Nine Parchments Reviews
Nine Parchments is a game I've been looking forward to playing since it was announced by Fronzebyte, and I have to say that the wait has been worth it. I've been a fan of the Trine series, and enjoy playing Has Been Heroes on Switch (even more so after the massive recent update to that game!), and I'm happy to say that Nine Parchments is a solid and fun single-player/co-op release
Nine Parchments has its problems, but for the most part, it is still an entertaining dungeon crawler.
If you're planning to venture into the magical world of Nine Parchments, heed my words: It's tedious to go it alone. Take friends. Maybe wear some fireproof gloves.
Nine Parchments' elemental magic action makes for a good co-op dungeon crawling experience. It's light on interesting loot, but big on whimsey and fast-moving action. If you plan on running through the campaign on your own, your run might be a little frustrating because you can't exploit every weakness, but having some friends join you on your quest evens the odds. But without the promise of exciting rewards for battling bosses, I soon ran out of reasons to replay.
There's fun to be had here, if you're able to play it with others. Alone, Nine Parchments is a dull slog. Play with others, and it becomes an electrifying slice of pandemonium.
Nine Parchments is a perfectly fine dungeon crawler-esque experience that sadly never really manages to deliver on its true potential. While it might tick a lot of the genre checkboxes, these ideas are never expanded upon enough to help the game truly stand out. As a multiplayer adventure, there’s definitely fun to be had in working together to tackle swarms of enemies, but alone, you’ll be hard-pressed to keep engaged through to the end credits.
All said there are many things I really like about Nine Parchments. I found that combat was far more engaging and difficult than the genre normally offers. Each skirmish, especially once you amp up the difficulty to Hard, will test both your planning and your skills as you try to pick apart the combination of enemies thrown at you. That said, for the most part getting through these challenges tends to be very weakly rewarded as the game’s loot system doesn’t ultimately have much to offer. As a whole I’d consider my experience with multiplayer to be a draw with the downsides of joining a group of people, and the chaos it can add, roughly coming out even with the upsides. Playing it solo is most definitely different than with a group though and I can see where people could settle on either as their preference. In the end it all makes for a game that is both compelling and, at times, frustrating but also very unique in its play style.
Overall Nine Parchments is a mixed bag for me as a game.
Nine Parchments is a game with an awful lot of potential; the combat is fun, the multiplayer co-op works a treat, and the gorgeous art creates a visually impressive world to explore. Repetition in the format and layout of levels - and the incredibly strange decision to delete your save data when wanting to switching between single player and co-op games - are unfortunate shortcomings, however. If you love your co-op adventure-type games, and especially if you like the sound of the light RPG elements, you may well get a good time from this game – just keep our warnings in mind.
Short but fun dungeon crawler made to be enjoyed by multiple friends but also works as a single player game.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Nine Parchments is a charming little dungeon-crawler that boasts some truly stunning visuals and intuitive gameplay, but suffers from a distinct lack of depth. Nevertheless, if you can get a group of pals together, you'll be in for a spellbinding time.
If you're looking for a cooperative twin-stick shooter then you can't do much better than Nine Parchments.
If you've got a crew you can recruit for retrieving all those missing spells, you're going to have a fabulous time.
We had mixed feelings about our experience playing Nine Parchments.
While it doesn't bear the Trine name, Nine Parchments represents the best of that series: fun co-op action and high production values.
Nine Parchments is a solid release. Its gorgeous art style, dependable controls and fun co-op play almost hide a multitude of sins. Almost. Unfortunately, with a poor save system and combat mechanics that never really develop from the first level onwards, Nine Parchments soon becomes a slog that is less than magical.
Nine Parchments is a difficult game to recommend as it's a very average approach to a genre that has existed for some time now. While it's visually appealing scenes are impressive enough to pique the interest of potential players, it's stale gameplay and painfully slow leveling system lack the fresh and creative experience that you'd expect to find here. Amongst a sea of games on Steam and the other digital stores, Frozenbyte have failed to include features that retain players' attention in the long-term. There are no puzzles to solve, no secret areas to explore and no worthwhile loot to discover. Enemy encounters quickly feel tiresome and monotonous, with successful fights boiling down to whether or not you can identify an enemy by its colour. If you're looking for a co-op dungeon-crawler with solid mechanics and a unique design, maybe pick up one of the popular favourites rather than this new title.
Nine Parchments isn't necessarily a bad game. It's a very basic experience that lacks many different qualities, and from what I've witnessed, the title has to work out some major technical issues. However, many people will find a very enjoyable experience here, with a lot of unlockable characters and stuff to find. If you're into co-op experiences, you can't go wrong with Nine Parchments on Nintendo Switch. If you rely on online play, you may want to hold off until a patch is released to fix the connection and save file issues.
A near miss for "instant classic" that could have been so much more, and possibly could still be someday, with some quality of life updates from the developers.
With Nine Parchments, Frozenbyte managed to create something new and fresh, even if doesn't achieve excellence. It remains a decent title to pick up, with a fair difficulty, lots to unlock, a colorful universe and a beautiful soundtrack.