What parents need to know
TimeMelters is a strategy adventure game set in a fantasy universe. The player takes on the role of a witch who manages to escape from the stake and discovers her powers and legacy from a line of druid priestesses. Throughout the missions, Teagan, the protagonist, will have to learn to master her new powers and use strategy to defend the villages from enemy invasions and go back in time to save her brother, who perished while saving her from being burned at the stake, and prevent evil from besieging the kingdom.
The mechanics of the game are complex and require problem-solving skills. Battles are slow and can be thought out in advance, allowing the player to test different strategies.
To use her powers, Teagan must amass spirits to accumulate mana, allowing her to use special attacks. It is therefore crucial to determine actions in advance to plan for the optimal use of mana, which is limited. Teagan’s powers allow her to summon spirits, infuse trees and rocks with her magic, teleport, travel back in time, and create duplicates of herself on different timelines, among other things. Her different abilities can be upgraded as the game progresses. The player must therefore show ingenuity and strategy to lead the fights. Moreover, each level has a scale of difficulty for the fights and the level of strategy required to complete the level.
Details
Level of experience required
| Age | 3+ | 7+ | 12+ | 16+ | 18+ |
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| Experienced | |
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The enemies look a bit scary, but there is no blood or particularly violent elements. Enemies disappear in a cloud of dust when defeated, and the protagonist does not use weapons. When the protagonist loses a fight, there is no explicit scene of violence, and the level is simply restarted from the beginning.
Not all of the dialogues are in audio form, most of them need to be read. The level of language is simple, however, and the text is readable and suitable for a pre-teen audience.
The protagonist has positive values and a heroic disposition. Her goal is to defeat evil and save her brother.
The game requires camera control from several different angles (3rd person, top-down view) and the mechanics are complex and difficult to master quickly.
Local game modes
In local mode, there is a story mode, which offers a choice of difficulties and an option for richer and longer dialogues to learn more about the game’s lore.
Online Game Modes
There’s an online co-op mode and challenges in which players can compete against each other.
Our opinion
TimeMelters is a pleasant surprise. The game has an original, yet minimalistic visual style. Its animations and sound effects are a bit reminiscent of the MMORPGs of the 2000s and will delight players eager for nostalgia. The levels are linear and quite short, but the game mechanics are complex and the combat is rewarding. Given the degree of difficulty that lies in learning the game mechanics, the lightness of the visuals and the speed of execution of the game in general are welcome. The story is interesting and you quickly get attached to the characters despite the minimalist dialogue.
From top to bottom, it’s a great success and a game that presents unique and impressive combat mechanics. There’s no blood and it’s all very stylized and focused on magic and energy, so the game can be suitable for a fairly young audience, as long as the player can understand the mechanics of the game. The contrast between the classic style and the unique mechanics makes it a fascinating game that will appeal to a wide range of players.
*This game has been provided to us for review purposes, but this does not influence our opinion.*
