$17.99Pronty A Metroidvania Under the Sea
Guide the rookie guardian Pronty and her javelin partner Bront through a sunken city full of mutant fish, secrets and giant bosses.
Is Pronty worth it?
Pronty is worth it if…
- you want a metroidvania that plays like a twin-stick shooter instead of a platformer
- you like boss fights built on reading patterns and dodging with a stamina bar
- you would rather ease in with difficulty options than bounce off a brutal opening
- you enjoy hand-drawn worlds with a cute surface and a darker story underneath
- you prefer a map that helps you find collectibles instead of hiding them forever
Screenshots
Bosses that make you learn, not just swing
The combat asks for patience. Bosses hit hard and your attacks hit back modestly, so the winning move is rarely mashing: you watch a pattern, dodge with a dash that drains stamina, and strike in the small window when the monster finishes its lunge. That loop is where the Souls-like tag comes from, and boss fights are where it shows most. The twist is that you never fight alone. Bront, the swordfish javelin, does the attacking while you focus on staying alive, which splits your attention in a way land-bound games of this kind never ask of you.
A weapon with a mind of its own
Pronty cannot attack at all. Every hit comes from Bront, a robotic swordfish you steer with the mouse and send flying with a click, aiming wherever the danger is. That alone would be odd enough, but the two of you feed each other: dash through an enemy and you leave a mark on it, and Bront's strike on a marked enemy lands much harder. Build around it if you like, or ignore marks entirely and just hammer basic attacks. Bront also repels incoming projectiles, clears obstacles and shields Pronty, and pushes too hard and overheats, so even mindless stabbing has a rhythm. On keyboard and mouse it feels like pointing at a fish and saying "that one", which is exactly as fun as it sounds.
A sunken city worth getting lost in
Royla is a metroidvania map with no floor to walk on. You swim in every direction through a fallen underwater city, and new abilities open old routes: squeezing through tight gaps, swapping places with Bront, and more. The hand-drawn art carries a lot of it, each region with its own palette and mood, from brighter shallow waters to darker, redder depths as the pollution gets worse. Getting around is kind to the directionally challenged: teleport points between bases, a map that colors in fully searched areas so you can spot what is still missing, and plenty of save points. Multiple endings, hidden bosses, arena challenges and a boss rush mode in Neptune's Hall give the city reasons to be revisited.
What should you know before playing?
Can you play it with a controller?
You can, but the game is built around mouse aiming: you steer Bront with the cursor and click to strike. On a controller that becomes twin-stick aiming, which works yet feels clumsier in the thick of a boss fight. Keyboard and mouse is the more comfortable way to play.
How hard is it, really?
Harder than it looks, gentler than its genre suggests. The combat is deliberate and bosses punish careless dashing, but there are three difficulty settings you can switch at any time, and players commonly clear bosses in a handful of tries once the patterns click. If Souls-likes usually scare you off, this is a friendlier entry point than most.
How long does a playthrough take?
Shorter than most metroidvanias: a first run to an ending runs roughly seven to twelve hours depending on how much you explore, and a thorough pass with all three endings and the collectibles takes somewhat longer. The boss rush mode in Neptune's Hall is there once the story is done.
Is the story any good?
It is a dark tale under a cute surface: a polluted ocean, mutated creatures fused with trash, and a guardian who slowly learns what happened to the city she was built to protect. Big story moments play out in comic-panel cutscenes, and extra lore sits in collectible files for those who want the full picture. The pacing is uneven at times, with long stretches of quiet between story beats.
