Bringing cult classics to a extra trendy, up to date platform could be a dangerous proposition. What, if something, do you modify, and what do you retain the identical? When the sport you occur to be porting originated on the DS, a sure diploma of change is inevitable given the shift from a two-screen to a single-screen format, so naturally, a cautious stability must be struck so as to rope in new gamers whereas holding authentic followers joyful. With Dementium: The Ward, developer Atooi has opted for the most secure route doable, porting its 2015 3DS remaster of the 2007 authentic over to the Switch with as few pointless modifications as doable. While this makes for an genuine recreation that helps protect the sport in mild of the 3DS eShop closure, it additionally highlights a few of its unlucky drawbacks.
Taking place inside a creepy medical ward, your protagonist awakens with no reminiscence, and it’s as much as you to flee from the complicated alive, preventing off ugly enemies and fixing puzzles alongside the best way. It’s your typical survival horror however with first-person mechanics; in a means, it appears like a precursor to what Resident Evil would finally morph into with its seventh mainline entry.
Moving over to the Switch, the controls have been up to date accordingly and really feel very a lot according to trendy first-person shooters: motion is mapped to the left analogue stick whereas look/purpose is on the precise. You can select between three completely different management choices that swap stick and set off features, and you too can invert the Y-axis if you want. All pretty customary.
There aren’t any touchscreen controls, which is unquestionably a blessing given how awkward the unique’s stylus aiming could be on a single display screen the place it is not wanted, however disappointingly, there may be additionally no possibility for gyro aiming. For many, together with this author, it appears an apparent selection to incorporate this wherever doable, and first-person video games like Metroid Prime Remastered have greater than confirmed its price. Hopefully, this can get patched in at a later date, however for now, it’s a obtrusive omission for an FPS on Switch.
Regardless, Dementium: The Ward controls fairly effectively for essentially the most half. You can regulate the aiming delicate to your liking and the rock-solid 60fps efficiency delivers a clean, secure gameplay expertise. Loading can be virtually non-existent: you possibly can load up your saved sport and be again within the motion in lower than a second. The similar goes for navigating by rooms, too. While this isn’t fully seamless, the quick transition from one space to the subsequent is fast and painless.
When it involves the sport’s fight, nevertheless, that is the place its age (and limitations of the DS/3DS) begins to develop into obvious. The enemies, whereas actually well-designed from a visible standpoint, do little greater than rush to the protagonist, flailing their arms about in reckless abandon. The boss characters don’t fare too effectively, both, with an early encounter with ‘The Cleaver’ proving to be a reasonably monotonous affair by which you merely stroll backward whereas firing off a couple of shotgun rounds. You can crank up the issue if you need a bit extra of a problem, however basically, the best way the enemy AI behaves feels fairly primary for essentially the most half, they usually develop into mere annoyances slightly than one thing resembling a real menace.
What we do admire in regards to the sport, nevertheless, is the way it strikes a tremendous stability between lighting up your surroundings together with your torch and utilising your weapons. You can’t do each on the similar time which, logically, could seem a bit odd, nevertheless it does make for some significantly tense moments. You by no means know fairly what’s behind every nook, and figuring out you’ll possible need to sacrifice your visible support for a defensive merchandise within the occasion a ugly monster launches towards you will be nerve-wracking.
In phrases of its total lo-fi presentation, Dementium: The Ward seems to be to successfully replicate the 2015 remaster as a lot as doable, and it most actually succeeds. While this makes for a satisfying callback for followers of the unique, there may be additionally undoubtedly room for some enchancment to appease newcomers. The environments, for essentially the most half, look fairly an identical all through, which led to a sense of repetition throughout the latter parts of the sport whereas making the in-game map close to sufficient obligatory should you’re to keep away from getting misplaced (fortunately, nevertheless, the map has been up to date for this launch to spotlight save rooms, which is truthfully a godsend). There had been hints of selection at factors, reminiscent of a very creepy kids’s ward, however extra of this was sorely wanted.
That stated, the environment is great from begin to end, with stable lighting results, efficient use of blood and gore, and a constant piano tune that someway manages to sound each unnerving and weirdly comforting on the similar time. It’s additionally a reasonably brisk sport, clocking in at simply three or 4 hours; much less should you’re a Dementium veteran and actually know what you’re doing. While this would possibly effectively sound a bit too quick for some, it felt like the precise size for us given the environmental limitations. And that ending, all these years later, nonetheless offers us the willies.
Conclusion
Dementium: The Ward is a secure Switch port that efficiently replicates as a lot of the 2015 3DS remaster as doable whereas updating the controls for a extra trendy expertise. It’s a brief sport that does undergo from repetitive environments and uninteresting enemy encounters, however the overarching environment makes up for this in spades. If you are a fan of survival horror, there’s positively sufficient right here to scratch an itch, and the stable efficiency and tight controls make this a port price trying out.
