Aztech Forgotten Gods Switch Review – By the Wings of Huitzilopochtli

Aztech Forgotten Gods was a title that was featured in the April 2021 Indie World Showcase. The action title from Mexican studio Lienzo is heavily inspired by Aztec mythology while also implementing futuristic technology and advances. It was originally supposed to launch in Fall 2021, but unfortunately it got delayed. Thankfully, it is finally here, and it is time to see if this action adventure title delivers.

So is Aztech Forgotten Gods worthy of the gods’ favors? Or is this a sacrifice that will only anger the gods? Let’s find out!

Aztech Forgotten Gods is a bit of a complicated story. Its beginnings showcase a powerful leader named Zuma as she brings the Lightkeeper, an ancient prosthetic weapon powered by a mysterious energy, to an alter destined to wait for someone who is worthy. From this point, the Aztec Empire begins to rebuild after emerging victorious from the conflict, and they used remnants of the past to build towards the future.

This ultimately led to a more flourishing world where everyone lives in harmony, and the Aztec Empire grew into a magnificent civilization. But the ever-growing city of Tenochtitlan began to advance more and more, and before long, the Great War and the ancient gods began to fade from memory. We then meet our main protagonist, Achtli, and alongside her mom, Nantsin, we learn about a huge scientific discovery that brings us back to the Lightkeeper. Achtli equips the Lightkeeper and begins to see things and understand a world from long before, and unfortunately that means being a part of something much, much bigger than her.

Achtli is an intelligent character that has a ton of personality, including the fact that she is claustrophobic. Seeing someone’s strengths and weaknesses in the early-go gives you a lot of appreciation of the quick development that only enhances over the course of the game. There is a bit of filler dialog that feels like it takes up a lot of time, but overall, the story is solid and carries well from start to finish. I just wish the story segments were a little shorter and more spread out. The start of the game, especially, takes way too long to get moving, but thankfully you can skip dialog if you want.

Where things get wonky is in the gameplay. Not only does it take ages to get to the first action sequence for Achtli, but a poor combination of camera and controls make the combat in Aztech Forgotten Gods a bit of a disaster. For starters, controls are inconsistent, and it is mostly because different environments and walls cause Achtli to move differently depending on where she lands or hits. Because “wall jumping” with the boost is an action, hitting corners or even trees can activate this ability without a desire to do so.

Not only that, but the camera is constantly a problem, as it zooms in and out seemingly at random because of being too close to walls, objects, or whatever else. When in combat, this is incredibly annoying, as losing track of an enemy’s location happens all too frequently due to the wild camera, and since you cannot lock on to any enemy or a boss’s body part, losing your attack combo can be devastating, especially during boss fights.

One thing about Aztech Forgotten Gods that is a lot of fun is launching Achtli into the air with Lightkeeper and soaring around the city like a superhero. It does have stamina and wears out after a while, but running into walls returns some stamina, meaning that if you make good use of your environment, you can in theory fly around the whole place without ever touching the ground. It is really cool and feels great, too, but once again, using this ability while fighting bosses can get bothersome as the camera rarely wants to play nice.

A strong game to compare this to would be Shadows of the Colossus, but this is only in the rhythm. You see, Aztech Forgotten Gods goes the route of long storytelling segments until you reach the next boss, which is where a majority of the action takes place. There are moments where Achtli needs to run errands around the city, and there are even times where she connects with a god named Tez in a dream world where there is a little bit of platforming before more storytelling. Overall, though, this is the extent of the action.

The bosses themselves are pretty awesome, as the designs and looks are a great reminder of how Shadows of the Colossus worked back in 2005. They are massive in scale and a solid challenge that goes through stages. The only major problem is one I already mentioned, and that is the horrific camera during these fights. As there are a lot of things going on and seemingly even more things to pay attention to, it is quite difficult to stay focused on the important aspects of these grand battles due to a lack of a lock-on system. I found these fights to be even more daunting at the highest difficulty.

A couple areas where Aztech Forgotten Gods really shines, though, is in the art direction and soundtrack. Although there are some clipping issues here and there, the way the game looks is quite beautiful, and I particularly love the art style. Lienzo did a wonderful job combining ancient Aztec design with a futuristic vision, and it does pay off quite well.

Aztech Forgotten Gods is a massive title with some truly epic boss battles and a pretty interesting story to go along with that, and it looks and sounds great all the way through. It is just so unfortunate that these great areas are tainted by some wonky controls and a rough camera.

This is definitely Lienzo’s most ambitious title to date, and despite its flaws, Aztec Forgotten Gods is still a fun experience that will entertainment for hours. If you do not mind some frustrating moments within, then this is definitely a title worth playing. If not at full price, then definitely at a discount in the future.

Aztech Forgotten Gods Switch Review provided by Nintendo Link
Review also found on OpenCritic
Publisher: Lienzo
Developer: Lienzo
Release Date: March 10th, 2022
Price: $29.99, £24.99, €29,99
Game Size: 1.8 GB