An action-packed platformer with an edge

Vernal Edge is an action-packed 2D adventure game available on most consoles and gaming devices, including Steam Deck and Switch. Gameplay is suitable for both teens and adults.

Vernal Edge was created by Hello Penguin Team. It is a Metroidvania game similar to Zelda, Alchemist’s Castle, and Insignia. A female character must take on powerful hidden entities to revive a crumbling kingdom and avenge her father.

Who can play it?

This platformer game is a single-player game rated Teen by ESRB and available in 8 languages. Players are required to jump off walls and foes, dash, grab ledges, and slide through various dungeons and natural environments, mastering spell combinations to defeat a plethora of enemies.

What’s it about?

As Vernal, players explore the remnants of Haricot, a floating kingdom. Looking for and trying to avenge a father she’s never met, she discovers the secrets of the kingdom and of the power-hungry ruling entity, the Church of Aloe. Endowed with martial prowess and enjoying the help of Chervil, an amnesiac automaton, Vernal seeks revenge, the truth, and personal growth.

What’s special about it?

This Metroidvania game with dungeons, hidden passages, and secret realms is free to explore. Players can interact with NPCs, use context clues, and sail to any one of Haricot’s islands in any order. The game’s focus is on combat mechanics, and the mainstay is poise (i.e., Vernal depletes an enemy’s poise to immobilize them, but they can regenerate).

Pixel art and poise combat

Drawing its inspiration from titles like Wind Waker and Kingdom Hearts 2, this 2D Metroidvania game boasts great graphics and music. However, these are brought down by slow dialogue, annoying typing sound effects, and redundant low-quality foes.