Have you ever fallen asleep with a high fever, tripped through a mind-bending, reality twisting hallucination for 10 hours, then woken up 5 minutes later?
That's a good description of what it's like to play Ultros. But with extra gardening.
Ultros is a psychedelic 2D metroidvania, where you play as Ouji, a mysterious woman who has crashed landed on The Sarcophagus. The strong visual style is evident from the get go, as expected from El Huervo (of Hotline Miami fame), with the whole world of The Sarcophagus dripping in bright neons contrasted with twisting black foregrounds and bioluminescent plant life. It's an absolutely gorgeous game, that immediately draws you in with its eccentric cast of characters, metaphysical writings on the nature of life and stellar soundtrack.
Starting off as what seems like a pretty standard metroidvania – with some basic platforming to learn the movement; picking up your weapon and learning about dodging and follow up attacks – soon a few unique mechanics start to trickle their way in. As you defeat enemies they drop body parts as a food resource, which is used for both healing and a way to unlock more skills. You'll also notice that these drops are graded based on how violent the death was, encouraging you to kill efficiently to get the best parts. There are also seeds scattered around to pick up and plant, providing more potent food items for more stat progression and as a way to further navigate the world.
The first radical departure from the standard formula however, comes after defeating your first boss. After mastering dodging and double jumping, you’ll face a huge grotesque fly monster where you need to use a combination of both to smash the vials on his back. Once he’s dead you are led to a Shaman floating in a tank. Smash the tank, and chase after the fleeing acolyte to be faced with a mind bending cutscene, a fade to black before waking up at the start of the game – weaponless, with all your skills reset. This is not a roguelite, not really. The world is not reset, neither is your story progression, just you (and even that can be changed as you progress using special items). This time loop mechanic paired with all of your gardening efforts being preserved or perhaps even changing up how the world can be explored makes Ultros feel like a huge puzzle waiting to be unravelled.
In more moment to moment gameplay the combat is smooth and simple; the platforming and level design is mostly intuitive and the gardening mechanic is well integrated. You get your metroidvania staples (double jump, downward slam to break floors, charged attacks to break walls) with some interesting variety through planting different seeds in different locations. With all of the colour and design flourishes I sometimes found it a little difficult to see what I could and couldn't interact with, and on a few occasions I found the movement a little finicky – especially with seeds you had to place on walls or ceilings. There's a vast skill tree, and you can pick which ones best suit your playstyle to carry over from loop to loop. As the loops progress you’ll also be able to exercise more restraint around enemies, with some interesting pacifist options that change how you play. The boss fights are fun and engaging, with each one challenging your grasp of the combat/movement basics – there were a few with attacks I found difficult to dodge around but never to the point of frustration. If you are struggling though there is a damage reduction slider in the menu alongside a variety of display options if the mind melting visuals are proving a little too distracting.
All in all, Ultros is 100% my jam. The visuals are dripping with style. The writing is deep and metaphysical with hidden memories to find that expand on the lore of your surroundings and other characters, rewarding you for exploring and giving a deeper connection to the world you now inhabit. The soundtrack is full of feeling and atmosphere, a mixture of nature sounds, traditional instruments and futuristic flourishes enhancing the dream-like quality of the entire experience. If you’re a fan of metroidvanias, and are looking for something a little bit more unique for your next fix I can wholeheartedly recommend giving Ultros a shot!
Reviewed on PC, Code provided by the devs at Hadoque and publisher Kepler. Ultros is available now on PC, PS4/PS5. It is Steam Deck compatible.
