Vapor World: Over The Mind preview [PlayX4] — A 2.5D souls-like with excellent atmosphere set in a world of dreams

I recently had the honor of attending PlayX4 in Gyeonggi, South Korea. While I was there, I got to sit down with the developers at ALIVE Inc. to play their upcoming souls-like action-adventure platformer game, Vapor World: Over The Mind.

Players assume the role of a boy named Lindsey trying to survive a world of dreams. Armed with his “reaper” gauntlet, a big steampunk club called the Crevice, and his trusty pipe, Lindsey has to find a way back to reality. In order to achieve this, Lindsey has to push deeper into the dream, defeating enemies called “traumas” that stand in his way.

Vapor World expertly delivers on every aspect of its presentation. Right off the bat, players will notice the simultaneously breathtaking and haunting fully hand-drawn art style that brings the setting to life. More than once, I found myself pausing to really take in the visuals, especially in the game’s first hub area, the hall of a giant mansion. The sound design is also a plus, as the game really seems to know what noises to highlight. For example, I was hiding in some tall grass when a knife-wielding Victorian woman walked by, the sound of her heels clicking against the ground with every step. It was an intense high-point.

The combat in Vapor World is very straightforward and follows the same line of thought as Sekiro and Bloodborne. You can attack, parry, dodge, run around, sneak, and climb. Every trauma enemy has a core that needs to be exposed through attacking or parrying before delivering a fatal blow. While attacking an enemy works, it felt inefficient. I often found that it’s better to let them attack you, then parry, thus opening them up for a fatal counterattack.

The animations themselves really sell the weightiness of the combat. Crevice is a big club, and it hits like one too. Your attacks feel slow and cumbersome, yet weighty and impactful, and hits with crevice sound like clashing machinery. Finishers are a real highlight. After you’ve damaged or countered an enemy enough, you can hit them with a finisher where Lindsey sends them flying with the help of his reaper gauntlet.

The souls-borne elements are apparent, as there’s a skill in the skill tree that allows the player to restore some health after getting hit by striking your attacker back, and bosses don’t respawn. That begs the question, how does the souls-like formula perform when you shove it into a 2.5D platformer? The answer: surprisingly well. The developers added plenty of exploration options. Even when there’s a set destination, there are multiple routes to it. Being unable to maneuver around enemies in a 3D space does cause the combat to suffer a little, but a good fight still feels pretty rewarding. The developers went out of their way to cake the area in obstructions like the aforementioned tall grass, giving the player plenty of options for stealth kills.

In the end, I really look forward to uncovering the rest of the story when Vapor World is fully released sometime. Early access is planned for October 2024, whereas the full release will be late 2025. If that’s too long to wait, then you can try out the demo on Steam.

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