REVIEW – The adjective in the title refers not only to the fact that one aspect of the game is not… the best, but also to the fact that this time it is not a game for 30/40/50/60/70 euros, as you can buy Unstable Games’ creation for a third of that, which can be considered a kind of Diablo clone because it uses such a camera angle; it is also a roguelike with a storyline that goes back to Chinese mythology.

At least there will be no complaints about the story, as it also draws on the Western Journey, in which Chenxiang (it can also be spelled as Chen Xiang) tries to save his mother Sanshengmu (called Huayue Sanniang in the game) with the martial arts skills he learned from Sun Wukong, the Monkey King.

The outlawed child’s struggles

These are popular characters from Chinese culture, and the origins of the story certainly go back to the Tiang Dynasty (and there are nearly a dozen movie adaptations), which ruled for nearly 290 years from the 7th century. Our hero’s mother is an immortal who falls in love with a mortal (which would be forbidden), and our hero is born an outlaw, resulting in Sanshengmu’s imprisonment under Mount Hua. Chenxiang does not know his origins, but as a teenager he learns about the past. With the help of other immortals, he embarks on a journey to save his mother. Making it a roguelike is not a bad idea, because the story itself is not the same tired old thing that has been seen a million times elsewhere. But the gameplay is familiar, because the camera position itself is reminiscent of Diablo, and again you get waves of enemies that you defeat with primary and secondary attacks and special abilities, and then when the coast is clear you can pick up loot, which is one of three abilities. There are also mid-level and end-level bosses.

If Chenxiang dies anywhere during the round, he will lose the items he has earned up to that point, but the currency will be saved and can be spent on perks. So death is natural here, which is necessary because without it you can get to the end of the story very quickly, but replayability is inherent in the genre because Unstable Games would push the audience to try to play another round, then another, another, another, and as many more as they can. It’s going to be a little chaotic, but in a good way, because it’s fast-paced, it’s fun, and it can engage the audience if they’re into it. Even the bigger boss fights can last a few minutes. Weapons can be upgraded with multiple artifacts, and skills can have a significant impact on playstyle, and the combination and variation of these can determine how you play. Some will unleash hurricanes of fire, while others (also unique to Western games) will strike your opponents with lightning bolts. Because you can use abilities very quickly (short cooldowns), it’s a fast-paced experience.

Doesn’t speak proper English overlap text

The most obvious problem with Lotus Lantern: Rescue Mother is the English localization. The voice acting is hard to comment on because I don’t know Chinese (because no, there is no English voice acting in the game), but the music is appropriate for the genre and has a bit of a traditional feel to it, which is nice. The problem is the subtitles and the interface. To put it mildly, the developers have a weak grasp of the English language. Sometimes the text is not resized properly, so it doesn’t fit into the text boxes here and there (this is a common problem even during the ending, which is a shame). In other places, the wrong apostrophe is used (which makes it look like there are more spaces after it), and sometimes the character’s speech changes from first person singular to third person singular in the middle of a sentence.

And there are examples where it is very difficult to interpret what the text means. Beyond the interface, even in combat, critical damage that originally fit on two Chinese characters will be written out in English as Crit Hit, which would be sufficient as Crit, or show the damage number in a different color. It may not be confusing for some, but since there is no English dub, you must rely on the subtitles. It’s almost recommended to play with Chinese subtitles…? Other than that, the game feels relatively light and quite similar. A bad joke might be the meme that we have Hades at home… but it’s apt. Although the game is not very rewarding, it is quite reminiscent of Supergiant Games’ creation, and that offers a more polished experience in comparison.

Chinese experience… Chinese quality?

Not all Chinese development is automatically bad. There are still some excellent CRPG (the C stands for Chinese!) creations today. I recommend the Xuan-Yuan Sword series (and even the Gaiden parts!). Also, Lotus Lantern: Rescue Mother is not bad, but it is easy to find better products of its genre on the market. The terrible English translation brings it down from a 7/10 rating to a 6.5. That’s not bad either, and it’s a sign that it’s something to spend a few days with. But nothing more.

-V-

Publisher: 663 Games

Developer: Unstable Games

Style: roguelike

Release: April 12, 2024.