One of my favourite elements in Helix: Descent N Ascent is the arcade machines. You find them dotted around the world, and completing their levels rewards you with access to new areas within your environment. Every level has the same premise: make your way to the other character on the opposite point of the screen. Each machine offers its own twist, based on the abilities you have been learning within that section. It mirrors the base game in a compact, stylised form. I like how this not only changes up the style of gameplay, but offers inadvertent insight into the character you’re seeking. In the world you’re in, the other character crops up on occasion, withholding the way forward. Catching up to them only causes them to push you away. In the arcade games, they make a consistent appearance, and reaching them spooks them into high-tailing it outta there.
Bosses do feel challenging, but never to a point of being impossible. My first encounter with a boss resulted in me eating pretty much all of my snacks for health. The more you explore, the more items you can find to assist in fights: it turns out there's a multitude of strong weapons out in the world. Once I figured that out, battles became a lot easier to succeed in.
Retrace the Light is a beautiful game. A vast variety of environments require completely different designs, and to be able to accomplish that whilst maintaining cohesion is impressive. Not only are the traversable areas a joy to admire, but the character designs are lovely too. The images of characters in conversation are colourful and bright, with an almost watercolour feel. It’s an interesting choice to put in such a technology focused game, but one I really like.