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Letalis is Pokémon for GameBoy except you’re battling with Roman gladiatorsMy name is Ashimus Ketchumus Palletemus…
My name is Ashimus Ketchumus Palletemus…
Image credit:Monkiato
Image credit:Monkiato
The allure of the sea-green GameBoy screen is difficult to resist. Picking up from where Pokémon left off two decades ago,Letalisis a bleepy-bloopy retro RPG about wandering from town to town and doing battle with dodgy local leaders to prove your worth. But you won’t be doing the fighting yourself, God no. Leave that to the squad of Roman gladiators hiding in your back pocket.
Letalis - Gameplay TrailerWatch on YouTube
Letalis - Gameplay Trailer
All fairly classic stuff then. Standing in for the elemental types of Fire, Earth, Water, et cetera are some different warrior classes with distinct fighting styles - Bandits, Centurions, Tritons, and… a Ronin!? How the Japanese warrior ended up in a world of ancient Roman arenas, I don’t know. But it’s no more outlandish than a yellow rat that shoots electricity from its cheeks. There are libraries in each town that will steadily explain how each fighter stacks up against the others, but to be honest I normally need abig child-friendly chartto help me out with this stuff. Luckily, the fighting screen will show the word “advantage” when you inspect an opponent to show that your current fighter will draw extra blood.
There is one more blood-soaked difference. Your fighters can die outright. No precious “fainting” or life-saving escapes to the Poké hospital here (though there is a lady who will cure you on the road for some cash). The permanent deaths of your team makes things a little more hardcore (and probably a bit grindy if things go badly wrong). But your fighters also regenerate health if you put them on the bench for a fight.
All in all, a neat injection of nostalgia. I will say it feels weird as hell to play GameBoy style games on a giant PC screen. If you have a SteamDeck though, you’re sorted. This is another little treat we’ve found in our recent trawls through the great Steam Next Fest lagoon. Not sure when the full game is coming out, but you canplay the demo now.
