Enjoy A Special Rhyming Save State Holiday Column

Welcome back to Save State, where it’s the last column before Christmas, and this is a rhyming entry of Save State, so you won’t want to miss this. Negativity is not the nativity you need during this holiday season, you need an escape from your weird uncle and your shoulders he be squeezin’.

This rhyme scheme is already tired, and we’ve only just started, but it’ll be over before you know it, and then we’ll be parted.

The Xbox 360 was revolutionary and quite the snazzy console, where most played as red and blue men and captured cloth from the flagpole. I, as an intellectual, enjoyed the games of a more random flavor, where I bought things like Gyromancer, a low budget one I could savor.

(And Gyromancer is now available on Steam, where classic titles are cheaper than they might first seem.)

Gyromancer released when Puzzle Quest was at the height of its fame, and match 3 titles made for incredibly popular puzzle games. Gyromancer threw these popular conventions on their head and said, “Hell with it, we’re rotating things instead!”

In this game, you play as a summoner named Rivel, who is tracking down assassins and will listen to no drivel. This story is presented with artwork that’s gorgeous, and music that will have you humming its chorus.

The map screen will let you pick your destination, wherever you choose, unlike your uncle and how loud he gets after some booze. You will, at times, have to pick specific paths to punish a sinner, much like you want to do with your uncle when he ruins another holiday dinner. While on your quest you may find chests or parts of new critters, all of which you may use to cook your enemies to fritters.

After encountering a monster, a beast, or some other kind of adversary, you’ll enter Bejeweled-like combat and will summon beasts from your bestiary. As a summoner, you don’t attack with clubs or a blade, you call forth creatures to attack from the shade. The board on which you do battle requires you twist a circle to match jewels of three, which powers your attacks to defeat enemies and not have to flee.

To battle against your foes, you engage them in Bejeweled Twist, where you turn gems clockwise to pound enemies into red mist. Combos and chain reactions fill your attack gauges faster, creating damaging gems on the board with which you can blast ‘er. Each creature in your command has a color of its compatibility, so, matching those gems more quickly boosts your attacks and utility. Enemies charge their own attacks with each turn that you make, so you must outpace them, or your face they will break.

In later stages, the punishment for idle twists is quite steep and is the cause for most falls. In fact, it’s the penalty for a twist without matching which makes Gyromancer hard as balls. Any time that you twist and don’t further your own board state, your foe is quickened, more quickly allowing their swords to meet your prostate. Likewise, opposing attack gems count down twice if you twist without clearing, which creates a level of micro-managing that can be quite domineering.

You can clear the gems of enemy attacks, destroying them to be in the clear. But if you cannot, you’ll lose precious health as they explode at your rear. If you meet the demand and surmount the difficulty, within Gyromancer you can find a title worth playing… typically.

Gyromancer is a fun and cheap game, costing a scant $2 or more, so it’s worth a nice try if you don’t find puzzle titles a bore. While this entry of Save State was short and quite sweet, I hope that it brightens your day when your eyes and it meet.

We’ll see you in the new year, 2025’s around the corner! Please remember in two weeks, to revisit this humble performer.

Publishers:
Developers:
Platforms: , , ,
Share this GiN Article on your favorite social media network: