Enchanted Portals

Today, it seems almost impossible for a game not to draw inspiration from other games. In Enchanted Portals, it feels like the developers at Xixo Game Studio played Cuphead until the day they decided to make their own game with, basically, all the inspiration taken from that game. However, they don't manage to achieve the speed and finesse of their inspiration and the problem lies mainly in how Enchanted Portals works mechanically.

There are mainly three things that are disturbing and these are the whole basis for how I experience the entertainment in this game. Two of these things deal with the game's weapons. In order to kill certain enemies, you have to have the right colour weapon to match the colour around or on the enemy. You switch between red (fire), yellow (wind) and blue (ice) colours and you do this on the D-pad. So in other words, you have to take your thumb off the joystick you control the character with to switch between these three. This has to be done very frequently and the problem is that you can only switch when the character is completely stationary.

The other negative thing is that the aiming angle is locked in fixed positions, so there are no 180-degree free movement when aiming, instead you shoot sideways, diagonally or straight up. If an enemy stands outside any of these directions, you simply do not hit it. Furthermore, only one of these weapons (wind) shoots multiple projectiles, something all of them would have benefitted from. The third negative thing is the sum of these design decisions, and that is that the game's flow suffers from the two previously mentioned areas.

With a cartoony style, charming characters and catchy music, Enchanted Portals tries to engage and seduce us with a large dose of charm. The two magicians Bonny and Penny are tossed around in different worlds, but the lack of a map feels like one of many missed opportunities. And yes, this feels so very Cuphead that it almost borders on plagiarism. Everything is kind of designed like that, including a high difficulty level and when I played alone I had a hard time already on the game's first boss. Even though there are playful backgrounds and the charming cartoon style is quite nice, a lot of the game feels very lifeless. There are a lot of obstacles on the screen to avoid, and frustration can often in a gaming context lead to a desire to go all out to complete a challenge. Not here. Here, frustration is just insane frustration because it's boring to play.

The worst part is how the game does itself a disservice by lacking speed. When the flow is missing, the nerve that can be linked to the fun also disappears. You often have to walk a few steps to stop and clear the screen, and the controls don't feel particularly nimble or responsive. However, there are two definite highlights. Sure, the cartoony graphics style is fun and pretty but well, it's not actually one of them. It feels too identical to what Cuphead gave us six years ago and that game felt more unique. Instead, one of the strengths is the music, which you're happy to bop along to, and the game's bosses are quite fun. So, while it is lacking in speed, it becomes a sweaty and fun challenge in learning movement patterns and how to avoid everything that is sent towards you. After the game's dull beginning, however, there is a bit more speed in the form of, for example, air travel on a broom (instead of Cuphead's variant with aeroplanes) and I will also take the opportunity to mention that the theme with wizards and magic feels fitting. It's pretty much the only identity the game has.

Enchanted Portals has some superficial features that make you raise your eyebrows but what really counts; what's there under the surface, it doesn't measure up at all. It's very rare that I search for information or read other people's impressions about a game I'm going to review, but I was curious to see who was behind the game. And despite the fact that it seems to be developed by only two people (which of course is a feat worth mentioning), I can't help but agree with the numerous threads and posts online about how a bit too much inspired and like Cuphead this is. I might not want to go so far as to accuse them of making a shameless copy of it, I rather think that role model and inspiration can be something nice. But, when the small but oh so important own identity is missing and the game is not at all entertaining, I can't recommend this at all, unfortunately.