I just love the aesthetic that came from games in the SNES and Game Boy Advanced era. It’s simple, but had a charm to it that really stands out and captivates the eye. With Llewl and the Lyre of Two Worlds, we have a game in development that recaptures that feel but adds some fun modern quality of life improvements that we’ll talk about here.

We don’t get far into the overarching story of the game. In the demo, you play as Sarah, who is searching for the mysterious elf girl Llewl. They are attacked and separated early on, and Sarah must venture forth to find her with her friend Hans.

The maps are charming as it perfectly captures a feel very similar to the Golden Sun games. As a huge fan of the franchise, I found myself in awe returning to something that presented this same feel. What is different here is how you move about. You can swim in the water, jump off cliffs, the ability to save anywhere, and to set run to be the default speed. These quality of life improvements made a big difference, as it was fun exploring around the map. It did take a bit to get used to, as in games like this, the water was a clear barrier, but here you can swim across it. I often found myself stopping and trying to go around out of instinct. The maps are a lot of fun, but my only complaint is that caves and dimly lit areas are too dark. Visually, they were fine, but because of the lighting, I struggled to get around a bit.

What I like most about the game is the combat. It’s not your typical turn-based game where each character gets a single turn. Instead, you and your enemies get TP or turn points. Those points can be used however you want, as each action costs a set number of points. You can use one character several times, or split up your actions across multiple party members. Other than basic attacks and items, you can’t use the same attack twice, making you plan out strategies, rather than spam moves.

You also fight on a 4×4 grid that you can move around in. This adds another fun layer to the combat complexity as some moves affect specific spots. In addition to that, you have attacks that can force characters to move to a different spot. This is great to line up enemies for specific attacks that target rows or columns, or to lure enemies into traps that you set up. It hits that right amount of complexity that you can pull off amazing combos, but not too complex to be confusing. The only real grip I have is that some of the fights are pretty long. I was in the game early on and had to use multiple turns to take out one enemy. I think outside of boss fights, the enemies could use a little less health.

Speaking of health, while you have a health bar, you also have armor for physical and magical attacks. Before you take any damage, your armor has to drop to zero, and that adds to another fun depth to the gameplay. Stronger enemies also have armor, so it’s important to plan out your attacks. You could drop an enemy to near-zero health but if you focused on physical attacks the entire time, then a magic attack won’t be enough to finish the job, and vice versa.

Character customization is also at a sweet spot for me. I don’t like having to spend a lot of time picking and choosing layouts, and you don’t have that here. Players can equip a weapon and up to six runes that provide various buffs. It’s an easy system to figure out and provides just enough equipping to make it fun to try new stuff out.

Everything else regarding exploration, map design etc are all pretty par for the course of what you would expect with a game like this. It’s easy to figure out and fun to look around and find stuff. For a demo, I was surprised at how many places there were to explore, as you had secrets hidden in a well, numerous treasure chests to find, and even another character to unlock.

The game is currently on Kickstarter and needs your help to ever be released. I haven’t backed it yet because I haven’t decided what tier I want, but I do plan on donating as I’d love to see the full version. Whatever I do decide, I do plan on donating enough to add an NPC to the game, so be sure to expect some kind of cameo from me and consider supporting the Kickstarter.