The Talisman is a novel written by Stephen King and Peter Straub. It was published in 1984 and has since become a popular and well-regarded work of fantasy literature. The story follows the journey of a twelve-year-old boy named Jack Sawyer. Jack is on a quest to save his dying mother and the parallel world known as The Territories. In order to do so, he must find a powerful artifact called the Talisman, which possesses the ability to heal and protect. Throughout his journey, Jack encounters a wide array of colorful characters, both allies and enemies.
One of the neat things about Sea Rats is that it does allow you to swap between all four characters, and each of them has substantially different abilities and skills. You’ll need to use all four characters to fully explore the world, reach all the far-flung locations, and ultimately complete the game. This is also the premise of the game’s multiplayer, and the concept would have been a great idea, were it not for one significant flaw. Unfortunately, experience is shared between characters, meaning that if you’re levelling up one character’s skills and abilities, you’re drawing on the same pool that all the other characters use. If you don’t level these characters evenly, you’re in for a mighty grind to get them up to scratch. Alternatively, if you do level the characters up evenly, you’re also in for a mighty grind, since you’re essentially working for four characters, rather than one.
It s not nearly as well balanced as in Dark Souls, but I ve always been a fan of this approach to difficulty and the second chance it offers, and that system is fit for purpose here as well. The presence of local multiplayer brings with it the promise that parents can play with their kids, that siblings can use it to bond, or that friends can make a party of it on a Friday night with some beers.
Throughout his journey, Jack encounters a wide array of colorful characters, both allies and enemies. He crosses paths with Morgan Sloat, a corrupt businessman who seeks to control the power of the Talisman for his own nefarious purposes. He also meets Speedy Parker, a guide who helps him navigate the strange and dangerous realms of The Territories.
Review: Curse of the Sea Rats (Nintendo Switch)
Curse of the Sea Rats is a cute concept that needs to compete in a badly over-saturated genre. I’m now at the point where seeing “Metrodvania” in press materials will make me groan. Not only because the term itself has, like with the roguelike, lost almost all meaning from its over-use. It’s also because we’ve run out of ways for developers to actually make these things functionally differentiated. They’re all derivative of one another, and the overall “genre” has gone completely stagnant.
With that being said, Curse of the Sea Rats does try to at least have its own personality. You play as one of four people that have been cursed and turned into a rat. Amusingly enough, this was actually a fortunate turn of events for them, as all four characters were prisoners on a ship to… a less-than-pleasant fate. So, thanks to the curse, the captain (who is also now a rat) gives them the opportunity to win their freedom. The only catch is they need to go on a deadly journey to defeat one Flora Burn, the pirate witch behind the curse.
One of the neat things about Sea Rats is that it does allow you to swap between all four characters, and each of them has substantially different abilities and skills. You’ll need to use all four characters to fully explore the world, reach all the far-flung locations, and ultimately complete the game. This is also the premise of the game’s multiplayer, and the concept would have been a great idea, were it not for one significant flaw. Unfortunately, experience is shared between characters, meaning that if you’re levelling up one character’s skills and abilities, you’re drawing on the same pool that all the other characters use. If you don’t level these characters evenly, you’re in for a mighty grind to get them up to scratch. Alternatively, if you do level the characters up evenly, you’re also in for a mighty grind, since you’re essentially working for four characters, rather than one.
Curse of the Sea Rats has a brutal edge to it, too. Most enemies do a lot of damage to your characters, and they are placed around levels with sadistic intent behind the level design. It’s easy to see that this was a deliberate move by the developers, because there’s also a Dark Souls-like system in play, whereby if a character dies, you’ll lose around half your resources, which you can win back by fighting your way back to where your character fell. It’s not nearly as well balanced as in Dark Souls, but I’ve always been a fan of this approach to difficulty and the “second chance” it offers, and that system is fit for purpose here as well.
What is considerably less impressive about this is the sluggish way the characters handle. Curse of the Sea Rats looks like it wants to give you twitch-like control over the action, but it behaves in a far more methodical manner. It’s not inherently bad (Dark Souls itself leans heavily into the “methodical” approach), but what I did find as I played was that I experienced far too many deaths on account of rushing things. Because, again, everything about what you see on the screen tells you that you should be speeding, rather than creeping, through it. Another issue with the controls is the precise timing that it requires for you to pull off some of the special moves. These are absolutely essential for defeating some of the touch enemies (including the bosses) and navigating around levels, but in the heat of things, they are far too easy to screw up. Pressing “down” or “up” and a particular button at the same time needs a far more generous timing window than Sea Rats allows, given the context that you’re being asked to use it.
The developers clearly put a lot of love into this game, though. The hand-drawn quality of the art makes for a distinctive and soulful aesthetic. Thanks to this, each new character and environment is a joy to discover. The developers also had a lot of fun with the silly premise, and while the storytelling was far too thin, the fact that I really wanted to learn more about the major players and the world around them is a sign of just how engaged I was with the experience.
The big problem, however, is that this is going to be something that families want to pick up. The presence of local multiplayer brings with it the promise that parents can play with their kids, that siblings can use it to bond, or that friends can make a party of it on a Friday night with some beers. The difficult calibration of the game and its methodical pace will put a dampener on that initial enthusiasm, however. It’s not really the brawler fun good time that the promotional material suggests that it might be. Rather it’s definitely a game for a more serious kind of player. One that likes the idea of quirky rats and humour to go with their challenging and unforgiving platforming.
What I’m saying is that I’m not entirely sure who is going to enjoy Curse of the Sea Rats. I do know that there’s going to be an audience out there for it, because while it has several issues it also has many redeeming qualities. However, when it’s one of a few million Metroidvanias that are already on the Switch, I fear that Sea Rats will struggle to find that audience, despite being a clear passion project from everyone involved.
There is no shortage of 2D metroidvanias in the current indie space, a sentence I am positive I have typed at least three times before this. For this reason, if you’re going to add on to the pile, you need to make sure you have some aspect of your game that makes it stand out from the rest, and while we’ve seen a large uptick in metroidvanias with hand-drawn art in recent years, it still tends to be enough to grab my attention at the very least. Enter Curse of the Sea Rats, a game that first came into my view during one of last year’s Steam Festivals. The demo showed a lot of promise: four playable characters, hand-drawn art reminiscent of a 2D animated film, a fun pirate aesthetic, etc. However, the game sadly does not quite live up to the promise it shows, and while it’s not a failure, it unfortunately contains problems that hold it back from achieving its true potential.
As he travels between his own world and The Territories, Jack discovers that he has a twin in the parallel world named Wolf. Together, they work to overcome various obstacles and villains, all while racing against time to save both worlds from destruction. The Talisman combines elements of fantasy, adventure, and horror to create a unique and captivating story. It explores themes of good versus evil, the power of love and loyalty, and the importance of finding one's true identity. The novel has received praise for its intricate world-building and vivid storytelling. It has also spawned a sequel, Black House, which was published in 2001. Overall, The Talisman is a gripping and imaginative tale that showcases the writing talents of both Stephen King and Peter Straub. It is a must-read for fans of fantasy and supernatural fiction..
Reviews for "The Talisman: A Fusion of Horror and Fantasy"
1. Jamie - 1 star - I found "The Talisman" by Peter Straub to be incredibly disappointing. The storyline was convoluted and hard to follow, and I felt like the characters were underdeveloped and lacked depth. The pacing was all over the place, and I struggled to maintain interest throughout the book. Overall, it felt like a jumble of ideas that never fully came together. I would not recommend this book to anyone looking for a cohesive and engaging read.
2. Sarah - 2 stars - While I didn't hate "The Talisman" by Peter Straub, I found it to be quite underwhelming. The writing style was overly descriptive and dragged on unnecessarily, making it difficult to immerse myself in the story. The plot felt disjointed, with random and unnecessary tangents that did nothing to enhance the overall narrative. Additionally, the characters lacked depth and I struggled to connect with any of them on an emotional level. Overall, I feel there are much better fantasy novels out there and this one fell short of my expectations.
3. Chris - 1 star - I couldn't finish "The Talisman" by Peter Straub. The book felt incredibly slow-paced and boring, with little to no action or excitement to keep me engaged. The concept of alternate universes and different dimensions seemed intriguing at first, but the execution was lackluster. The writing style was also quite dry and devoid of any real emotion. I gave up halfway through, as I simply couldn't invest any more time into a book that failed to capture my interest.