.
I’m going to cut this review up into different sections below to make it a bit easier for people to understand whether the game is for them. I think it’s always important to note that there are all kinds of highly rated games on Steam that may not click with an individual for a variety of reasons so it’s important to understand what you’re getting into before purchasing any game & this includes Keylocker.
Also, my play time is obviously quite low since the game just officially came out, but you can rest assured I have played a lot of the different demos & already seen most of the game at this point:
Gameplay:
Keylocker’s gameplay is where it draw’s most of its inspiration from the aforementioned games (Super Mario RPG, Mario & Luigi & other Rhythm based RPG’s) and could also be one of the most contentious points for the game which is why I have put it at the top of my review. While Keylocker is an amazing title in my opinion, if you simply don’t like rhythm based, turn based and/or difficult games this one might not be for you.
In Keylocker, you can control up to 4 different characters at a time (all with varying class progressions & skill trees), including the main one B0B0 and on a hextile grid, you will be making various tactical/timed decisions to defeat enemies and/or get out of combats unscathed. There is a parry mechanic inbuilt for BOTH you and the enemies you face meaning that your timing will have to be impeccable on difficulties above soft punk (easy) or else you will be punished harshly.
All of this sounds great right? And it is, but the main reason I can foresee it being somewhat divided for a fair amount of people is because of its difficulty which is on the higher end of games I’ve played. It can take a while to get into the right rhythm (no pun intended) and start hitting enemies with the full force of your arsenal, whilst also taking minimal if any damage due to perfect counter timings.
It’s understandable how this can be frustrating to players who may not have the time &/or patience to persevere, although I still think playing through the game on the lowest difficulty can be a great option for such players to enjoy the experience to its absolute fullest as there is a lot else in this package that is truly one of a kind.
The game was also designed in a way to make repetition enjoyable & satisfying in fights a la dark souls as the player has an infinite amount of retries in all combats with which they can carefully hone their strategy and eventually take down tough opponents with no grinding necessary at all.
In my opinion, this is an absolutely genius mechanic that really sets the game apart from other ones in the same genre making the game one of the most skill-based & fair (whilst still difficult) 2D RPG’s I’ve personally had the pleasure of playing. Forget about the grinding of Final Fantasy & damage sponges of Persona as Keylocker integrates neither into it’s core gameplay which I’m sure will be a breath of fresh air to many JRPG fans.
Sound Design:
Keylocker’s sound design is truly powerful in many different regards ranging from the crisp sound effects & electrifying music to usage of silence at various points to convey the sum of its themes. The strongest of these three must be the music (game about music has great music surprise, surprise) which was composed by Elektrobear & features Psamathes really combining to create all sorts of powerful soundscapes fitting the games Cyberpunk dystopian themes.
Most of the tracks are electronic which makes perfect sense considering the games environments and I caught myself embarrassingly humming along even to the tracks relegated to the most basic areas, showing the melodic prowess the team was able to create. On the other side of the coin, Psamathes vocals really emboldened certain story beats & boss fights to feel a lot more intense & symphonic which I feel drastically strengthened the game by not making the stakes feel flimsy.
The sound effects are also very clear & crisp as I mentioned before, especially for an indie game only comprised of around 5-10 developers which ups the production value of the entire game by quite a large magnitude. It’s much easier to immerse yourself into a world as bizarre as Keylocker’s when the sound design is absolutely on point which is exactly what they have achieved.
Visuals:
The graphics are, to put it simply, some of the most beautiful I have seen in an indie game with bright vivid colours & detailed spritework all around. All the characters (even minor NPC’s) and enemies are designed by Anglerman & Moonana in such a unique and wonderful manner that it’s impossible for anyone to call the game out for lacking originality or creativity. Obviously, the major characters such as B0B0 & others have got some of the best designs inspired by Anime like Nana, fashion like Punk Rock & Cyberpunk motifs that really hold the entire roster together very nicely, and the same goes for enemies & bosses arguably to an even greater extent.
The environments & zones themselves are also packed with so much detail ranging from dry, barren deserts devoid of any life to industrial factories brimming with robots ready to tear your face off, all on the cosmic scope of Saturn itself. A lot of the locations also feature various weather effects which might seem silly to mention but adds to the atmosphere & immersion of the game which I think is very important, especially for 2D pixel art games like Keylocker.
There are even fully animated cutscenes & detailed art panels throughout the game which diversifies what you will be looking at quite a lot, meaning it’s hard to get bored of Keylocker’s visual style as just when you get into the groove of things, the game will hit you with a switch up such as one of it’s many minigames.
I think that so long as you’re able to get into pixel art games in the first place (which I think most people can as evidenced by games like Stardew Valley & Minecraft), you will be thoroughly impressed by Keylocker’s visual offerings which you can also check out if you scroll up to the top of the store page.
Story/Writing:
The writing & story of Keylocker has many different tones, but only in a very few sections did I feel that it was disjointed or poorly done. Sometimes the characters & situations in the game are funny and sometimes they are deadly serious but all this just adds to the experience giving the game a unique flavour unlike any other.
Regarding the main story itself, it is very well done albeit a little generic and without going into any spoilers I think you would enjoy it if you enjoyed the stories of many other notable JRPG’s such as Persona 4, Chrono Trigger, Xenoblade Chronicles etc. I also believe that the mildly generic plot themes might work in the favour of the game as trying anything too unique or complex may have led the story to fall flat on its face as we’ve all seen with many other game stories in the past, whilst Keylocker still stands strong with a solid tale.
Negatives:
- Game is quite hard
- It can take a while to learn & execute the games systems properly
- Some characters/writing can feel a little tropey/artificial
That’s literally it…
Conclusion:
Overall, Keylocker is a game that you absolutely don’t want to miss if you are a fan of JRPG’s. amazing pixel art, sublime electronic/symphonic music, unique & interesting character/environment designs & difficult but immensely rewarding gameplay that will leave you wanting more.
9/10