SOLAR FLAIR

Heart Machine’s elegant action-platformer redefines open-world traversal

- CHRIS SCHILLING

The Old City Wyrm is one of the biggest videogame bosses we’ve seen in quite some time. This behemoth is a Remnant, in the parlance of Solar Ash, but its name hardly does it justice. Imagine a cross between the serpentine Leviathans from the MCU and the 13th colossus, and you wouldn’t be too far away – but if anything, its size is more imposing than either. By comparison, player-character Rei is the equivalent of a gnat, scuttling up its fins as they trail through a sea of pillowy clouds. She heads towards a series of strange protrusions spread across the Wyrm’s body (which don’t look like weak spots so much as release valves) and strikes them one by one, scampering across its spine and down its tail, following a pulsating energy trail – nerve impulses, perhaps? – as she leaps from one bony plate to the next. Darting back up to its head, she hits the final pustulous growth, and the Wyrm bucks and writhes, parts of its exoskeleton dissolving to reveal a fresh set of boils to lance. Rei lands on a nearby patch of ground with feline agility and pushes off once more. Time for round two.

The second part is a little trickier now the beast is aware it’s under attack. It banks and spins, raising one of those fins skyward as Rei takes hold and slides down onto its back, ready to repeat the trick. The classic videogame rule of three dictates that there’s more to come, but even so, it’s all over within minutes, as Rei drives one final needle into its head. This prompts a dazzling visual flourish as the camera zooms in, all colour instantly draining away as she pulls it out, unleashing a flash of pink and a vivid rush of manga-like motion lines as a burst of pure energy is released.