IGNISTONE, as a title, does not communicate anything. It is a type of mineral in the game’s world that is central to its plot. If you see IGNISTONE’s Steam page, however, you will be able to understand a lot, if you are a fan of Italian plumbers made out of paper that is. From aesthetics to mechanics, it openly celebrates and innovates on what made Paper Mario great. It just lacks a bit of polish to be the best version of itself.
The game opens up with a scene where the story of your character is told to children in an underground village. A hooded Mame (pronounced Ma-may, meaning “bean” in Japanese, as I learned through a sign in the same scene) describes the story of two rivals who came together to save their friends from an invading tribe. You will be taking control of the two, braving a hundred floors of the old mine so that they can become the heroes of this tale.
I am a big fan of how IGNISTONE looks. The charming 2D style, with its thick outlines around the uniquely shaped designs, combines very well with the slightly more washed-out, but colorful and detailed backgrounds. Bits of light peek through each location to add a bit of spark and glimmer to it all. The player spends a lot of time in the same locations, running through the hub and the mine floors, so this lively, vivid atmosphere is very appreciated.
The sound design is also special, from the endearingly quirky themes to the popping sound effects. The crunchy sounds add a lot to the freezeframe attack animations, making the combat very satisfying, and the little cues for picking things up, completing a mission, or rescuing someone are delightful. My only gripe is that the track that plays towards the bottom of the mine is unnecessarily creepy, with scratches and intensity that clash with what is present on the screen in an unflattering way.
Unfortunately, while I truly adore the designs of the many little bean people found throughout the adventure, be that fellow townsfolk or enemies, I cannot say the same about the main character. This ghostly-looking creature with its ears (I think?) sticking out from the top of its head certainly exhibits some cute behaviors, such as winking after winning a battle, but it is just completely incomprehensible to me. I do not know what it is supposed to be, what is the shape, or why the bottom of its fabric is so tattered.
Nevertheless, this… thing, alongside its beany rival, is the duo controlled by the player. In a typical roguelite format, each escapade into the danger zone yields materials and currency for upgrading the hub, providing bonus equipment slots and new inventory in shops. There are amulets, which are permanent upgrades that can be changed at any point before heading out, allowing for expression through different player builds. But there’s also a sword and a shield, which are lost during the excursion if one were to fall at any point before reaching a checkpoint.
The gameplay is based entirely on the parry system. There are no turns in combat, but it keeps the spirit of its inspiration by having timed presses of the defense button be the primary mechanic. The player can hold the attack button to keep wailing on the enemy, but they have to stop and execute a block at the perfect time to stun the enemy or suffer damage in the process.
Thankfully, the game understands its trial-and-error gameplay. Finding the sweet spot for blocking will take a few tries, so, up until floor 20, the player can practice these parries for free. After that, the same can still be done for a small currency fee if one wants to refresh their memory or has come upon a new enemy type. There are a total of 11 enemies that can be encountered, which seems small, but felt just right for me given the short campaign length—around three to four hours.
Through upgrades and a solid amount of beneficial events that can pop up while choosing the path forward (consumable mushrooms that boost stats for one fight or heal the player, healing spots, merchants, etc.) I did not have much trouble beating the main goal of IGNISTONE, but this changed soon after with the provided bonus dungeons. One expands on the story, while the others are pure challenges for those interested.
Some of these are quite brutal, either taking away the parry completely, changing its leniency, or removing the player equipment. They certainly made me better at IGNISTONE, but not good enough to clear all of them. The sort of relaxed atmosphere, befitting the game’s place on the mobile storefronts, disappears when each mistake on the new timings costs you half or an entire HP bar.
I do not particularly like this change of pace in IGNISTONE. I like its mechanics enough to continue with the story content, but not enough to get very good at them. What pushed me forward was finding journal pieces and seeing new designs, reading through textboxes for the many interactables, not the idea of learning perfect parries for every enemy. Beating one of these post-game challenges was enough for me, but I do wish I could still experience the others in a more relaxed manner.
That is becauseIGNISTONE’s charm already got me through some other issues, such as the very dry writing. The sheer amount of small secrets found throughout the hub covered up a few typos, and the option to tattle before fighting an enemy (shoutout Goombario) puts a smile on my face even though the text that follows is not always entertaining. The overall presentation drives the experience, and without anything new to stimulate my interest, I chose to end my time with the game there for now.
But this can change should new content be added to IGNISTONE, or if difficulty options of any kind are introduced. I enjoyed IGNISTONE, and, even with its issues, will likely return to try and complete it down the line. It’s a very fun, cheerful title, and I do not want to sour that memory by getting angry at myself for failing to perfectly parry that one attack after reaching floor sixty-seven out of a hundred.
It has more than enough delightful content before that point to be worth the purchase anyway, and I am very thankful to the developers of MONO ENTERTAINMENT for finding a new avenue of expressing papery goodness in the gaming sphere. The issues I had merely took me out of this experience for a few seconds, as I was always ready to jump back in up until the point I was personally satisfied with IGNISTONE.
Mateusz played IGNISTONE on PC with a review code. The game is also available on Android and IOS.
