Narrative-driven platformer Gruta from Ratalaika Games and Capi Capi has you playing as a child that escapes to fight the monsters she thought were causing trouble in her family. Check our Gruta review!

 

Narrative-driven platformer Gruta from Ratalaika Games and Capi Capi has you playing as a child that escapes to fight the monsters she thought were causing trouble in her family. As you fight against the monsters on her path and open up treasure chests, you’ll get a better idea of what is going on with her life. Each treasurer chest will present you with a story still image, and there are an additional 9 secret images for you find along the way, which are tied to a trophy – more on trophies in a bit.

 

You’ll control your character with the left analog stick or the D-Pad, jumping with the X button and attacking with the Square button. You can raise your shield with the R2 button to protect yourself against enemies and their attacks. Your shield can also be used to defend against and reflect the arrows that some enemies will shoot at you. As you explore the short levels, you’ll have to avoid sharp spikes, defeat slimes and bats, avoid spears that pop out of the walls and ceilings, and giant blocks that try to crush you.

 

Gruta has a full trophy list with a Platinum trophy waiting for you. And since this is a Cross-Buy title, if you have a PlayStation 5 console, you can play the PS4 and PS5 versions of the game, since each one has its own trophy list. The list includes a single Silver trophy and 11 Gold trophies, and most of them will unlock just by beating the game. Two of the trophies you do need to keep in mind are the one for finding all 9 secret treasure chests and seeing their cutscenes, and the one for dying in the final room with the boss. If you need some extra help, you can check out this Gruta Trophy Guide.

Gruta sets out to be a narrative platforming experience, but the end product falls short of that vision. The gameplay is very basic, and yet things don’t work as they should. Try to swing your sword, and the game won’t register your button presses every single time. This also applies to jumping, which will make you die more than you should. One of the trophies also glitched on me since an enemy killed me while I unlocked one of the secret cutscenes and while the treasure chest then remined open, I was not able to see the cutscene, so I had to delete my save and replay the game to get the missing trophy. Gruta is available as a Cross-Buy title, so your $4.99 purchase will allow you to download both the PlayStation 4 and the PlayStation 5 version of the game at no extra cost.

Disclaimer
This Gruta review is based on a PlayStation 5 copy provided by Ratalaika Games.