Skully from Modus Games and Finish Line Games is a new 3D puzzle platforming adventure on Nintendo Switch. Learn more about it in our Skully review!

 

In Skully from Modus Games and Canadian indie team Finish Line Games you will take on a 3D puzzle platforming adventure that starts after Terry finds a special skull. Terry is some sort of a god, and so are his brothers and sister! He brings you to life with his power, so that you can help him patch things up with his family. It seems that they all got in some sort of fight – as siblings sometimes do – and it’s up to you to make good use of the energy bestowed upon you to do what is asked. Your journey will being with a simple goal: find Wanda, Terry’s sister, to see if you can catch her off guard so that Terry – who is now very weak – can talk some sense into her.

Since Skully is a round spherical entity, you’ll help him roll with the left analog stick, twisting the camera around with the right analog stick. Skully can jump with the B button. Once you progress a bit through the game, you’ll be able to sink into the clay pools to change your form by pressing the ZL button. If you want to dismiss said form, just press the X button. You can also climb with the ZR button, which weirdly enough does not require you to have any arms. Once you unlock the other forms, you could, for example, use one of them to throw a mighty punch with the ZR button, destroying rock walls. The clay pools you find will also act as the game’s checkpoints, so you should always make time to visit them.

 

Right from the start you will notice some flowers floating around the area. These will act as the game’s collectibles while also helping to lead the way so that you can find the right path to take. Just know that if you’re the type of gamer who likes to 100% a game, these flowers won’t all be on the main path, so you’ll have to explore around a bit to find all of them in each area. As you collect them, they will be added to your overall count, which is shown in the upper right corner. While you do this, and due to your clay nature, you should avoid any bodies of water, since submerging yourself in them – even if just for a bit – will end up hurting you. As long as you manage to reach one of the clay pools, you’ll be able generate and recover any lost health.

Collecting a ton of the flowers will allow you to unlock some concept art and designs used to create the world of Skully. If you manage to get all of the flowers in the first chapter, you’ll have enough to check out the beach biome art, the cavern biome art, the cliffs biome art, and the concept art for Skully himself! The rest of the unlockables will require you to dig deeper as you collect hundreds and hundreds of extra flowers, with the last item on the list requiring a whopping 5,500 flowers to unlock!

 

Something that needs to be said is that the game’s visuals have taken a hit when compared to the PlayStation 4 version – for which you can check our review right here. Looks aren’t everything, but when combined with a hit to the game’s framerate here and there, it can make some of the trickier platforming sections a bit harder than they should be. Mind you neither the game’s framerate issues nor the overall lower resolution got in the way of me enjoying the game, particularly once I unlocked the extra forms.

Is Skully one to play on Nintendo Switch? I had fun playing the game on Nintendo’s console in Docked and Tabletop Mode, but the game’s graphics and framerate have certainly taken a hit when compared to, say, the PlayStation 4 version, which means that your mileage with Skully may vary. It’s an entertaining experience that will last you a handful of hours, which makes this budget $29.99 release one to check out.

Disclaimer
This Skully review is based on a PlayStation 4 copy provided by Modus Games.