Introduction
Hunter’s Path: Rebirth is a top-down, on-foot, shoot-em-up game based in a medieval-fantasy world, chronicling the dangerous trek of a band of hunters trying to cleanse the land from unholy creatures! Hired by the Crusader-General, they must seek the source of the demons and stop it without losing any of the hunters!
Developer: Harley Wilson
Released: 26th October 2021
Price: Free
Platforms: Windows
Available on: itch.io
Engine: GameMaker
This game is being reviewed as part of the Indie Game Collective (IGC) showcase.
Dear Crusader-General, how does this work?
You start Hunter’s Path: Rebirth with a ragtag band of two knights and an outlaw who must traverse the auto-scrolling levels to send those evil beings back to Hell, using unlimited sword projectiles and powerful but limited holy water bombs. By killing enemies and destroying the scenery, you can collect coins which you can use at caravan shops to hire new hunters or buy more holy water.
You control the leader of the group and everyone else follows him. Hunters are broken into four classes: knights for long-range but weak damage, outlaws for short yet powerful projectiles, mages for attacking their sides and samurai for three-way short-range shurikens. This allows you to hire just the right party to fit your playstyle.
Time to bring down the forces of evil!
Hunter’s Path: Rebirth pixel art and chiptune music, combined with the old-school style of gameplay, all come together to provide an excellent package of the best of retro games, without their infuriating difficulty. For one, the pixel art is excellent and conveys the dark atmosphere of the defiled locales of the game, whilst not being too obtrusive to the gameplay. Likewise, the atmospheric music is another highlight of the game, featuring tense but not overbearing tones without being out of place in an arcade style shooter.
The game includes a rank system, awarding you a rank at the end of each level based on how quickly you clear it and whether you lost a party member, with S-Rank being the highest you can get. Hunter’s Path: Rebirth isn’t a terribly hard game and still quite enjoyable, so you won’t have much of a problem getting the S-Ranks. In addition, there are cartridges hidden in the scenery of the levels, unlocking new game modes such as Boss Rush and 999 Coins.
In Conclusion
Although a brief experience, Hunter’s Path: Rebirth is a decent package with how well it mixes the gameplay, music, and art style all together, while providing a mild yet enjoyable challenge. In addition to the game modes and different combinations of party members, if you play the game well enough, you can unlock a secret ending!
Want to shoot and kill even more things? Here’s a small gallery!
Rainbow Laser Disco Dungeon – Metavaxx – Starcrossed – Sine Mora EX – Highway Pursuit