The indie game onslaught of 2018 continues, now with this incredibly on-the-nose tribute to PlayStation 1’s revered Castlevania classic, Symphony Of The Night.

Timespinner (PC, PS4)

The premise: You play Lunais, a Time Messenger who is tasked with defending her tribe against the Lachiem Empire. You see, Time Messengers can use the Timespinner, a machine which allows them to go back in time to send a warning to be a few steps ahead of the empire. You start the game off in the past, right after a violent ambush which killed Lunais’ mother.

Why I missed it last year: I didn’t even know about this game until a couple of game-making friends of mine told me. It’s also the same year that a particular Metroidvania game caught my eye by being a little different than your “uncover map, get special item, backtrack” gameplay: Dead Cells.

Why you shouldn’t: Because it’s a game that revels in its influence and inspiration while offering something different. In Timespinner, your character Lunais can stop time temporarily. This means you can use enemies as stepping stones or avoid potentially painful obstacles and pitfalls. She can also equip orbs which gives her attacks like mid-ranged crystal orbs or short-ranged flame attacks, as well as cast spells like a chargeable bolt of plasma or a giant arcing sword swing.

You’ll be using your skills to explore castles, forests, lakeside areas, and even a bio lab, unlocking Metroidvania traversal skills to open up hidden and locked portions of the map. The similarities between Timespinner and SOTN are so blatant, to the point where the following tracks from the game are hugely influenced by certain Castlevania tracks like “Wood-Carved Partitia”. And it plays in a Library level!

Still, developer Lunar Ray Games wears its “I love Symphony of the Night”-tailored sleeve proud and makes a great 2D game out of it. I also have to give props to the art style; it’s like a 32-bit Amiga game revved up for 2018, from the extra bits of animation to how natural the colour palettes look and feel.

If you love all things Metroidvania and need a new fix, you should buy Timespinners. It’s only RM38 and it’ll only take a few hours of diligent gaming to love it and finish it.