Ebenezer and the Invisible World Reviews
Ebenezer and the Invisible World brings forward a fun new concept. But actually getting you to enjoy it fully is a whole other ball game. With tedious and lackluster combat and enemies dragging down, it’s standing solely on concept and visuals. Overall, it doesn’t seem to bring anything special or engaging to the metroidvania table.
Soft locks, crashes, and bugs burden this gorgeously presented Christmas story. Until this nightmare before Christmas is patched, we'd suggest finding something else to place under your Christmas tree.
We wanted to enjoy Ebenezer and The Invisible World far more than we did. The combat is solid and the platforming is tight, with the right balance of accessibility and challenge. Combine that with a fun concept and art that does a great job of recreating Dickens' iconic novel and it should be a recipe for greatness. Unfortunately, a host of bugs ranging from slightly annoying to game-breaking sucked the Christmas cheer right out of us. Future patches might fix these issues and give us the game we know is hiding just beneath the surface here, but that game isn't here at launch.
Ebenezer and the Invisible World has its moments of fun and rewarding exploration through completing optional sidequests and finding secrets. It looks great, too. However, its big swings in the form of ghost management and stiff traversal/combat lends to a less than stellar experience. May this experience become better in the future with more time and polish? Absolutely, but it's worth waiting to see what happens.
Ebenezer and the Invisible World brings a fun, holiday-themed premise and palette to Metroidvanias, but not much else. Annoying issues and gameplay repetition will bring out the Scrooge in some gamers, but Metroidvania fans may see it through to redemption.
Unlike its titular hero, Ebenezer and the Invisible World learned naught from the mistakes of the past.
Ebenezer and the Invisible World enchants with its drawn visuals and fantastic narrative, being above the average metroidvanias in these two aspects, but the same cannot be said of other fields. The fights are lukewarm and the map design can be off-putting with backtracking and the small print annoying. Those who like the graphic style, Victorian stories, and A Christmas Carol will have a lot to appreciate here, which can make up for the perception that the gameplay is average and doesn't stand out in the genre.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Orbit Studio and Play on Worlds offer an interesting twist with Ebenezer and the Invisible World, a metroidvania that adapts Charles Dickens' work with a lot of style and fun. It is definitely not the revolution of the genre, but it is an immersive experience that boasts a visual style that accompanies a nice Christmas story. An interesting proposal to take into account.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Dreams of a quality Christmas Metroidvania go unfulfilled. Ebenezer and the Invisible World offers little but disappointment and frustration. Avoid this Scrooge of a game, unless a major updates arrives before Christmas.
Ebenezer and the Invisible World is a surprisingly good adventure game that really captures the joy and spirit of its source material. Though it takes on the familiar exploration formula, its unique approach to combat and beautiful art style make this something quite special. However, while I do recommend it, you may want to hold this on your wishlist on Switch until all its issues are ironed out. In a way, the game needs to go through its own redemption story, hopefully before Christmas arrives. Once that happens, which I like to believe it will, this will be a wonderful adventure that’s not just for Christmas but any time of the year.
It could be argued that this is a Castlevania SOTN love letter with slight reskinning but overall I wanted to like the game way more but the issues are just a real deal breaker and a proper bummer. I will of course wait for some patches and go back because I can see what it is going for and let’s face it, A snowy Castlevania game sounds awesome, chuck in Christmas and I’m there!
Ebenezer and The Invisible World shows promise as a Metroidvania game, offering fans and players a chance to revisit a classic story, much like the recent Lies of P. However, it ultimately disappoints in several areas, resulting in a lacklustre and frustrating Christmas gaming experience.
It’s already getting to be that time of year, so a Metroidvania where you play as a reformed Scrooge is in order
The longer I played this game the more frustrated I became. For the first hour I was still smiling through the presentation. However, it ended with swearing. The game is not completely unplayable, but it would have been better if a number of problems were resolved and the game had a release around Christmas. A shame, because at this time when it gets dark early, a good Christmas game would have been a lot of fun.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
For players looking to enjoy a Christmas themed Metroidvania, Ebenezer and the Invisible World is tailor made for them. Aside from some evil spirits plaguing the experience and making me put the game down here and there, it was never enough to say bah humbug and not come back to it again. I’d be interested to see the team give this treatment to other stories from the past.