Greak: Memories of Azur Switch Review – Triple Threat

Action platformers are a dime a dozen these days, and it is honestly hard to differentiate one from the rest. Many indie games boldly attempt something fresh and end up shooting themselves in the foot, but then you get a gem like Greak: Memories of Azur that does something unique while also beautifully building a world and characters that gives the game so much life. What is unique, you may ask? You control multiple characters at the same time, up to three, and it can be quite the challenge.

So is Greak: Memories of Azur worthy of your coin and time? Let’s find out!

The story of Greak: Memories of Azur is about a special race called Courines that brought new life to every corner of the world for many generations, and they did so by keeping away those who have long mistreated the lands: the Urlags, evil beings bent on death and destruction.

For many years, the Courines defended the valley and continued to flourish by building fortresses and training new generations to continue protecting the land they have fought for. The Courines maintained their order and reign, but by the time the game starts, the Urlags have banded together under a new banner and using a mysterious force to give them the edge, destroying everything the Courines have built and developed. Few Courines remain, and the sense of dire urgency is thick. You open the game as Greak, a young boy with a strong heart and a rich connection to his siblings that he is desperate to find due to the Urlag takeover, and it only grows from there.

More than the lore itself, this story is profound in how they develop the characters, especially the siblings Greak, Adara, and Raydel, as they defy the odds and do so together. The deep-rooted bond these three have is heart-warming, and their love for each other is only matched by their longing to be together safely. This is just an excellent telling of the importance of family and the bond that should exist within, and the story is so much more compelling thanks to this.

The game itself is your standard action adventure with some hints of Metroidvania. Azur, the location of Greak: Memories of Azur, is an area with many paths, some secrets, and much more. At first, you play as only Greak, but this does not last very long, as your first big quest is to find your sister, Adara. Greak has a vision of being with Adara, and this is how the game introduces you to the multi-character dynamic.

Essentially, each character is assigned to a direction on the D-pad, and swapping is as easy as tapping a button. You can also move all characters at once by holding down the left trigger as long as each of them are within a certain proximity, which helps with making traveling a bit quicker and more effective. Each of the characters also have their own strengths and weaknesses, and that makes some of the game’s puzzles to be quite interesting and unique. Controlling one character to help another one do something they otherwise cannot do alone is one of the core gameplay elements that sets this one apart from others. The stages and areas after finding your older brother, Raydel, take advantage of this even more, and I hate to say, this is a double-edged sword for me.

You see, once Raydel joins the party, the game really opens up and turns into something truly special… but then it ends. That is not to say that Greak: Memories of Azur is a short game. No, no. It is quite the perfect length, in my opinion, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience even before acquiring Raydel. However, it was from the moment he joined that I fell in love with the title and could not wait to play more. Sadly, the game does not go on for much longer after your big brother joins the party, and it does kind of leave you longing.

There are a lot of gameplay elements to talk about, too. Enemies and enemy combat is pretty standard, as both Greak and Raydel have swords that do decent damage and Adara is a mage-in-training and can deal some decent blows with her arcane magic. Boss fights are a different story, though. They are a lot of fun, but they can be damper, especially if you lose track of watching your other characters, as they can die without you even knowing since it is quite difficult to see their health while using someone else. However, I did find that learning the best strategies for bosses to be some of the most fun in the game, as you really need to learn how to best utilize your characters, their abilities, and the items they are holding.

Within the menu are your active and finished quests, which is very helpful to know what you need to do and around where you need to go. A lot of the early quests are fetch quests that seem a bit aimless at first, but they do connect quickly and you will start connecting dots before you know it. However, one thing I thought was poorly done is the map, which is basically non-existent. Considering Greak: Memories of Azur is a relatively large game, the lack of a more Metroidvania-style map is strange. Instead, it is pinpoints on a map that basically just share the location without any detail, so if you found a treasure that was inaccessible early in the game, good luck remembering where that was later.

Save stones, which are very reminiscent of Metroidvanias, are manual only, so if you do a lot of progression and forget to save and die, unfortunately you need to go back to your last save point and redo a lot of work (I know from experience). Personally, I enjoy this kind of save, as the oldschool style of it is a reminder of days where you control where you respawn upon death, and thankfully there are plenty of save stones scattered around Azur.

One of my favorite things within the game are the Alters, and just like the general gameplay, I wanted so many more of these. Alters are basically mini-challenges for each character that allow them to gain a health slot. These are a nice mix-up from the usual action, and they are genuinely a ton of fun. They even remind me of the Target Smash in Super Smash Bros.

One thing to praise tremendously are the stunning graphics. Whether it is in the cut scenes or the actual gameplay, everything is gorgeous, and the art style is just glowing with beautiful colors and fantastic design. I cannot believe the amount of beauty that can come from an indie game hailing only 1.6GB of space, but Navegante did something unbelievable here. This is one of the prettiest indie games I have ever played.

The overall soundtrack is pretty epic, too, but I found it a bit confusing how and when the music activated. Some times it would perfectly orchestrate a battle, but other times it would just start playing while I was walking around without direction. Despite, the tracks fit perfectly into the game’s universe, and it does have a strong, epic feel.

Greak: Memories of Azur is a wonderful adventure with a couple minor problems, but my biggest problem with the game is ultimately a major compliment and that is that I wanted so much more. I want more puzzles, I want more labyrinths with all three characters, and I absolutely want more Alters. It is a true testament to a game’s strength and design when you want more after clearing, and that is precisely how I felt after I finished the game.

If you can overlook some of these minor issues, I cannot recommend Greak: Memories of Azur enough. It is absolutely stunning, especially the Ghibli-like cut scenes, has very fun and unique gameplay mechanics, and has a powerful story about the bond of family and the desperation to survive in the midst of disaster. Do not overlook this wonderful game, because it will truly entertain you on multiple levels and leave you wanting more. That I can guarantee.

Greak: Memories of Azur Review provided by Nintendo Link
Publisher: Team17
Developer: Navegante Entertainment
Release Date: August 17, 2021
Price: $19.99, £15.99, €19,99
Game Size: 1.6 GB