Witcheye Switch Review – I’ll Get You, My Pretty!

Witcheye is a charming indie game by Moon Kid and published by our good friends at Devolver Digital. This is a game that reverses the roles a bit and has you playing as the witch instead of the knight, but just because the roles are switched does not mean that you are necessarily the bad guy.

Quite the contrary, the knight was ordered to steal all of your prized possessions, and now it is up to you, in super eyeball form, to chase after this no good thief and get your stuff back. So is Witcheye an adventure worth keeping an eye on? Or should you equip your blinders and look away? Well, let’s find out!

The game starts off with this cute little narrative of how there is an “evil” witch that must be stopped, and it is up to the noblest hero in the land to sneak into her lair, take all of her things that could be troubling to them, and then this hero will be paid handsomely for his efforts.

The only problem is that the witch is no pushover, and she is hellbent on getting her stuff back.

The story is the right kind of cute and fun, and it sets up the game wonderfully. Without taking up too much of your time, you are introduced to numerous characters, the scenario at hand, and the protagonist’s goal in quick fashion, and it all makes sense. You cannot ask for more from a title like this.

The game is a bizarre action experience where you control the Witcheye by moving it any direction with the left joystick and stopping it with any face button. Getting used to the stop-and-go controls takes some time, but they are intuitive and create a unique and fun experience. If you are playing in handheld mode, you can also control the eyeball with the touch screen. I actually found the joystick method to be a bit more precise, but both control schemes work really well.

You traverse numerous stages per world and encounter lots of quirky enemies that you will need to learn how to defeat. Most enemies simply need to be hit by the eye, while others need some more patience and strategy. Learning how to tackle all of these baddies will make the levels so much more doable, and then you will face the bosses.

Bosses in the game range from having to use quick reflexes and timing to rapid striking and taking them down as quickly as possible. I found the bosses to be an honest mixed bag. Some of them are incredibly fun, while others tend to be a bit on the annoying side. Thankfully, those few experiences do not last long nor do they sour the experience, but they are present and do cause some occasional frustration.

As is the goal in the story, collecting all of your items throughout stages is another objective. Each stage has 3 Green Gems, 1 Blue Gem, and possibly a secret item hidden in one of the stages within a world. Early on, these are easy to find, but as you progress, they become harder and harder to discover and collect. Boss fights will always reward the witch with one of her prized possessions, too.

The soundtrack and visuals are simply nostalgic and carry an essence of charm and cuteness. Each stage and each world bring their own flavor of music, enemy typing, and look, and this helps to distinguish each area in a similar way to a Super Mario game. Although the quality is not quite on par with something like a Mario game, Witcheye carries its own weight well and does so for an incredibly affordable price.

This is one of those games that helps keep you busy for a couple hours. It is not going to win any awards, but it does not have to. It does everything that it wants to in a charming and playable way, and what we are left with is a fun, little action game featuring a witch’s eyeball and a knight that must be stopped.

If you do not think that is worth your time and money, then I feel sorry for you. But if you have $5 to spare and want a unique gaming experience, Witcheye is one of those games that just works.

Witcheye Review provided by NintendoLink
Review also available on OpenCritic
Publisher: Devolver Digital
Developer: Moon Kid
Release Date: August 27, 2020
Price: $4.99, £4.49, €4.99
Game Size: 423 MB