Vernal Edge

My first hour with Vernal Edge was spent entirely in combat arenas I did not need to be in, because the fighting felt too good to stop. The core loop is built around a character-action combat system clearly drawing inspiration from Devil May Cry: ground combos, an upward launcher that sends enemies airborne, air combos to keep them there, charge attacks that break an enemy's poise meter and leave them stunned and juggable, a parry, a dash, and a Pulse mechanic that serves as the game's sole healing method. That last part matters: healing is not a potion you pop at a safe moment. It requires marking an enemy with a spectral blade throw, then triggering a homing pulse attack that returns health orbs to you on impact, all while remaining vulnerable. Staying alive in Vernal Edge demands offensive aggression, which is a smart design call that keeps fights from turning into cautious chip-damage sessions. The world these fights take place in is stranger than a standard corridor Metroidvania. You pilot an airship across a 3D overworld of floating islands, choosing which ones to dock at and explore. Each island is a self-contained 2D zone with its own environmental gimmick: one sends you back to the entrance if fog swallows you, forcing you to ring bells in the right sequence to clear it; another has mushroom spores that alter Vernal's mass for physics-based puzzles. The structure gives exploration a semi-open quality that separates it from most genre entries, though it also produces the game's biggest headache. Direction is nearly nonexistent, especially early on. There is no hint system, and finding map items that actually populate your minimap is required before you stop navigating by feel. Getting lost is not atmospheric mystery here, it is just friction. Customisation runs deeper than it first appears. Memories, which are equippable passive discs, let you tune how Vernal fights: one adds damage to perfectly-timed charge releases, another refills mana after a stun, another gives you a second chance on death. Spell slots let you pick four projectile abilities from what you find across the islands, from homing shots to deflectable beam angles. Movement abilities unlock as you progress and include wall kicks, an enemy step, and a dash jump. None of them are the usual double-jump shorthand; the unconventional toolkit keeps traversal feeling fresh well past the midpoint. Reviewers who put around eleven hours in and reached 85% completion suggest the game has a reasonable amount of optional content without overstaying its welcome. Where Vernal Edge falters is consistency. Enemy variety runs thin quickly, with the same roster of Church knights, magic priests, and robotic Shells cycling through most of the zones. Boss fights are the clear highlight of the combat design, demanding pattern recognition in a way the standard rooms do not. The story delivers a revenge-drive narrative with a snarky protagonist in Vernal and her amnesiac robot companion Chervil, and while it earns a few genuinely funny character moments, it does not build to a particularly satisfying payoff. The soundtrack also sits toward the forgettable end of the pixel-art Metroidvania spectrum. For players whose main complaint about the genre is that fighting feels stiff and unsatisfying, Vernal Edge is the corrective. The combat system is the standout feature in a crowded field, and the willingness to shuffle the map structure into something less linear earns real credit even when the lack of guidance makes that structure feel punishing. Steam player sentiment sits at roughly 75 percent positive across several hundred reviews, which tracks with a game that does one thing exceptionally well and leaves a few others half-finished.

Alex · Scout Team

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