Announced last spring, Aztech: Forgotten Gods is expected to come out in 2022. The game is set up as an action adventure strongly inspired by the Aztec culture, in which we will have to make our way through the main story facing one by one all the gods of the pantheon of this civilization. We at Tech Princess have had the opportunity to try a short demo of the game first hand and we offer you a preview with our impressions.
Between gods and bossfight
Aztech Forgotten Gods is currently in development at the studios of Canvas, a small Mexican software house based in the state of Chihuahua. It is a rather young software house, founded only in 2012, but which has already achieved good critical success with Mulaka, a video game inspired by the traditional culture of the indigenous Tarahumara, originally from the north of the country.
Lienzo’s goal this time is to do the same with Aztec culture, as is quite evident from the title. The game catapults us in the middle of Tenochtitlan, what we know today as Mexico City, imagined by the development team as if the Spanish invasion never happened. We are therefore faced with a mix between the great Aztec stone pyramids and a riot of neon lights, which the boys of Lienzo have baptized as “cyber-stone”.
The protagonist that we will accompany during the event is called Achtli, than with his faithful Lightkeeper, an arm-like artifact, will face in no-holds-barred clashes the long-forgotten old gods, who threaten to destroy the city of Tenochtitlan with their unique powers.
Through the power of the artifact we will be able to carry out a series of decidedly spectacular actions, ranging from simple parkour to real seamless flights, which can be carried out using a propulsion system similar to that of a rocket. The cornerstone of Aztech’s play experience, however, are the bosses, colossal and powerful, which we will have to defeat through specific actions.
Aztech Forgotten Gods: our preview
The trial version that we had the opportunity to test only allowed us to come into contact with the first boss adventure, shortly after putting us in the shoes of Achtli. In fact, the demo allowed us to familiarize ourselves with the commands only at the beginning, after a long introductory session in which we were able to get to know the protagonist and her mother, struggling with an experiment.
Shortly after, the action moved directly into the city, where the bossfight began without much preamble. During the fight we could see that the gameplay is quite fun, even if fairly inaccurate in some places. The creature we had to defeat was in fact very tall and this forced us to use the Lightkeeper as a propeller to reach its weak points.
A feat easier said than done, given that air movement is nothing short of summary, and it is not as simple as it seems to be able to aim to hit exactly the selected point. However, it must be said that once you get the hang of the controls, moving in arias is relatively easier even if not as intuitive as we would have hoped.
In short, the feeling is that of finding ourselves in front of a title that is still rather raw, and far from the finishing touches of the case that should then lead it to the official release. Despite this the unexpressed potential of this demo is tangible, even in the face of a style that, albeit minimal, gives a unique touch to the work that made us want to want more (also because the demo was really short).
The Action Adventure is in fact expected for autumn 2021, on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X | S and Nintendo Switch, and we hope to be able to try it again before launch.