MediEvil Review

It’s downright impressive that, even after more than 20 years, the bulk of MediEvil’s DNA hasn’t lost an ounce of its charm. That’s due in part to the fact that the original hack-and-slash adventure was ahead of the times for 1998 in many ways, and it’s deserving of its cult classic status. A lot of credit, though, has to go to the incredible work developer Other Ocean has done in recreating it for this new, ground-up remake, which stays true to its roots – although to a fault in a lot of ways. MediEvil walks a fine line between reinventing itself and being the same game that people remember from the PS1, and too often places nostalgia over modernizing itself to be palatable for an audience in 2019.

MediEvil’s greatest strength is in its relentlessly charming story, which proves timeless. You play as Daniel Fortesque, a cowardly, failed knight who was killed hundreds of years ago at the very start of a great battle, but was erroneously remembered as a great hero in death. After being accidentally resurrected by a power-hungry necromancer, he’s given a second chance to make the myth of his heroism a reality, and it’s hard not to immediately root for this ultimate underdog. Everything from Fortesque’s goofy stride and grotesque undead appearance to the reaction you get from each character you meet along the way serves as a reminder of your failure in life, and that made me even more determined to redeem him through victory. Even when dated design becomes frustrating, the story is motivation enough to push through and see the credits roll. The witty, macabre writing, unique setting, and memorable characters set MediEvil apart and make it a lot easier to deal with some of its rough edges.

Watch the first 22 minutes below to get a sense for the story, look, and feel.

It’s hard to overstate just how great everything looks.


This may not matter much to a lot of youngsters who’ve never seen an original PlayStation outside of a museum, but compared to the original, MediEvil looks like a completely different game, which is impressive even though so much else remains stubbornly the same. Levels and character models are completely redesigned, and the greater range of colors alone makes areas look more distinct. It’s hard to overstate just how great everything looks, whether it’s enemies that ooze personality or added details that make levels feel more lived in. The camera controls, a notorious pain in the neck like so many games of the era, have been reworked to be much more tolerable, though they could definitely use a little more. The soundtrack and some voices have been completely re-recorded, and succeed in capturing the nostalgia without sounding dated. The narrator’s lines, for example, have been completely redone and expanded upon, which breathes new life into every level and cuts down on the amount of reading you have to do.With so much completely reinvented, it’s a little odd that MediEvil seems unwilling to evolve with the times in others. The developers must’ve seen the original’s sloppy and disorienting combat as a feature, because it remains just as frequently frustrating. Most encounters involve you running around swinging a weapon wildly, and oftentimes you’ll get hit and not really know how or why.

Watch the Changing One’s Perspective trailer below.

It doesn’t help that MediEvil can be pretty punishing at times. I love a duel of thumbsticks as much as the next guy, but it’s frustrating to take a ton of damage from a single blow due to random bad luck. Boss fights, in particular, badly needed reworking, but remain largely the same dreadfully boring or rage-inducing encounters – and some manage to be both simultaneously. One fight involves trying not to fall asleep while you wait for a couple of wolves to slowly attack you while you stand in place and chip away at their health bar. Another pits you against two demons while standing on a tiny platform, dodging a few fireballs and returning fire with projectiles, but one false move sends you flying off the platform. Fights like this manage to be uninteresting and very frustrating, especially when death comes so easily and leads to starting entire levels over.

MediEvil’s cardinal sin is a complete lack of checkpoints.


Which brings us to MediEvil’s cardinal sin: a complete lack of mid-level checkpoints of any kind. This single omission is so endlessly frustrating that it’s enough for me to recommend against playing at all if you value your time or have a tendency to throw loose objects (including PS4 controllers) when enraged. You can spend half an hour working your way through an area or looking for secrets, only to get killed by a momentary lapse in judgement and find yourself at the very beginning of the level with all progress reset.

Watch an intro to the combat system below.

There’s a difference between challenging and annoyingly repetitive, and not having checkpoints is about as fun as a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. I can understand the decision to stay true to the original design, but with how much most other things have been updated, it seems unforgivable to not fix something so obviously irritating in 2019. More importantly, this mechanic actually discourages exploration. There were plenty of times where I got to the end of the level and wanted to turn around and search for secrets, but a quick look at my health bar and knowing the consequences of death pushed me to play it safe and finish the level instead.

And because there’s no room for error, it can be really frustrating when you encounter one of the plentiful bugs late into a level. In one instance, I fell off a cliff and instead of losing a block of health and getting warped back onto solid ground, I was teleported to some dark void and left to repeatedly fall to my death until I ran out of health and had to start over. In another example, I was unable to 100% a level, which locked me out of the “best” ending to the story.

source: ign.com