After spending nearly a year in Early Access, the time has finally come for Patch Quest, Lychee Game Lab’s colorful mash-up of genres, to be unveiled to the world. It’s kind of a fusion of the metroidvania and roguelike subgenres with a healthy dose of bullet hell mechanics. All framed in a captivating and distinctive aesthetic that lends itself incredibly well to what is essentially a hodgepodge of ideas that, at first, shouldn’t mix together as well as they do. Come into the jungle with me and I’ll show you what the icing on the cake of this game is.
Patch Quest takes place in the mysterious world of Patchlantis, where you are free to explore as you please according to your abilities. As in any other game based on the metroidvania formula (which is still entertaining even if it’s exhausted), your ability to travel the world is closely tied to your character’s abilities. Patch Quest is no exception. Your home base has four entrances, and only one is open at the start of your adventure. As you discover and find more, new possibilities are unlocked and doors open to new areas.
Patchlantis is divided into several unique biomes or areas, filled with their own wildlife, fauna, secret caves, and, unsurprisingly, bosses. Each new area you explore is randomly generated, furthering the spirit of adventure that permeates nearly every aspect of Patch Quest and encourages multiple replays. You can venture into this game alone or with a friend next to you on the couch with the split-screen multiplayer mode. But without a doubt, Patch Quest’s most notable mechanic is your character’s lasso, with which you can capture, tame, and ride any creature you encounter in the vast world.
Each creature has its own unique abilities, which you inherit and can use by riding on its back. This way you will have many interesting ways to move around the different areas. In addition to the bosses, which most of the time trigger normal bullet hell, and within milliseconds the game turns into a schmup of a lifetime. While not quite on the level of genre greats like Mushihimesama or DoDonPachi, it’s worth noting that the later areas of the game can offer some very intense battles that will have you sweating and jumping with excitement.
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These are challenges that I thoroughly enjoyed and never felt unfair or impossible. Rather, they encourage you to experiment with different creatures to ride, upgrades and abilities for your character, and most importantly, different gear. Fortunately, the penalty for failing is also softer, which not only lets you enjoy the game, but also increases your motivation to keep trying different combinations and exploring the game world more. way you will also find power-ups and other skills that will help you in the battles that will become increasingly difficult.
In addition to the creatures you can capture and ride, much of the game focuses on acquiring pets to bring back to base. You can also collect flora and fauna from your travels through Patchlantis, which you can plant in groups of five to create a specific biome, something the wide variety of pets need to live. And of course, you can also cuddle and pamper your little friends, which actually has a positive impact on their health. This more playful part of Patch Quest is a nice break from exploration, which can be quite intense at times.
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One aspect that Patch Quest is really good that I would like to highlight is how it forces the player to constantly try out new creatures and abilities. Because just like in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, in which weapons slowly degrade as they are used, the animals you capture and ride have a use or ammo limit if you want. Although you’ll find plenty more of them in the wild, they quickly run out over the many encounters, forcing you to constantly keep an eye out for potential new animals to collect.
Whether you decide to take on the challenges of Patch Quest and Patchlanti alone or with a friend of your choice on your couch, the game India from Lychee Game Lab offers incredible variety and tons of fun. You have over 50 different animals to discover, tons of challenging bosses, countless cool skills, and a constant desire to always push yourself further. You will feel great joy in discovering and exploring. I found it very difficult to let go of the controller for long periods of time, which goes to show just how incomparably entertaining and well thought out this gaming system is.