Ritual Review

Joining the slew of mobile-turned-eShop titles is Ritual, or Ritual: Sorcerer Angel. This is a minimal-input 2D action game from developer Hexage, and sadly, as with the majority of mobile ports, it is a game that will leave you underwhelmed.

In Ritual, an angel is imprisoned in a human body by a group of cultists. Their intentions are to sacrifice this human, thus also killing the entrapped angel. You play as this new human-angel amalgam, and using your sorcerer powers (as yes, you are also a sorcerer) you will hunt down the cultists and slay their God. While this premise sounds intriguing, it offers very little substance, and does not feel necessary to remember.

Ritual‘s gameplay is quite interesting – at least for this reviewer, who has never played a game quite like it. Beginning each level by launching your character in a direction of your choosing, you are automatically moved in straight lines around the level from then on, bouncing around the edges of the screen like in an angry game of pinball. It’s unique, to say the least, and you can never stop your trajectory or slow it. You can, however, move freely using the left analogue stick should you choose, but that is entirely optional.

To defeat the enemies of each level, you can either use your spells or close combat. Close combat can only be used against enemies with an equal or lesser power level than your own, with your power level – raised by defeating enemies – representing your health and strength. Magic can be used to lower enemies’ power levels, so that you can finish them off with a close combat blow or else whittle them down slowly. Hitting an enemy at close range before they are below your power level will cause you to immediately die, so do keep a close eye on this.  Thankfully, your progress can be restored by returning to the point of your death.

Visually, each level of Ritual is aesthetically pleasing, even despite its somewhat simplistic and mobile-oriented art style. On the other hand, the game’s audio design is very forgettable, doing little more than to serve its purpose as the backing track for your gameplay. It doesn’t detract from the experience, but after ten minutes of the game being off, you certainly won’t remember it.

One thing that may surprise players about Ritual is its sheer number of available customisation options. While a little daunting at first, the amount of passive and active abilities that can be switched out and unlocked is very impressive; one improvement to make would be for more guidance to be made available in the corresponding menu. That said, though, these options add very little depth to the game, merely being a nice addition.

Overall, Ritual isn’t necessarily a bad game, but it is not even close to worth its price tag given that there are far better games available for a similar price. Outside of its heavy customisation, it is a very shallow and somewhat dull experience. As its roots would suggest, it is much more suited to short bursts of play on a mobile device than prolonged play on a Switch.

Considering the fact that the exact same game is free-to-start on other platforms, I wouldn’t recommend this version.