The Prisoning: Fletcher’s Quest is described as a metroidvania-lite. It features all the staples of a typical metroidvania with a sprawling map, upgradeable weapons, and tough boss fights. The “lite” implies a shorter adventure than most. And in the end, that’s exactly what you have: a quirky, simple adventure that’s fun while it lasts.
The Prisoning is a creative experience. The whole thing begins with a short scene involving a game developer, Fletcher, talking to some sort of psychologist. It seems Fletcher is suffering from anxiety, so his inept counselor suggests a deep sleep to help him face his demons. Naturally, this altered state sets the scene for the playable portion of the game.
You take on the role of a pixelated version of Fletcher when he awakens naked in a 2D world. Why is he naked? Who knows. Probably so the game can earn an M rating. There are a few similarly interesting choices when it comes to humor, including the random use of swear words. It’s all fine and relatively harmless, but I feel like it could alienate some players with its juvenile approach. Other humor is used well, but I’ll get to that later.
The world is split into various rooms, each featuring enemies, save points, or collectibles. A short journey to learn the ropes leads to some clothing (thankfully) and a weapon for our hero. The weapon is a gun with unlimited ammo, making things relatively easy in terms of general enemies. Now that you’re fully equipped, it’s time for some further exploration.
The Prisoning handles this side of things well. Some areas are inaccessible without unlocking certain abilities. Backtracking is kept to a minimum thanks to generous warp points. It’s always clear where you need to go thanks to the map. Each room has up to four access points coming from one of the four cardinal directions. Rooms only appear on the map after being visited, so any blank spots indicate an uncharted section worth revisiting.
The controls are good. Fletcher can jump quite high, making platforming fun and simple. He can unlock abilities like double jump to help reach higher places. Shooting Fletcher’s weapon is also satisfying. With unlimited ammo, you can camp in most rooms, jumping and shooting to take out enemies within reach before proceeding. Some more pesky foes fire projectiles that aim directly for you. Take these out quickly, or avoid them by running past. Rooms aren’t locked, making general exploration relatively easy. There are no difficulty options either, so be prepared to move quickly through most of this game if you’re a platforming or run ‘n’ gun veteran.
Boss fights, on the other hand, are much more difficult. There are four in total, each with unique moves to learn and dodge. One downside is that Fletcher only has two hits before he perishes. This is indicated by his hat. One hit, and the hat disappears. Another hit, and it’s back to the last save point.
Save points are generously placed close to boss fights, making repeat attempts much more palatable. They still border on frustrating; I must have died over 20 times with each boss. Still, it feels great to beat them, a feeling I can equate to the likes of proper metroidvanias like Hollow Knight.
Graphically, Fletcher’s Quest looks nice in its 16-bit pixelated glory. Some background features are indistinguishable from platforms, making it unclear at times where to jump. But this is not a frequent issue, and could just be attributed to my poor eyesight. I mostly played this one in handheld mode, too.
The story is purposefully tongue in cheek. There are plenty of fun characters to interact with along the way. There are also several references to gaming tropes, such as the need to gather random items like lemons or chilis before proceeding. Because why not? Fans of the genre will get a chuckle. There are also references to other games that I assume come from this developer or publisher. I appreciate the tie-in, but as someone unfamiliar with the titles mentioned, it’s serving a very niche audience. Perhaps it will encourage players to explore the developer’s library.
