MIGHTREYA is an anime-style action game where you play as a schoolgirl-superhero. Read our review of its early-access build to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if it's worth buying.
Everything We Know About MIGHTREYA
MIGHTREYA Plot
Players take on the role of schoolgirl superhero Reya as she saves the world from the evil Kaiju while also being a Hero Content Creator on the side. Along with her stream manager, Nio, they traverse several parts of Mahatma City to eliminate the Kaiju as well as a rival Content Creator team, who also appear to be villains.
MIGHTREYA Gameplay
MIGHTREYA is an action-packed fighting game where the ground and the sky are your battlefields! Players will engage in anime-style aerial superhero battles against the Kaiju and rival Content Creators, making use of a wide range of attack combos to emerge victorious. Attacks are scored with point values and are cumulative until the end of the level. A ranking system is in place depending on the gameplay and techniques, and there is a strong emphasis on using different attacks, with higher points given for variety.
MIGHTREYA Release Date
MIGHTREYA has yet to reveal their official release date, but the demo can now be played through its official Steam page.
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MIGHTREYA Review [Early Access]
Mighty Clunky
Ever wanted to be a superhero? I sure did (unironically), at some point in my childhood—in my dreams, at least. Saving the world from destruction and the forces of evil just sounded so fun, looking all flashy and powerful. Of course, it could never be a true reality, but luckily, with the power of multimedia and video games, superhero dreams could manifest themselves in some shape or form.
Enter MIGHTREYA, an anime-style and flamboyant-looking action fighting game that puts you in the shoes of Reya, who lives a double life as a schoolgirl and a superhero. The best of both worlds, I’d say. However, does MIGHTREYA have what it takes to be glorious and heroic like the heroes it tries to emulate? I sit back, relax, and take on the game’s demo, available on its Steam storepage to try it out.
Mahatma City And Its Kaijus
MIGHTREYA primarily takes place in Mahatma City, a fictional city in what appears to be an alternate universe Japan. It’s an urban city infested daily with monstrous, otherworldly Kaiju, causing havoc. To combat these horrible beings from wrecking the city, Heroes are dispatched to save the city and to eliminate any and all threats.
The protagonist of the story is Reya, an unassuming high school student who transforms into Mightreya, a superhero that commands the power of Atma, a giant fist. Her trusty sidekick and stream manager, Nio, accompanies her throughout her journey and captures all of her deeds on camera for the world to see. There seem to be more characters as well, such as the Rasetsuten quartet, but they have yet to be properly introduced.
A Story With Cheeky Humor
While we only got a snippet of the plot and the dialogue in the demo, it’s also shaping up to be pretty humorous in its comedy, with how the storytelling goes, coupled with a sprinkling of jokes here and there as well as several lines breaking the fourth wall to call out to the player directly. It did get me chuckling a little bit, and I’m pretty curious about how else the rest of the game will play out.
The "ending" of the demo also featured the Rasetsuten, who look to be a team of villains who honestly feel as villainous as…say, Dr. Doofenshmirtz from Phineas and Ferb. Well, that’s just the feeling I get, but with how you met Yasha (one of their members) in the demo, it’s looking to be a pretty funny group to meet.
Flashy Superhero Combat And Combos
As an action-filled fighting game at its core, players control Reya and execute a variety of attacks and combos all in a flashy anime-style, such as launching the enemy into the air or slamming them to the ground with brute force. As Reya continues to fight, points are earned depending on the combo and type of attack, adding up to a certain total and letter rank. A level is cleared by eliminating all Kaiju in a given location, then defeating the final boss to conclude it all before proceeding to the next level.
There’s also a little bit of 3D platforming, especially in maps like the Fallen District where the roads have fractured into several floating islands in the air. Reya will need to jump to and fro to get to the end in one piece. Scattered across the map are collective golden diamond-looking things as well, but the demo didn’t disclose what they were actually for. Presumably, it’s to power up Reya’s attacks or to buy things from an in-game shop.
The gameplay mechanics are pretty fun, and the visuals for the fighting scenes and combos really get your heart pumping with excitement. It’s fun and flashy, just like what an anime-style hero is supposed to be. All’s well and good…if the controls actually felt intuitive.
Clunky, Unresponsive Controls
Unfortunately, some controls just don’t seem to register the way they should—which is pretty bad for a fighting game, a genre that relies on precise controls and timing to execute attacks. There were more than a few instances where the Launch attack and the Ground Slam attack just didn’t play out despite having keyed in the proper sequence. It doesn’t help that every second counts in this game, with the variety in attacks being scored as well as making sure the fight doesn’t get "stale" for the in-game stream viewers.
It’s technically alright to have unpolished things in a demo—it’s a demo after all, not a finished product. However, having clunky controls in a fighting game is pretty unacceptable, especially if it’s the first impression. Somehow, I had powered through the jank with sheer willpower, but it might not be the case for everyone.
Level Glitches
Aside from the fighting controls, the level itself seems to be against you as well with its glaring glitches. For example, when jumping to the next floating island you’d need to step on, sometimes the game registers it as you going out of bounds. It then attempts to respawn you on a safe platform…except that floating island you respawn on is also "out of bounds", prompting a soft-locked cycle of just appearing and disappearing in the same spot.
Another problem is that you can also endlessly fall without respawning; the game just lets Reya freefall into the abyss under the map. This happened to me twice in the span of about ten minutes, prompting me to restart—luckily, there is an autosave after clearing a section of the map, but it is still tedious nonetheless.
There are also parts of the map you can get stuck in for some reason, such as the walkable spot between a building and a phone booth. While not as game-breaking as the softlocking issues, it’s still pretty frustrating to try and wiggle your way out.
Visual and Camera Bugs
Visually as a whole, it’s appealing. It’s eye-catching, and models seem to be pretty smooth (aside from some certain hair strands and clothes clipping into each other, but not that noticeable). Level design could use a bit of work, but it’s nothing terrible.
Sadly though, the game suffers from sudden frame drops and lags, especially when there are a bajillion particles flying in the air. This happened to me when I defeated the first elite boss in the central square of Mahatma City at the beginning, and the dastardly robot blew up into, quite literally, little confetti-like particles all over the screen and almost caused my game to freeze.
The camera work doesn’t help either, with it being incredibly wonky and auto-centering to Reya from behind a building or underneath the map, obstructing your view. You can move it manually with the R stick (if you’re using a controller), but it will still snap to whatever position it wants to be in when you start fighting. It doesn’t help it can get pretty dizzying with how fast-paced the gameplay is in general; this happens more often than not, with you zipping to and fro all over the place.
Overall Conclusion
I do understand that MIGHTREYA’s demo isn’t the definitive version of the game at all, but the demo isn’t really doing the game justice with how buggy and janky it feels. From the frame drops to the unresponsive controls and the glitchy, soft-locking issues, it’s not a good first impression. It’s a game that definitely has a fun concept and has the potential to be insanely enjoyable if the developers play their cards right and tweak all its imperfections away.
After all, it’s still just a demo of the game, so nevertheless, I’ll still be putting MIGHTREYA on my wishlist and hoping for the best that it will power through its slump and come out to be what it wishes to be—whimsical, intuitive, and just a whole lot of superhero fun. I’m definitely looking forward to more of Reya and Nio in the future.
Game8 Reviews
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MIGHTREYA Product Information
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| Title | MIGHTREYA |
|---|---|
| Release Date | TBD |
| Developer | Wazen |
| Publisher | 505 Games |
| Supported Platforms | Steam |
| Genre | Action, Adventure, Indie |
| Number of Players | 1 |
| ESRB Rating | RP |
| Official Website | MIGHTREYA Official Website |
