Ultra Age

Ultra Age is a solid indie hack-and-slash effort that delivers some fast-paced combat and a handful of unique mechanics to keep its battles interesting. It may have some ropey voice-acting, the graphics have predictably been dialled back on Switch and there's the occasional frame rate wobble here and there, but overall this is a surprisingly decent budget effort that's well worth taking a look at if you're hankering for some Devil May Cry-style action.

Clearly a budget title, even looking past some of the obvious flaws like the laughably bad voice acting or the older console generation looking characters, the core game itself - fighting - leaves a lot to be desired. Enemies largely are punching bags with annoyingly large HP pools, but the game is unforgiving with how long there is between being able to save. Ultra Age had some clear potential but it really needed its quality spread across all aspects, the bad parts drag the rest of it down making it largely passable.

Ultra Age is a fun third-person action game that has a great combat system, interesting story, and great dialogue between the main character and his cyborg buddy. If you like NieR or Devil May Cry this is a great title for a good price.

Ultra Age gets the combat mostly right. While it isn't perfect, the combat system feels fluid enough that you can make a spectacle of dashing around mobs and tagging them with dazzling combos. Everything else about it feels half-baked, from the pacing to the story to the sound and pick-up system. Those who crave action may overlook these things because the combat is good enough, but those who are looking for something with better quality would be better served looking elsewhere first.

High paced action, with climatic boss fights, a sharp and slick weapon management system, and a very welcoming combat system aren't harmed by the game's rather dated graphics and its underachieving plot, and the fun that can be extracted from this experience has made Ultra Age more than earn its place within the Nintendo Switch catalogue.

At the end of the day, Ultra Age is a middle of the pack action thing that has the basic mechanics of the genre down, but doesn’t do anything to stand out, and it has some real balancing issues. but struggles to balance difficulty progression as well as pushing boundaries in the genre. Unfortunately for the developers, this is one genre in which we are spoiled for choice, both in terms of finding challenging games to enjoy, and complex, thought-provoking experiences.

Ultra Age may not be a complete package, offering little outside it's compelling combat. However, the moment to moment gameplay is incredibly enjoyable, even if the Nintendo Switch version of the game is noticeably stripped back.

"Time-traveling without a clear destination."

Visual Dart and Next Stage have in Ultra Age a diamond in the rough, conveying the feeling of not having been sufficiently polished. Ultra Age reveals itself as a title with an interesting premise with a very rewarding combat system, but with some serious problems at key points in the experience. For this reason, we cannot in good conscience affirm that they do not tarnish the experience as a whole. Still, we believe that if there is ever an "Ultra Age 2" (following the sugestion of the after the end credits scene) we can see this saga in a bigger picture in the videogames business.

Whatever side of the line you land on, the constant will be that Ultra Age is a lot of fun to play. While its systems might not be deep; the enjoyment of juggling combos/blades and enemies is worth the 7 hour length.