After spending almost a year in early access, it’s finally time for Lychee Game Lab’s colorful genre mash-up Patch Quest to be unleashed on the world. It’s Metroidvania meets Roguelike with a good dose of bullet hell mechanics sprinkled on top. All brought together and tightly packaged with a charming and clear aesthetic that lends itself incredibly well to what is basically an extraordinarily rambling mix of ideas that have no reason whatsoever to interact as well as they actually do. So follow me into the deep jungle and I’ll explain the brilliance that lurks behind the game’s pastel exterior.
Patch Quest takes place in the mysterious world of Patchlantis where you as a player can freely explore to your heart’s content based on your abilities. Because just like with any other game based on the now-almost-tired but just as damned consistently entertaining Metroidvania model, your ability to travel the world is tightly tied to your character’s abilities, and Patch Quest is certainly no exception to the rule. Your starting base has four entrances, only one of which is open when you start your adventure, but as you make new discoveries, new possibilities are unlocked and previously closed doors to new zones are opened.
Patchlantis is divided into several completely unique biomes or zones if you will, filled with their own fauna, wildlife, secret caves and yes, of course, bosses too. Each new area you visit is randomly generated, which lends itself well to the spirit of adventure that so clearly permeates pretty much every aspect of Patch Quest and also encourages multiple playthroughs. Either alone or with a friend next to you on the couch in split screen multiplayer. But what is undoubtedly the standout mechanic in Patch Quest is your character’s lasso with which you capture, tame and ride all the different creatures you run into in the expansive world.
Because each animal offers its own unique abilities which you inherit and can use while riding on its back. This enables many interesting ways to approach the different areas and not least the bosses, which more often than not often present situations that degenerate into regular bullet hell and in a few milliseconds transform the game into a regular schmup. Although not at the same level as genre giants Mushihimesama or DoDonPachi, but having said that, it’s worth pointing out that the later zones of the game can offer really intense, sweaty battles that make you completely giddy with happiness.
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These were challenges that I personally found a lot of joy in and that never ever felt either unfair or insurmountable. Instead, they encourage you to experiment with different animals to ride, perks and abilities for your character but above all different sets of equipment. The punishment for failure is also thankfully light, which also contributes even more to not only the joy of playing but also the desire to try different combinations and explore even more of the game world in order to find even more power-ups or other abilities that can assist in the increasingly challenging battles.
In addition to the animals you can capture and ride, a large part of the game focuses on acquiring pets to take home to your base. However, you can also collect fauna from your travels in Patchlantis that you plant in clusters of five to reproduce a specific biome, something the many different potential pets require to thrive. And yes, of course you can also pet and cuddle with your little friends, something that actually affects their health in a positive way. This more fun side of Patch Quest presents a pleasant break from the sometimes rather intense exploration.
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Something that Patch Quest really succeeds in and one aspect of the game I really want to emphasize is how it forces the player to constantly test out new animals and abilities. Because just like in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild where weapons slowly degrade the more they are used, the animals you capture and ride have a limited amount of uses or ammo if you will. Because even if you constantly find new ones out in the wild, they are quickly used up during the many confrontations and this forces you to constantly be on the lookout for new potential mounts to lasso and master.
Whether you choose to tackle Patch Quest and Patchlanti’s challenges alone or with a well-chosen friend on the edge of the sofa, Lychee Game Lab’s indie creation offers incredible variety and plenty of gaming fun. Here there are more than fifty different animals to discover, lots of challenging bosses, an incredible number of different interesting combinations of abilities and a constant desire to constantly push a little longer. The joy of discovery is simply very palpable and I genuinely had a hard time putting down the controls for long periods of time, which is just a testament to how incredibly entertaining and well thought out the game’s gameplay loop actually is.
