Ultros is a rogue-lite Metroidvania with a colorful soul and a looping core. Balancing the standard tropes of the genre with a whimsical side-dish of gardening supported by some marvelous psychedelic artwork, it’s a solid entry that captures both the eye and the heart of gamers in search for their next grand journey. With some ingenious ideas and a progression system that rewards persistence and attention to detail, this is one to crash-land into without second thoughts.

Loop the Loop

The surreal setting of Ultros will make you forget about most things you’ve witnessed before. The Sarcophagus is a genuinely original and sometimes dazzling alien landscape where you have crash-landed, conveniently home for a demon named Ultros. It’s a bizarre and fairly unique landscape filled with strange lore and twisted creatures big and small, friend and foe, up to your discovery. As you attempt to find your way out, a black hole inevitably sucks you into a loop, and you restart the cycle with bolstered confidence and the reassurance that abilities are now cheaper and consequently easier to get.

That is one of the beautiful things about Ultros. How it seemingly strips you from your progress and puts you back at the start, unsure if you are going to take as long to reach the point you were before, but in all likelihood, you’re going to find new paths. Defeat a boss, known as a Shaman, return to the colossal center room and the loop will restart; however, you may choose to continue exploring for a while longer, maybe attempt to kill another boss, but that’s entirely up to you.

Designing the vast world of Ultros surely wasn’t an easy feat. It’s a maze of huge proportions divided into several sections, many of them technically inaccessible before you unlock some abilities or Extractors – more on this later – and it can seem daunting at times, as you wonder what your next move should be. The map is useful, signaling some of the exits that you have yet to explore, but it’s not enough to convey that sense of security that you are indeed moving in the right path, with a surefire chance of success and return – at least during the first few hours of the 15 or so that it should take you to reach the ending.

To realize that everything ends up making sense is interesting, given the size of The Sarcophagus. You are ready to use your Cortex abilities and the Extractor’s help to unlock that path or reach that ledge you previously couldn’t, cut through plants or fly in designated locations to discover new places. Unless you are really lost and confused at this type of game, there will be a way to find the next place to go.

You start each loop deprived of a mere weapon, which you will find after a short trip. Along the way you can slay aggressive alien organisms and collect parts of four different color-coded categories that you can consume, bloody tentacles and other unidentifiable viscera, ultimately giving you health but also nutrition to explore the Cortex, or in other words, the ability tree. Defeating an enemy by means of repetitive attack patterns will damage the part that drops, resulting in less nutrition; performing varied combos results in a prime quality part, offering more nutrition.

The Cortex is accessible via pods that double as save points. You can eat more parts to reach the nutrition thresholds necessary for each ability, unlocking even more in the process, playing around with the skill tree to see which ones you can get at the time. Extractors are these little sidekicks that grant you the valuable double jump ability and one specific power, such as flying on designated locations or cutting through dense plants. Each loop usually ends with a boss and soon rewards you with a new Extractor.

Kaleidoscopic Platforming

If Ultros wasn’t so colorful, it could pass for a true horror game with underlying hallucinogenic tones; however, the bright palette and the countless details permeating every screen manage to be a feast for the eyes, a brand new world that is as inviting as it is unsettling. Coming from the talented mind and hands of Niklas “El Huervo” Åkerblad, known among gamers for his gruesome Hotline Miami cover art, there is no shortage of things to look at, memorable landmarks or boss encounters, and sometimes all this otherworldly beauty gets under your skin. It’s a gorgeous game, and if it’s at fault in something is that a lot of times the background can be too rich and vivid, too sparkly, so much that you often get confused on what you can hit and what you can’t. Sometimes, they may be static enemies or plants, or maybe they’re just scenery that you pass through without any interaction. This almost seamless blend between foreground and background ends up being one of the game’s shortcomings, as it has an effect on gameplay.

The boss fights are not only exciting but balanced, providing a nice challenge without being of the hair-pulling kind, like some Metroidvania games with Souls-like pretensions are aiming for. The often gruesome and visually stunning design really shines here, an art style that is memorable and rich, a true feast for the eyes until all the blood starts spilling and it ends on a pulpy explosion of viscera.

Platforming is solid, never frustrating, and the levels are filled with secrets and the occasional surprise. You can find some gardens where to plant seeds, with each loop making it grow into beautiful trees and plants, sometimes giving you more items or allowing you to unlock and reach unexpected places. It takes a keen eye to find these garden spots sometimes, but it will be worth it as you reap the rewards on the next loops.

Combat is a progressive affair, starting from the true definition of a blank slate. By unlocking abilities, you are finally starting to discover your potential and chaining moves that reward you not with the traditional useless combo counters, but with the prime parts for you to chew on or use for further Cortex expansion. It’s a loop within a game about looping, and it works.

Not everything about fighting feels perfect, though; aerial kicks and combos don’t feel as accurate as they could be, hitting those pesky flying creatures isn’t a seamless affair, often falling short of getting close to them and landing the kick or slash.

Fight, Kill, Repeat

Ultros is a great Metroidvania that ticks all the required boxes and then some. The magnificent art style deserves even more praise because it’s very original and drenched in dazzling alienesque tones, true eye-candy with no shortage of bloody moments and remarkable bosses, despite some potential confusion between what’s background and what’s not. Platforming and combat are both solid, and while the latter isn’t perfect, there’s enough comfort to enjoy some good slashing and dodging fun, mixed with a hint of gardening and a gripping loop mechanic. The biggest fans of the genre should dive into this cryptic Sarcophagus without hesitating.

Score: 8.5/10

Pros:

• A beautiful, colorful, and original alien art style that is also gruesome
• Interesting loop mechanic
• Nice touch of gardening
• Exciting and stunning bosses
• Good length

Cons:

• Sometimes hard to understand what is background and what isn’t
• Aerial combat doesn’t feel entirely accurate

Ultros review code was provided by the publisher. You can read MP1st’s review and scoring policy right here.