Overview – developed by Red Nexus Games and published by Blitworks Games, Peglin is a roguelike adventure with a peggle style gameplay loop, about a little goblin on a big quest. As the brave little Peglin, set put on a quest across three different worlds to save his village from a dragon. This game was originally a timed Nintendo Switch exclusive, but the game is now on all consoles, with a link to each version of the game at the bottom of this review.
Disclaimer: before I get into the review, I would like to thank the rep for Blitworks Games who provided the copy of Peglin that was used for this piece. The provision of this software has not influenced the contents of this review, all thoughts and opinions contained within are my own.
Now with the introductions out of the way, let’s get into the review, starting off with the story. I have previously covered the Nintendo Switch version of the game, which you can find (HERE). Like that review, I will be omitting some details, as I don’t want to spoil the various surprises this game holds.
Story – deep in the woods, a tribe of Peglin have been trying to live a peaceful existence, but sadly things have not been easy for them. The village has been harassed by dragons, who have been stealing their treasures and mistreating them. To save the village, a single brave set out on a quest to the Dragon’s lair, battling their minions along the way. Take back the treasures and put a stop to the dragons, to protect the village.
Gameplay – Peglin is a roguelike puzzle adventure with RPG elements, where the player takes the role of the little hero to save their village. In this game the player must make their way through the three zones, each with branching paths for players to tackle. These paths are a mix of action stages, special events and even encounters with NPC characters. At the bottom of each map there is a boss encounter, with all paths leading to this point.
The gameplay loop for Peglin is very unique, mixing peggle inspired pachinko style mechanics and turn based RPG style combat. During an action stage the player must defeat a set of enemies, using special peg orbs to hit the pegs on the stage. Enemies will be damaged with each peg that is hit, building up as the reach the bottom of the screen. When it hits one of the pockets at the bottom, the Peglin launches their attack.
During these battle stages, the player has an orb deck, with each orb action counting as a turn. The player will start off with 4 orbs in the deck, consisting of three standard pegball orbs and a single dagger orb. These orbs will do minimal damage at the start, but can be enhanced by hitting special critical pegs, shown with an exclamation mark (!). With each launch, enemies may advance or even attack from afar if they have ranged weapons.
When all of the orbs in the deck have been used, the player will need to reload skipping a turn. During a reload, the enemies will be able to take a free turn, potentially dealing big damage to the Peglin, further adding to the danger of battles. To help the player in their battles, there are the critical damage pegs, Refresh which restore cleared pegs and Bombs. When a bomb is hit twice, it will go off and deal damage to all active battles.
There will also be gold pegs on the board, which will provide the player with coins when hit. These coins are added to the Peglins satchel, carrying over between stages. If the player can defeat all of the enemies, the stage will be cleared and the orb shop will appear. Here the player can buy new orbs, upgrade existing orbs and restore lost health. The orbs that appear are random each time, with a wide variety of possible orbs to appear.
The effects that can be found include multiball, where an additional ball will spawn after dropping, lighting that will hit multiple pegs and so many more. All of the orbs have a total of 3 levels, enhancing the power and abilities of the pegs. During this phase, the cost of upgrades and orbs will increase with each purchase they make. As orbs are purchased they will be added to the deck, with no true limit to the number of orbs that can be obtained.
After the purchase phase, the player will then be able to progress to the next stage. Here the player will need to shoot for the path they want, offering the chance to clean up left over gold for the next stage. Usually there will be 2 paths that can be taken, with some skill and a little luck to select a desired path. But be careful as there may be fire pits, which will harm the Peglin and force them to try and shoot for a path again.
The progression through the map adds a rather solid amount of depth to strategy, as players can view a map of the current zone. This will show the different stages that the player can reach, including the mystery zones, treasure spaces and mini-boss battles. This allows the player to map out the areas, as there many are dangers that the spaces may contain. The mystery zones can give great rewards, or contain terrible dangers.
Then there are the mini-bosses, featuring challenging battles with enemies related to the location. Upon defeating these enemies, the player may receive powerful rewards to aid them, balancing out the risks of battle. The last areas to cover are the treasure/shop floors. The shops contain a variety of items that can be purchased, including powerful relics which can also found in the treasure floors. This adds to the fun and uncertainty of a run.
The relics themselves are powerful items which have the power to make or break a run, as they can drastically alter the way that stages work. Effects that can occur range from increased critical and refresh pegs, to increased bombs and even health increases. However, some of the relics come with a downside to their power, so it is important to think about the choices made. At the start of a run, the player may select a relic to get started.
At the end of a zone, the player will face the big boss in a deadly battle. These can be a great challenge and a real test of the Peglin’s skills, as the bosses have the power to kill the player very quickly, alongside unique gimmicks. But it is not just the boss itself that is a threat, are an endless number minions that can appear. If the player survives, there will be great rewards provided to the player, including very powerful Boss relics.
Due to the game being a roguelike, there are many randomised elements that can affect the success of a run. This will also be affected by the choices that the player makes, with some resulting in a simple playthough, or a trial by fire that can be tough to overcome. This game also has perma death, with only a single life for the run. While this may be a frustration, as a death sends the player back to the beginning, it is a well balanced challenge.
When a run is concluded either through victory or defeat, a summary of the player performance will be provided. This will show all items collected, general stats and general player performance details. All of the items collected will be added into the custom mode, where players can create their preferred run, at the cost of unlocking new content. There are extra game modes and characters that can be unlocked, but conditions must be met.
Now with the gameplay covered, it is time to discuss the other aspects of this release, starting with the controls.
Controls – the control scheme for Peglin is perfect for controllers, offering a fun yet simple gameplay experience that is easy to pick up. The aim system uses the thumbstick for quick adjustments, with the D-Pad for precision targeting of specific pegs. Then there are the face buttons and shoulders that all have on screen tooltips, showing players their functions. All of these inputs work great with the Dualshock 4, providing an intuitive and egaging experience.
Difficulty – due to this game being a roguelike, there is a lot of chance that the player will need to expect, which can cause the difficulty to fluctuate. The battles can be challenging, as the player may get an unfortunate seed, or just plain bad luck. The boss encounters are the most tricky to handle, but after a few runs through the game, players will get used to the experience. Once the payer gets a grip on the mechanics, it can be easier to reach the goal.
Presentation – visually this game has a very cutesy look to it, which is enhanced by the vibrant sprite work and environments. This gives the overall experience a relatively relaxed feel, which can be deciving of the challenge present. The sound compliments the visuals well, with plenty of bright and catchy tunes that further enhance the vibe. Unfortunately, there are some issues with slowdown in this updated release, causing some stutters with a lot of moving assets on screen.
Final Thoughts – when I first covered this game on Switch, I had a great time so I was excited to check out the updated PS4 version. I am happy to say that I was not disappointed, as there were some great improvements to the existing version. There are 3 zones, with 4 characters and extra game modes, but there are talks of additional material in the future. If this is true, I am excited to play even more Peglin.
There are some minor hiccups with the game, due to the amount of assets at once there can be some slowdown, causing severe stuttering. Then there are some significantly stronger bosses than the original console version, increasing the difficulty by a fair bit. However, the overall quality of the game is just as good as the portable release. So I am more than happy to recommend this game to everyone, as this is a wonderfully cutesy yet challenging puzzle adventure.
In the end I give Peglin a final score of 4.5/5. This a wonderfully fun and enjoyable puzzle adventure, offering many, many hours of gameplay for players, with a super cutesy design that enhances the overall gameplay experience. If you want to check this game out for yourself, a link to each version of the game will be below.
Link to PlayStation version (HERE)
Link to Nintendo Switch version (HERE)
Link to Xbox version (HERE)
Link to Steam version (HERE)
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