What a strange little game…

Super Daryl Deluxe – Nintendo Switch – Released: 4/10/18 – $19.99

Short Review (Review copy provided by Dan & Gary Games)

I have a love hate relationship with this game since the game was originally shown off for PS4 and PC so it took me by surprise that it was coming to the Switch. I was super excited by this game for PS4 because of the art style and the combat. It looked super easy to pick up and play and as I played the first section I was blown away. Then the game took a page from Castlevania and took away all my power via flash back. Personally I dislike games that do this but understand that developers want to start at the end before bringing it full circle. This makes good story telling if done correctly and I’m not sure if Super Daryl Deluxe completely makes its mark. While the game is a ton of fun the story to me feels rather slow. The lack of a quick save away from the save points is a bit of a pain as well due to if you get far in a section, you risk having to play that part again if you die. I never found this too much of a pain but some sections can be pretty hard if you are underleveled. If I died in a major section typically I just put the game down and tried again later rather than running through that section one more time. I would give Super Daryl Deluxe a 7 out of 10, the game is great for a once through with its super unique story and vast amount of skills to learn but is held back by clumsy story progression, lack of a save anytime or checkpoint system, and very out of the ordinary boss battles.

Really like this icon but the deluxe is unreadable from the screenshot:

Story

Super Daryl Deluxe is a unique game as it starts off in a film noir detective style opening with your girlfriend getting kidnapped but as you save her it you puts you back in the present. While the gym teacher is trying to explain what is going on so the entire opening is just him daydreaming. The gym teacher goes back 40 years to explain about two students that changed the world with their self help book then flashes back a week before the gym teacher is talking to you. Now a week prior to him daydreaming Daryl is the new student as the school. Daryl meets two students that are the trouble makers as they get him into trouble on his first day. Daryl finds out somethings are weird in the school and he journeys to learn about what is going on.

Gameplay

This is the best part of the game since it is an Adventure MetroidVania style game with RPG elements. In the same vein as Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, you are able to equip a ton of different weapons and each weapon is unique. Super Daryl Deluxe takes that to a new level by giving you 4 slots of skills that you can level up or swap out for other skills. I found myself using a ton of ranged attacks instead of melee attacks. You will need to do some light platforming but nothing was too hard, word of warning the jumping is a bit odd since you will want to dash in most cases. If you are still holding the analog stick while dashing you will do a jump dash that doesn’t have as much height but if you stop moving the analog stick then jump he will do a higher jump. Some ledges require you to get that little extra height and sometimes could cause you to do if you aren’t paying enough attention. The method of leveling up and gaining new skills is by trading in textbooks and defeating enemies. These level ups will grant you things like multiple hits per button press. Then you have the boss battles which locks you in a smaller area to find them. Sometimes bosses can be brute forced while others will need to be using a special tactic such as the first boss requiring you to blind before attacking. You will also be able to equip different items like hats and glasses that change stats. Super Daryl Deluxe shines best in the gameplay department in my opinion with me swapping out skills all the time just to see what they can do.

Personal Experience

This is an odd game… that is not to say I didn’t enjoy my time playing it but the story is so all over the place it is rough to follow. There is a ton of text so if you aren’t a person that loves reading, this game will be hard to follow. It doesn’t help that the opening of him daydreaming was really interesting and ends up not being important to the overall story. The game seems to be trying too hard to be somewhat serious but has some crazy stuff going on. The entire school is a multidimensional school where each classroom takes you to a themed area so the science and history classrooms are science and history themed. These are great but the story doesn’t really explain why… and you don’t have any classes as the opening shows that you have study hall most of the day with one day out of the week having gym. There are a ton of side quests, I would find myself going after those instead of progressing the story at times.

Final Thoughts

I really wanted to enjoy this game a ton but the story…. It just needed to be simple, the idea of having a high school themed backdrop is amazing. All I was thinking about was Napoleon Dynamite. The entire idea of a futurist school was a bit much and the opening having you steal a textbook is odd which waste around an hour. I believe the story is just a bit too slow and wordy for most people. The game is so solid elsewhere but the story is the biggest showcase and the reason for the adventure. I give Super Daryl Deluxe a 7 out of 10, mainly if the story wasn’t all over the place it would be closer to a 8 or even a 9. The game is something people should check out but have to know going into it that it is very odd and very unexpected. If anything watch the trailer since it is very odd and highlights how odd it can become.

My Gameplay Footage:

Trailer:

End Credits

This game I really wanted to be great since it looks amazing and the abilities are amazing… but the story is just rough all around. I wanted to play this so badly but after 15+ hours and completing the game once I don’t want to go back to it. I do commend them for the Kickstarter took them four years and they made something really amazing. I can’t wait to see what these guys produce next and if it is another Kickstarter project I will be backing it. Remember to check out my giveaway for Lode Runner Legacy on the Nintendo Subreddit and I’ll see you guys in the next review!

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