Ebenezer and the Invisible World

Soft locks, crashes, and bugs burden this gorgeously presented Christmas story. Until this nightmare before Christmas is patched, we'd suggest finding something else to place under your Christmas tree.

We wanted to enjoy Ebenezer and The Invisible World far more than we did. The combat is solid and the platforming is tight, with the right balance of accessibility and challenge. Combine that with a fun concept and art that does a great job of recreating Dickens' iconic novel and it should be a recipe for greatness. Unfortunately, a host of bugs ranging from slightly annoying to game-breaking sucked the Christmas cheer right out of us. Future patches might fix these issues and give us the game we know is hiding just beneath the surface here, but that game isn't here at launch.

Orbit Studio and Play on Worlds offer an interesting twist with Ebenezer and the Invisible World, a metroidvania that adapts Charles Dickens' work with a lot of style and fun. It is definitely not the revolution of the genre, but it is an immersive experience that boasts a visual style that accompanies a nice Christmas story. An interesting proposal to take into account.

Dreams of a quality Christmas Metroidvania go unfulfilled. Ebenezer and the Invisible World offers little but disappointment and frustration. Avoid this Scrooge of a game, unless a major updates arrives before Christmas.

Ebenezer and the Invisible World brings a fun, holiday-themed premise and palette to Metroidvanias, but not much else. Annoying issues and gameplay repetition will bring out the Scrooge in some gamers, but Metroidvania fans may see it through to redemption.

Ebenezer and the Invisible World is a surprisingly good adventure game that really captures the joy and spirit of its source material. Though it takes on the familiar exploration formula, its unique approach to combat and beautiful art style make this something quite special. However, while I do recommend it, you may want to hold this on your wishlist on Switch until all its issues are ironed out. In a way, the game needs to go through its own redemption story, hopefully before Christmas arrives. Once that happens, which I like to believe it will, this will be a wonderful adventure that’s not just for Christmas but any time of the year.

Unlike its titular hero, Ebenezer and the Invisible World learned naught from the mistakes of the past.

It’s already getting to be that time of year, so a Metroidvania where you play as a reformed Scrooge is in order

The longer I played this game the more frustrated I became. For the first hour I was still smiling through the presentation. However, it ended with swearing. The game is not completely unplayable, but it would have been better if a number of problems were resolved and the game had a release around Christmas. A shame, because at this time when it gets dark early, a good Christmas game would have been a lot of fun.

Ebenezer and the Invisible World looks great and has a difficulty level that has been perfectly balanced to stand up to some of the best metroidvanias out there without going down the overly trodden route of making it Souls-like. Sure, there’s not a whole lot original on offer here, but that feels like a harsh stick to beat the developers with in a very crowded genre. Ebenezer and the Invisible World won’t be for metroidvania purists, but if you're a fan of Christmas and anything Dickensian, you will not be disappointed!