Keylocker Review
Stumbling Down, Amping Up
Upon first booting up Keylocker, the player will notice a distinct lack of music in a game specifically advertised as being a combination of both a classic, turn-based RPG and a rhythm game. However, this is by design. The world of Keylocker is one where music is absent from society, something of a faint memory to present day Saturnians. The protagonist B0B0, however, is unique in her ability to create and play music, and as such has become a rebel aiming to bring down society and return music to the public. It isn’t until the end of the prologue where B0B0 meets Rocket, an old Jukebot, that the soundtrack kicks in, marking the true beginning of Keylocker.
Usually a review wouldn’t begin with an analysis of the soundtrack, but as it is so integral to the game’s identity this seems like a good place to start. The soundtrack has a heavily defiant tone, in fitting with B0B0’s nature as a rebel and music itself being a rebellious force in the world of Keylocker. Most of the songs fall into a rock-synth spectrum, with many of the vocal themes combining the two genres outright. The result is a soundtrack that, while not entirely unfamiliar, feels wholly distinct and meshes extremely well with both the game’s environmental design and narrative.
To bookend most chapters, Keylocker will require the player to play a rhythm minigame, often styled after Guitar Hero. Notes come down towards the bottom of the screen and the player is required to hit a button corresponding to the notes. While it would have been easy to simply end there, developer Moonana went the extra mile and added some bells and whistles to truly make the experience feel true to that of Guitar Hero and it’s contemporaries, complete with a score multiplier and special notes that build up a gauge that, when activated, doubles the multiplier.
Keylocker’s Guitar Hero clone, complete with difficulty modifiers so players can test their skills with each song.
Rhythm games are not limited exclusively to these moments, however. The entire game is filled to the brim with brief rhythm elements where they simply hit different buttons at the correct times. These minigames rely on sound effects to illustrate what is happening rather than unique songs, which can be disappointing at first. However, the soundtrack backing the areas of the game are so enthralling that it would be a shame to interrupt it for every tiny mini-game that the player comes across.
These mini-games also make their way to the combat. Combat in Keylocker is best described as a mix between the timing and execution-based combat flow of the Mario & Luigi series and the mechanics of traditional, old school JRPGs. The party, which consists of up to three characters, is placed on a grid with the opponents. The grid’s layout is determined by the local map, so inaccessible areas in the explorable area are also inaccessible during combat. All combatants have both LP (Life Point) and EP (Electric Point) gauges. LP functions just like one would expect; if it reaches zero the character falls and if all player characters fall, the battle is lost. EP is unique in it’s functionality. Attacks are divided between LP attacks and EP attacks. EP can be used to charge LP attacks so they will do more damage. However, EP attacks will drain EP from the target, and any excess damage will bleed over into LP damage. This means that combat is often a balance between doing direct damage and draining EP from the opponent, as in many cases enemies have attacks that become much more dangerous when charged.
Attacks all require some form of execution from the player, either requiring a single button press at the correct time or participation in a brief mini-game. Enemy attacks carry similar actions in defense, meaning the player can negate all damage with perfect execution. Unfortunately, the drawbacks for failure are often more frustrating than the rewards for success, frustration that can be compounded by timing windows that feel too small and unforgiving, at worst feeling outright inconsistent.
Combat in Keylocker is all about positioning and execution.
There’s no doubt these systems make for a fun combat flow. It is undeniably enjoyable to be in the heat of combat and making strategical decisions while also trying to execute attacks to do more damage. Unfortunately, a lot is holding Keylocker back from having a truly excellent combat system. Aside from the overly tight timing windows, battles in tend to run into the issue of eventually becoming repetitive and taking too long. Animations feel sluggish not only between attacks, but also getting in and out of battle.
Bosses can also be hit or miss. Most bosses are akin to souped-up enemies with special attacks and abilities. However, some feature mechanics that range from unintuitive to outright bizarre. While characters in the game explain the mechanic, it is easy to miss the explanation or entirely misinterpret it. Worse yet, figuring out the mechanic in the middle of the fight is more likely to happen on random chance than because the player gathered information based on the boss’s movements. Thankfully these moments are few and far between, but they can sour what are supposed to be climactic moments in the narrative.
Gameplay issues can be found outside of combat as well. Not only is the game bursting with required story battles against enemies that the player will encounter in the wild, but there are also field battles that often feel overly punishing. If areas are searched thoroughly, players will not only find items that can be used in battle, but also progression items such as Keys that can unlock skills and boost stats. When the player collects these items, the Danger Level bar on the right side of the screen can increase. A full bar increases the Danger Level by one, going up to a maximum of four levels, and only decrease after completing a field battle. After reaching level one, search spotlights will descend onto the screen and if the player is caught, they are forced into a battle they cannot flee. While these searchlights can be avoided, they move too fast to react to the direction they are moving in, meaning the player will likely get caught in a fight they do not want to participate in more often than not. This feels like a direct punishment for exploration and progression, and though combat is fun, the interruption that the Danger Level causes to both exploration and story progression is too great for a fun combat system to alleviate.
Keylocker has a lot going for it, including art direction and sound design.
While the worldbuilding is an interesting take on the cyberpunk genre, the actual narrative feels underwritten and, at times, random. Many moments come out of nowhere, while others seem entirely unrelated to the current task, and some end up apparently ignored. While secrets are certainly a welcome thing in any RPG, the secrets in Keylocker feel largely inconsequential. Characters appear like they might have incredibly important reveals but then they appear later in the story with no explanation or elaboration on what is going on with them. It doesn’t help that a lot of the dialogue is filled with references and modern-day memes, making the humor feel forced and the dialogue feel unnecessary when, in reality, the player is encouraged to pay attention to what the characters are all saying.
Thankfully, Keylocker shines brightly in its presentation. The game’s music is a dream, one that fits astoundingly well with the visuals. Every character is uniquely designed, with just the right amount of “weird” thrown in to give the game a wonderfully bizarre-yet-beautiful visual identity. The game performs reasonably well, maintaining a steady framerate with little-to-no slowdown. There were some infrequent crashes and bizarre glitches during the playthrough, like an especially weird one where one of the party members became a duplicate of a different party member, shortly before a crash occurred. Fortunately the save system is robust and allows for effectively unlimited saves plus the autosave feature that activates every time the player enters a new room, so these issues aren’t fatal to one’s enjoyment, but they did interrupt the experience from time to time.
Keylocker has a lot of really interesting ideas that sadly go underutilized.
Exploration is well-done, with every area feeling like a novel experience. The jump button gives the areas a sense of verticality and heightens exploration, though the game can feel a little stingy on where the player is allowed to go. When the danger level is at zero and the player is free to roam, exploring is a joy. Which is good, because if the player wants to do everything, they are going to have to do a lot of exploring. They’ll need to talk to everyone, find every hidden corner and area, and do every single quest.
At the beginning of the game, the player is offered a choice of a class to choose. These classes not only determine what kind of abilities the player will have access to, but also access to exclusive quests based on that faction. However, side quests are easily missable, meaning players might accidentally lock themselves out of quest chains related to their class if they aren’t extremely careful.
Keylocker has a lot of things going for it, and is a genuinely good experience with the right expectations. The narrative is lacking polish, but inside it are some genuinely exciting and interesting moments. The gameplay is in a similar state, but when the combat is good it’s really good and offers a satisfying take on traditional turn-based combat. Keylocker hits the wrong note a few times, but boy is there a lot to like in its performance.
Disclosure: This review is based on a free copy of the game provided by the publisher.
Presentation is out of this world, literally and figuratively.
Combat is unique and satisfying
Inclusion of Rhythm games is fun
Story is all over the place
Timing inputs can feel inconsistent
Battles can become unwelcome interruptions
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